Does that thing say 80?

Yes, I believe it does, and it looks like it is going even higher.

It was so warm this morning, above 70 by 9:30am, that the guest rider and I were able to depart on her weekly ride by just shortly past 10. As a result we finished at around 12:30pm, which as everyone knows is 11:30am sun time, meaning that we rode 25 miles before noon.

The wind conditions were similar to yesterday so we rode a very similar route to what I rode yesterday. See yesterday's post for photos of the poppies and stadia which today two of us rode past. One of the deviations from yesterday's route was that GRider requested a viewing of ash borer ground zero. Aside from noticing how poorly the grass is doing in this area of town, you can also see three bare dirt patches.These were all trees the last time we were there. The procedure at this point is complete removal of the tree and complete removal of the stump as well. The bare spots are all that remains after the stumps have been ground up, all fragments collected, and whatever was still there has been covered with dirt.

We counted 15 of the bare spots, including one house that had five (two on the boulevard and three in the yard). That house is the recipient of the unfortunate distinction of being the biggest loser to the emerald colored beetles in this round of the invasion.

We rode down to the Stone Arch and across and out to the end of West River Road. We paused for a photo at Orvin "Ole" Olson Park. This is significant because Ole Olson Park is a significant tribute to GRider's heritage. She is, as she has informed me numerous times, 100% Norwegian.Oh, wait. Except for that one part. Oh, and yeah, there's also that other part. Never mind, in fact, Ole Olson could just as well be Swedish as Norwegian when you get right down to it.

And it is pretty sunny at Ole Olson so we rode just a bit farther for our sit down and refreshment break. I know this park area has a name but for now it shall be just Not Ole Olson Park along the Mississippi in North Minneapolis.That's a pretty interesting looking park across the river too.

It was starting to get warm and the sun was rising higher in the sky. We were both glad to be home but before pedalling the final 0.38 mile we stopped to show everyone how well the corn is doing.Orvin "Ole" Olson for scale.