Saturday, October 31, 2009

Clear and cold

Three more days of pretty persistent rain means that at least one record was set here. It hasn't been officially confirmed yet but based on what the weather channel was reporting on the first of the most recent three day monsoon this October set an all time record for most rain in October since they began keeping track. The bicycling went less well.

The storm finally moved off to the northeast and behind it came just what one should expect at this time of year, clear and COLD. As morning would up I still wasn't sure what my exercise intentions were but I was encouraged by the fact that it looked pretty nice on our deck.We have lots of leaves and until November 10 before they have to be rounded up in front of the house for municipal leaf pick up. It looked nice out there but it was 39 when I headed out the door.

It is interesting every year how the person acclimated to riding in 80 degree temperatures gradually adapts to the cold. At first 55 seems too cold, but eventually the layers start to be added and 55 isn't so bad. The same thing happens at 50 and at 45 and finally at 40. Today I had to keep the balaclava pulled up whenever I was headed into the strong west wind (and most of the time when I was headed north) but it was OK, I was comfortable. I added my windstopper shoe covers over my feet to the costume today, I am nearly out of things to add. When I passed a time and temperature sign on the way home it displayed a 41, practically balmy.

The sun stayed out for about the first 15 miles and it was pretty enough while the sun shone. Here is a corner of Island Lake Park, a tiny bit of the lake is visible left foreground.That radio tower looks like it is rooted in the park but actually it is at least a half mile beyond, over in the Grass Lake park part of these interconnected wetlands.

It has rained so much that Snail Lake is filling back up. The lake has no streams running into it and is fed only by run off from its watershed. It had fallen to very low levels earlier this year.It still isn't quite high enough to actually launch a boat from this ramp but you could now at least wade out into the lake from the edge of the concrete, a significant improvement.

I completed the full ride, all the way out to the Rainbow in Shoreview on Highway 96 and Hodgson Road and back through Sucker Lake and Lake Vadnais. I think those must be oak trees on the eastern short of Vadnais, those are the only numerous tree around here still having enough foliage left to produce a display of color.It was a no other adult recreational bicyclist ride, something of a surprise to me. It is the last day of daylight time, a day when the obsessed (such as myself) need to ride, one of the very last days when there will be daylight available to ride in for those who are employed. I saw three other people on bicycles but they were all children riding on the sidewalk. I saw not a single other adult.

By the time I arrived home the clouds had closed back in and a heavy overcast currently reigns. It looks and feels like November out there and by golly, I guess it almost is.

I set no mileage records this month even though, as suggested by GRider, the likelihood that I might is greatly enhanced by the fact that I keep track of lots of things. I did avoid riding the fewest miles ever in October but none of those other Octobers were Octobers with the most rain ever for the month of October.

I rode my bicycle today, it was cold, it was good.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Gloom returns

It was swell while it lasted but not unexpectedly in this year of no October the perfect light disappeared yesterday with the sun and did not reappear today. Instead a heavy overcast descended, much remindful, yet again, of November.

But it was 48 and I ride at 48. I rode over to Dead Man's Curve to get a photo from the north side to complement yesterday's south side image.Fairly obviously, the beautiful sky blue is gone. It may not be obvious to those unfamiliar with the spot but it is obvious to me that the new configuration, while still double curved, will be considerably less on each of the two curves. In addition, the bank on the left of this photo has been considerably cut back. This will enormously improve visibility particularly when approaching from the far side. This will be good for automobile traffic, what the effect on bicycling will be remains to be seen. While the pavement will be wider, visibility will be improved and the curves will be diminished, all of those things mean that the cars will be going faster. This is not necessarily a good thing for me when I am on my primary means of transportation.

And this picture should prove what my primary means of transportation is. Thanks to GFR for directing me to the software to make the photo collage. It was still a bit of hassle as I tried to learn how to make the software do what I wanted but eventually I got at least what I needed (recommended action is right click, open in a new tab). The collage displays my bicycle odometer and my automobile odometer at the conclusion of today's ride.LOOK takes the lead.

Since June 15 I have added 1,062 miles to the total on my automobile odometer. In the same period I have added 2,296 miles to my bicycle odometer.

LOOK takes the lead.

I have ridden several times this year when conditions were a little questionable and have not been punished for doing so. I haven't been caught in the rain for a couple of years. Today I was about 8 miles from home when I finally had to admit to myself that the heavy overcast and high humidity had morphed into mist.

So I had to ride home with the streets turning wet. I was still lucky though, my punishment for riding in questionable conditions ended up being a small punishment. It never really rained. To be perfectly honest though, at a couple of points in the dash for home it was really pretty heavy mist. The streets were damp but without enough water to be thrown up by the tires. So the bicycle stayed pretty dry. The real issue was that the mist was intense enough to begin to create vision issues on my eye protection. Heavy mist indeed.

As I neared home I rode out from under the worst of the misting allowing my anxiety level to diminish and allowing me to complete the full two hour ride before entering the garage. From here in the warm and dry I pronounce the whole experience to have been like totally completely acceptable.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

An exquisite light

Today an intersection of, I am supposing, a perfect sun angle and intensity and perfect atmospheric conditions produced the most exquisite light seen here in many a moon. If I was a painter I would have spent the entire afternoon painting. I am a bicyclist and a photographer, I got on my bicycle and went looking for a photo opportunity.I love those cows. Today I was not alone out there. In fact, I saw lots and lots of other bicycles including the first one of the day within a mile after leaving home. It was a nice day.

It was a south wind so I was headed down (I think of south as down, who doesn't?) into the city. The security guard at Dead Man's Curve informed me right after the Fair that the bridge project would be completed in six weeks. Six weeks have passed and something pretty significant happened over there today. The new bridge was moved (by crane) underneath the old bridge and gradually raised into place. Really close followers of the Dead Man's Curve thread will recognize the progress. Most of the rest of us (yes, including me) will only note that today, from the side opposite to the usual photo opportunity side, I wasn't able to get as good an illustration of the newest changes as I might have. The failure was because the security guard made me leave the area. *sign* Such are the burdens of those seeking . . . something.Doesn't the sky look great? It is really, really, intensely blue.

I continued along into the city. I previously posted some time ago about a survey being done on this Emerald Ash borer thing. I posted a photo of this very tree. Today the tree is gone.As you can see, painted on the stump is "OK". I prefer to interpret this to mean that this tree was not infested. I prefer to interpret this as evidence that we and our ash trees still have an outside chance of surviving this whole deal. We shall see.

The south wind kept getting stronger and I quickly tired of pushing south into the head wind. I headed east up University and cut back into the neighborhood north of University at the Ax-Man intersection. I was riding along just intending to check on RBR (who needs a lot of checking on) when the perfect lighting and my favorite color stopped me for a photo. I love orange.Again, don't you love that sky?

I rode past where RBR had her car parked and plunged again into the old neighborhood. As I was cycling past the Emily tree the current proprietor of the tree was engaged in some sort of major leave removal project. I swung over to his side of the street and offered as a conversational gambit that he should try to locate the guy who planted that tree and get him to clean up the leaves. Jim and I haven't seen each other for quite a few years and there was a tiny bit of preliminary just exactly who are you sort of awkwardness but we ended up with a nice chat. Before we finished his SU, Marilyn arrived home completing some sort of circle. Jim says that he has the identity of the guy who planted that tree somewhere in the house and that he may, in fact, try to contact said individual about the clean up.

Clearly I had already done all that I could so I moved along. It was a nice ride. I got to 300 miles for this month, something I was hopeful of doing. I have a couple of more days and I am going to need them or this month is going to end up with the fewest miles ridden in October since I started keeping track.

This evening in France FC Nantes tied Laval at home 0-0. With the point Nantes again adds to its hold on second. Unfortunately Caen came from behind for a 4-2 victory in its game. Nantes is firmly second but first place is disappearing over the horizon.

Today's sign that I am over the hill: I went to the grocery store after my bicycle ride to obtain some ingredients for dinner. At the register the really old check out lady (actually probably at least 55, almost as old as me) called me "Hun". I wasn't ready to be a middle aged lady's "Hun". *sigh* **deep sigh** ***really deep sigh***

Monday, October 26, 2009

Me and my shadow

I perhaps could have ridden on Saturday as the weather was cooperative but I didn't because we had hockey. On Saturday Minnesota completed the weekend sweep of Saint Cloud State with a sound 7-0 thrashing of the visitors. This was a complement to the Friday 4-0 win over the Huskies at the National Hockey Center in Saint Cloud. The hockey was rewarding even though it was a bicycling opportunity missed.

This morning I was downstairs probably commenting on someone else's blog or something when TOPWLH announced that the sun was out. This is a rare enough experience of late that an announcement was definitely called for. I dilly dallied, however, and by the time I arrived on the main floor the Groundhog's Day like sun appearance was over.

But today is the first day of traditional standard time. Today is a day on which for most of the years I have been riding no ride would have been possible. But with daylight time extended and with the whole lack of daytime scheduled activity, today was a double bonus opportunity to ride. The weather cooperated (a triple bonus opportunity?).

It was still only about 42 and still battleship grey when I geared up shortly after noon. The local weather channel promised partly cloudy and I took them at their word. It took a while but at about the six mile mark it happened. I stopped, got out my camera and put my right hand mitten in my pocket (need a bare hand for on the bicycle photography, don't you know?), restarted and got this picture while actually in the act of riding my bicycle.I think that constitutes fairly conclusive evidence that the sun was out. Still, it was pretty cold for most folks and for the two and a half hours I was out it was mostly just me and my shadow.

I saw only two other GOBs (geezers on bicycles), one jogger, one guy on those roller ski things and three or four walkers, interestingly enough, this time only one of whom had a dog along for company.

I was riding along, composing a ride narrative in my mind of not seeing any bicyclists yet again when I met the first GOB on the downhill to Snail Lake. He was on a comfort bike, struggling up the hill, but as announced by his chartreuse riding jacket, he is a regular rider.

That downhill is one of the favorites of the resident Bianchi rider (RBR) who always announces to me when we join up again after riding down that hill what her top speed was. It is one of a couple of places where I always try to exceed the posted speed limit so we are going fast. I always encourage RBR to focus on the road at that speed and check the top speed at some later time. But it is an event, going down that hill. It has been at least a couple of weeks since I have gone 30 mph but today I achieved (according to my bicycle computer) a top speed of 33.2 mph on that hill. Zippy, zippy, fun, fun.

The sun had come out and at the next intersection there were some sumac that I had photographed the last time I was out there on a day when the sun wouldn't cooperate. I hoped for a better picture so I checked but those sumacs are officially and completely totally over. But I did get this picture of the part of the park across the street from Snail Lake. There is enough water in the swamp in that park that these trees are still exhibiting some color. That's mostly a mixture of aspen and oak.I started to think I was going to get in the full ride. I was headed towards the Sucker Lake part of the park and I was anticipating the sign on the curve just inside the gate there which limits speeds on that curve to 15mph. Perhaps obviously this is another place where I always, always try to exceed the speed limit. Imagine my disappointment when I came upon this at the gate into that part of the park. I am pretty hard core, I think, but I was pretty much instantly convinced to break off my plan and seek another route. A recent newspaper article here has detailed that the Boundary Waters area in the far northern portion of the state has only about 0.5 deer per square mile while areas of the Twin Cities (such as this park) have densities as high as 40 deer per square mile. This clearly calls for some culling even if archery seems like a pretty inefficient way to go about culling.

I headed back down Rice Street but wanted to cut over at County Road F to the entrance to Lake Vadnais to confirm for myself that the hunt was also on in the Vadnais area of the park. The hunt was on but different conditions were being imposed on this part of the park.The sign says I can ride on the paved road through the park so I did. The first thing I noticed was that there were several pick up trucks parked in areas where I don't ordinarily see vehicles parked, mostly at the heads of unpaved trails leading back into the woods. I suspect these were the trucks of the archers.

I kept going. There were only a very few anglers present today, the least I have seen there this year. But one of the two or three I saw was, in deference to the other sportsmen present in the park, casting his line while wearing a blaze orange poncho. Good choice on his part, I thought to myself. Vadnais was pretty today.The sun disappeared off and on as I rode on towards home but it made another cameo just after I pulled into the garage. Our bush is really pretty this year and with the sun hitting the trees in the background I finally got a nicer picture. It is a tiny bit past peak.There has been interesting news from football in France. On Friday evening FC Nantes secured a much needed second away from home victory by defeating Dijon FCO (shouldn't there be a mustard reference in here somewhere) by 2-1. SM Caen also won, extending its unblemished (no losses, no ties) record at home and maintaining a comfortable margin in first place of Ligue 2 over FC Nantes. Both teams play again on Tuesday.

Also of interest is that the Ligue 1 game scheduled for Sunday between Marseilles and Paris-Saint Germain was postponed because of an outbreak of H1N1 among the PSG players. I was struck by the report of this event on the official site of the French Football Federation: Swine flu and sport don’t mix. The French website refers to President Barack Obama without identifying his country. I found that to be pretty interesting.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Not a single other bicycle

I did not see a single other bicycle, not one.

And I only saw two people walking, both walking a dog. There were a few people doing yard work and outdoor construction was still at full throttle. But being outdoors for exercise today was very nearly a private experience. Bicycling today WAS a private experience.

Because it was cold, that's why. According to the TV weather channel it was 41 but it wasn't that in my front yard. There was no sun and there was a strong wind from the northeast.

How was it? It was cold.

That's about the bottom temperature limit for me. I have said that I won't ride when the water in my water bottles will freeze. I could be out there with an ambient air temperature in the 30s but I doubt it would be any colder than it was today.

I was adequately dressed, feeling only a chill on my thighs as I set out. As those big muscles got loosened up they warmed themselves and I was adequately dressed. I had the balaclava on and today on those parts of the ride into the wind I had it for the first time this year pulled up over my mouth and nose, but perhaps most importantly, over my cheekbones.

I didn't expect to get any photos but when I saw this I stopped cold (stopped cold, good one, eh?). It seems a little early to me but I suppose if you are going to put this much effort into your display, you want it out there early to assure that you get your money's worth.It's a little over the top but I like it. I wonder what they do for Christmas. The only other thing I would say is that with a yard display like that they better be giving out full sized candy bars. To do this in the yard and then give out cheap candy would be wrong, IMO.

That yard is in Shoreview and as I neared turnaround I started looking for a spot from which I could display wind and the Shoreview water tower. I had to go a little north of the water tower to do so, looking back over the flag displayed by Deluxe Corp. at the entrance to their check printing facility.I have complained in the past that I ride past the Shoreview water tower a lot and that the light is never quite right for a photograph. Lighting conditions were clearly not an issue today.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

We're still coming.

On days when I am uncertain about wind conditions it has become my custom to do a loop around a block right here in the neighborhood before I commit to a route for the day's ride. It is a SUBurban block which means that it is pretty much square unlike those urban blocks which are always, at least in this metropolitan area, twice as long as they are wide. The square block gives me an opportunity to assess the wind and its effect on bicycling into each of the four main compass points. Of late this loop has acquired a second extremely useful function, it allows me to evaluate my costume.

The local weather channel that I watch the most on TV (as opposed to on the internet) is 11.2. This is 11.2 business is new to me, something I was first exposed to in August in Michigan. I think I have this right but maybe not but I think Terry is on 8.2 the WOOD all weather all the time deal. Or maybe it is not Terry and it is that other network affiliate, maybe 13.2? But anyway, KARE 11.2 is the same thing except, of course, it is here, not Michigan, but it is all weather all the time. My cable provider presents it on a channel somewhere in the 240s but it is KARE 11.2.

I noticed today for the first time that they have begun including Wind Chill as a standard fixture on the display that they run when the weather guy is talking in the background. Today the wind chill was in the 40s despite an ambient air temperature in the mid-50s.

To make a long story short (I know, way too late for that) I took a loop to check wind conditions and ended up stopping back at home with slightly less than two miles ridden to modify my costume.

I took the loop again with the new costume and as a result ended up reaching five miles and the mandatory drink of water at the corner of Roselawn and Fairview, obviously well before I had even left the neighborhood.

During my ride yesterday I rode through the re-paving project currently ongoing on Roselawn between Hamline and Lexington. I had a quite surprising experience when I and my bicycle actually SANK into the new asphalt. I am fairly sure this has never happened to me even in my car but I know for sure it has never happened on my bicycle. Apparently the new asphalt is quite insubstantial in those first moments and I must have been within a minute or two of the paving machine. I was mortified. My first thought, as always, was the LOOK. I immediately stopped and found a stick and started to scrub the residue off my tires, fearful that if I left it on the tires that when it did dislodge it would then stick to the frame. Only as I neared completion of my tire cleaning did it occur to me that something extraordinary had just occurred and that even in poor light conditions this was a spectacular photo opportunity, bicycle tire tracks 3 or 4 inches deep into asphalt. Alas, I had spent too much time on tire cleaning, when I returned to the paving that big heavy rolling flattening thing had already made a pass and the evidence of me and my bicycle had been obliterated (or squashed out of existence if you will).

So today I rode past another paving project task previously never seen by me and got a block away before I realized I was on the verge of doing it again. It was a grey, grey day, so grey that I almost didn't bother taking my camera along. Photo opportunities were going to be few and far between. I turned back.

I got two pictures of these guys working. They are using a gas torch to free the manhole covers from the effects of the recent paving project. There are two guys there but the one nearest the camera noticed my camera as I was taking the first picture. He seemed disinterested in being photographed and turned his back. The first picture is therefore a better display of the roles of the workers in what is going on. I used this one anyway partly to honor that guy's apparent disinterest in being photographed but mostly because in this shot you can see

FIRE!!!

It was an ugly day and I again felt fear about getting too far from home. But today I was a bit braver than yesterday and decided to go ahead and get farther from home. I ended riding what is a more or less standard early and late season route, the Shoreview water tower loop. It was a nice enough ride but it was an ugly day and no further photo opportunities presented themselves.

It was an ugly day and as I neared home I began to feel the occasional bit of something liquid hitting me in the face. It wasn't so much rain drops as an occasional bit of mist and for a change I didn't immediately panic. I did cut off any additional loops and steered resolutely towards home. I never felt anything like rain but as I neared home I did find myself riding on streets dappled with moisture from the light rain which again, somehow, didn't fall on me.

So today was my 160th ride of the year. The goal at the start of the season is 160 rides at 25 miles per ride to get to 4,000 miles for the year. The 4,000 thing has already passed but 160 rides still seems significant, another bit of business accomplished. The 160th ride thing caused me to consult the log and I discovered that 2009 has already surpassed mileage ridden last year and also in 2006. Further 2007 seems within easy reach. This could put 2009 as the most miles ridden in the past four years and the most ridden in any year except those years when I rode TRAM. In fact, even 2002, the first TRAM year seems vaguely within reach.

I must be retired or something.

After the ride I took my car and went to the grocery store. I noticed that car mileage is now 17,564. Current LOOK mileage is 17,532. We're coming, we're coming. One final weather note, it rained on my car both coming and going from the grocery and it is still raining now.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Average mileage pokes above 11

That whole double blogging thing is too hard. It takes too much creative energy to do more than one, it wore me out. It was a lot of fun (and continues to be) but I don't think I will be attempting that again soon.

Today dawned at a temperature above what has been the daily high for most of the month. A review of the usual weather sites led me to believe that today would be a grand day, a day with temperatures into the 60s by noon albeit decreasing thereafter.

It was grey at noon but the front of the house outdoor temperature was 55 so I dressed for 60 and set off.

Ooops.

They missed by about five degrees. 55 ended up being the high.

This whole riding in the 40s has seriously thrown off my costuming. I am quite prepared to dress for 40 but I have forgotten how to dress for 55. I was a little bit uncomfortable.

The wind was from the north and I was determined to head out to Lake Vadnais. I haven't been there much lately and it is a good spot for keeping track of the seasonal changes. I got about three miles into the ride before I changed my plan. The atmosphere was heavy and threatening and felt more like rain than at anytime when I have ridden this year, except of course, for those times when it actually did rain. I broke off the trip north and reverted to what Michigan Herb, the Hope accounting guy would call "riding in circles." Actually I am totally with Herb this time, I rode in circles, staying close to home. Cold is uncomfortable, cold and wet is intolerable.

Still, I was determined to get in my 10 miles to keep that average thing going so despite the northerly winds I took a little loop to the south. It was a grey, grey day but this tree looked to me to be stunning enough to show well despite the lighting.That tree or perhaps largish bush is on one of my regular routes, this time I happened to be going in the opposite of the usual direction which may be why I noticed the colors. There is still plenty of green underneath the top layer of leaves, if this thing lasts for a few days I will try to get a picture of it with the sun out.

I was looping through the Fairgrounds when it occurred to me that I was quite close to home and that I was a bit uncomfortably cold. Doh. Close to home? I swung by home where I went inside and adjusted my costume, going with heavier jacket, heavier head cover and my warm mittens. After that riding was just fine.

I got in the full two hour ride. I encountered the lady on the comfort bike again. She is the one who said riding in this weather is a matter of dressing properly. To firmly establish that it was chilly today, the comfort bike lady today had on a pretty substantial looking fleece jacket. We exchanged greetings each recognizing that the other was out when few bicyclists were. She looked comfortable.

On July 24 I posted a photo of an unknown plant and unsuccessfully sought assistance in identifying it. It is time for Round 2.

Today the unknown plant was being harvested.I had to do a little cyclocross out into the field to get that picture. That combine was moving so slowly that it seemed like I would be there for way too long if I waited at the street at the end of the field for it to reach me. While I was out in the grassy area I briefly dismounted and harvested one of the plants for myself. Upon arriving home I prepared this display.Keys for scale. But I still don't know what it is. Anybody got any idea? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Anyone?

There's a special little Easter egg there for my friends who are still showing up for work at 500 Lafayette.

To be fair to today, the sun did come out after I was home from my ride and this late afternoon has been pretty pleasant. I did a little yard work to be outside and later sat at our picnic table and thought about bicycling. I calculated that my average miles per day for the month has actually risen beyond ten to eleven.

Anything that goes to eleven is, well, here let Nigel explain:

For non-Spinal Tap enthusiasts is the crowd, Nigel is portrayed by Christopher Guest, the real life holder of a Baronial peerage in England (he is the 5th Baron Haden-Guest) and he is also the husband of Jamie Lee Curtis.

This evening in France Nantes tied Metz 2-2 in a game at Nantes. The tie marks the first home game which Nantes has not won. As a result Nantes although remaining firmly second begins to slip away from first place Caen. Caen has not yet lost a game in 10 league contests.

Also, the drawing has been made for additional World Cup qualifying games for Team France. France finished second in its World Cup qualifying group and thereby failed to receive the automatic advance to the World Cup which went to the first place finisher in each of the nine European groups. By finishing second France is still alive for qualification but now must defeat another second place finisher, Ireland, in a home and home series to be played November 10 in Ireland and November 14 in France.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Riding after lunch

It was plenty nice enough to ride yesterday, if a bit chilly, but I had a conflict with our primary winter pastime, women's hockey. In light of the fact that the weather has been almost wintry (well, wintry for, say Missouri) I had no difficulty chosing the hockey. And the hockey was good as who in Minnesota (other than the vastly outnumbered UMD fans) doesn't enjoy it when the Gophers complete a weekend sweep of the Dogs.

But today the only thing standing between me and a bicycle ride was the always extremely important football. But by noon the temperature was already in the 50s, promising to go 60s and I was completely willing to read about the football later.

So right after lunch I headed out. Here's what lunch looked like when we placed it on the table for a posed shot. The truth is that we carried the food downstairs and consumed it in front of the TV so that I did get at least a smallish dose of the extremely important football.As predicted in the comments section to the most recent previous post on this blog, the return of warm weather was accompanied by a strong south wind.

The day was nice but I haven't ridden much lately and the wind was strong. It was hard. But good. I got my average miles per day for the month of October back above 10, perhaps a 300 mile month is still in the cards. 300 would be a satisfying number as it would be plenty enough to eliminate the possibility of any measurement or statistical error and would fully certify 2009 as another year in which I rode 4,000 miles.

A south wind means a ride towards the city and of late I have fallen into the habit of taking a lap of the Fairgrounds on the outward leg of such rides. Today they had the Minnesota Beef Expo down in the barn area and a street rodders swap meet up in the opposite corner of the grounds. The swap meet brought these guys to the Fair yet again.The blue one is an Oldsmobile of indeterminate vintage (at least to me). The red deal is a Ford body with a small block Chevy V-8 engine. I believe a Chevy engine in a Ford body authenticates the credentials of the owner of that vehicle as a guy who belongs at a swap meet. Anyone willing to swap a Chevy V-8 into an antique Ford is a swapper for sure.

I rode down towards the University and eventually turned around on Nicollet Island. I came upon this example of faded past glory.In 1991 I am sure there were people who still cared deeply about Earth Day 1990. I suspect it would be pretty difficult to locate very many such people today. And yet the sign lingers on, hubris perhaps, Earth Day forever.

Friday, October 16, 2009

November hangs on

While I was deciding today on when to ride I happened to watch an on-line stream of an early morning TV weathercast. KARE reports that the average high temperature so far this month is 47 and that the average average high for this period is 63. This month is, to date, the coldest October on record. So, there you go, uniquely cold.

And today was the coldest yet that it has been when I set out to ride, about 40. The sun was a little more in evidence than it has been though so it was only cold, not unpleasantly cold. In fact, the sun was sort of out for most of the first 8 or so miles, remaining firmly planted in a patch of lighter than the rest of the sky overcast. Eventually the clouds won though and even though after that the sun tried to reappear a couple of times it eventually gave up and everything went grey.

I was prepared to come back without a photo until I passed Lake Owasso. There had been a slight breeze when I set out but by this point in the day the wind had stopped and the air was dead still. I thought the reflection in the lake made for a nice image.I rode past this vermin at the corner of Judith and Sheldon streets. Now, there is a quintessential suburban intersection, Judith and Sheldon. We don't need no stinking Second and Main out here in the burbs.Eventually I found myself again, as was the case on my last ride a couple of days ago, riding into sporadic episodes of light sprinkles. As usual upon such an occurrence, I headed immediately for home. I rode into and out of the sprinkles a couple of times and eventually found myself in places where it had rained, leaving the street damp. But I never actually got rained on and I never rode through wet streets, only damp. I am glad to be home though, as it is raining outside right now.

Cold is unpleasant, cold and wet would be intolerable.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

A bit more like it

This seems a bit more like what is perfectly acceptable. It snowed again today but at least this time it was an October snow, the kind that lingers briefly on the lawn while never actually accumulating on the paved surfaces.As soon as the morning chill left the air the snow departed from even the grassy surfaces where it had briefly found a foothold. We don't like snow in October but we will tolerate snow that at least realizes it's place and leaves before it becomes unwelcome.

It is getting to be late in the season and just as last season I find myself with time on my hands and an inclination to post other stuff.

Here is the Who from when the band was still the Who. Moon is still alive, John is still interested, Pete is whimsically, maniacally bent on entertainment, Roger is Roger.

Bicycling could resume at any time.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

4,000

I had a baloney sandwich for lunch. My opinion is that a sandwich made of the big round bologna that they sell everywhere as sandwich meat is much inferior to a sandwich made with a main ingredient of actual ring baloney. I cut nine thin pieces off the remainder of the ring, gave them a 30 second nuking and arranged them on the provolone cheese that I had already positioned on the honey whole wheat bread. It was excellent, a fine, fine baloney sandwich. By the by, TOPWLH and I did some musing on the nature of baloney after last evening's meal. Our conclusion is that ring baloney is really just a really fat hot dog bent into a ring.

On my walk yesterday I learned two things. The first was that the pavement was dry. I had expected to find snow melt in many places on the road. This is always the pattern in snow melts in the seasons when we usually get snow. But in early October the ground is not frozen. The temperature was only a few degrees above the melting point which meant that we had a relatively slow melt. All of the moisture seems to have soaked into the lawns instead of running out into the street. With this information I was encouraged to ride. The other thing I learned is that at this temperature my chin does get cold.

It was 42 and extremely grey when I left the house for a two hour ride. I modified my costume by adding the wool mitten liners and by donning the balaclava. However, I did not pull the balaclava up over my face, just up to cover my chin. It was cold and grey but the costume adaptations worked out just fine. At that temperature I was not warm but I was plenty comfortable.

Shortly after beginning the ride I came across a woman in my peer age group out riding in my neighborhood. She was on a comfort bike making minimal headway, probably something in the 8-10mph range. As I passed (even I win that race) I offered a greeting and the observation that it is getting to be a bit nippy for this activity. She may have been slow but she knew the proper response for that. She said that it is all a matter of proper clothing. She is of course correct and furthermore she practiced what she preached with full head and neck coverage under her helmet.

It was so very grey that I almost did not bother to bring my camera. At the last minute I ducked back into the house and stuck the camera in my jacket's rear pocket (it is a bicycling jacket and therefore has pockets on the back as a bicycling jersey would). I decided that if the sun ever actually made an appearance that I would stop instantly and take a photo of whatever it was that was in front of me at that moment.

The sun made one brief appearance. I was at the top of the hill on Como at Pascal. I have often thought that sometime or another I should get a shot of the Minneapolis skyline from that vantage point. Here it is.The sky is grey but clearly visible on the street in the foreground are shadows. The sun was out. It didn't stay out for long and after disappearing behind the heavy cloud cover it never reappeared.

Rides on days like today always seem especially rewarding. There are so few other people out at all, and so very, very few bicyclists out that, at least for me, it feels like I am getting more than my fair share of what is still a very reasonably nice day. I had a nice ride.

Towards the end I rode through two episodes of light rain sprinkles. Neither time was I more than about 3 miles from home but both times I panicked and started hammering for home. Both times I quickly rode out from under the very localized moisture, regained my composure and continued to ride. I never got wet and I never rode on any wet pavement. I had a nice ride.

My mileage total for this year at the end of the ride is 4,000. I expected to reach my annual goal on a cold November day and that is what ended up happening. I just didn't expect the cold November day to be October 14. To date this year I have 406 miles on the Axis, 318 miles on my blue Michigan Specialized and 3,276 miles on the LOOK. More usual weather conditions will probably return at some point and I expect that I will get the opportunity to ride enough more times to push my total mileage enough above 4,000 to eliminate any margin of measurement or statistical error. I may be wrong about that, however, as snow is again in the local weather forecast.

Here's a food related note. I purchased some Holland, Michigan, blueberries at the local Cub food store.Those familiar with the price of blueberries in August at the Bowerman's stand on James will probably be stunned to learn that I paid $4 for this piddling amount of berries.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Ring baloney

A multi-author family blog for recipes and other food related stuff has broken out elsewhere on the internet. I have contributed a couple of things that I remember fairly clearly from my youth. Others are actually making serious contributions. I apologize to all for my apparent inability to take it seriously but I am who I am.

But after I posted the ring baloney recipe a strange thing happened. I started to feel a slight craving for another taste of that old family delicacy. Today was again too cold for riding my bicycle but while I was out on the long walk I took in lieu of bicycling the craving matured into a plan.

So with the original post in mind, it turns out that ring baloney is available not only at Shoemaker's Red Owl but at several other reputable modern retail food outlets. I chose Cub.

There is actually a fairly large selection of baloneys at Cub but I settled on this one for about three reasons. First is the obvious connection that my family has with Wisconsin. Both my mother and father were raised in Wisconsin and I and my siblings spent considerable time there at Grandma's house when we were children. The second reason is that this is the only one of the various ring baloneys for sale at Cub that clearly had visible through the packaging the white string connecting the two ends of the ring. The string was missing or not particularly visible because of the packaging on some of the other baloneys and I personally believe the string is very important from a historical integrity point of view. The baloneys of my youth always, ALWAYS, featured that white cotton string. Third, all of the other baloneys were at least a pound and this one was only 14 ounces. I wasn't positive this was going to be a GOOD experience so I decided that smaller was better, limit your losses and all that.As I remember the family recipe the baloney was floated in a large pot of water for boiling. However, package directions on today's purchase indicated shallow pan, half an inch of water, 5 to 6 minutes of simmer on each side. I went with package directions. I also decided on sauerkraut as a side dish.The vegetable choice was settled by what we had available. For some reason or another it developed that frozen broccoli was the only vegetable in the freezer or cupboard so broccoli it was. We had a couple of tomatoes so TOPWLH sliced one up.

Preparation was straightforward and we ended up with this (note the ketchup present for authenticity):Those who have read the other blog and who are still paying attention will note that the knife in the photo is a SHARP KNIFE, a steak type knife with a serrated edge. It turned out to be completely necessary as those skins are STILL really tough.

TOPWLH also had ring baloney as a child but hers came with a cream sauce and some other variations. If she wants to post that recipe she is welcome to, this is my blog and my recipe.

She asked me what wine I thought went with ring baloney and I replied, "Red, a cheap red." We determined that for each of us it has been about 45 years since we enjoyed this meal but we kept an open mind and sat down to eat. TOPWLH looks as though she is excited to begin.So, how was it?

It was basic, it was actually sort of good. It isn't going to make it into the regular meal rotation but it won't be 45 more years before we try it again.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Once is an oddity

Once is an oddity, perhaps even a slightly charming oddity.

Twice in three days starts to feel like punishment.Heavy snow this time, forming clumps on the still green leaves.
It is 8:30 in the morning and the snow is still falling. However, temperatures close to the average are expected to return by the weekend. Bicycling will resume when the thermometer cooperates.

For now, too wet, too cold.

World Cup Qualifying match on Saturday: France 5, Faroe Islands 0.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

It's a beautiful morning

The Pioneer Press weather page reports that the all time record low for this date is 25. It was 25 on our front yard digital thermometer when I got up this morning. The weather widget on my blog is reporting 24. There is nothing "official" about those readings but it is apparent that this is an unusually cold day in October. The normal high is reported to be 62 with a normal low of 42. Today's predicted high of 40 is lower than the normal low.

In the KARE11 Forecast feature in the same newspaper Belinda and Sven report that "While snow showers are not uncommon in the first half of October (it happens almost every year), measurable snowfall amounts in early October are much more rare. The last measurable snowfall in the Twin Cities before mid-October was September 24, 1985."

So, yes Ms. Wireless, this HAS happened before in your lifetime.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Growing season slams shut

As recently as last week, wait, that's not right, as recently as three days ago I was saying to myself that I probably wouldn't ride unless the temperature was at least 50. I had ridden at 50 without huge discomfort so yesterday I started out when the temperature was 46. When I got home the temperature was 49. It didn't seem so bad.

That's how it starts, you know. They tempt you in with small incremental changes and the next thing you know you have icicles hanging from your mustache.

When I arose this morning a check of the front yard thermometer discovered a digital display of only 29. That's probably cold enough to finish off the things around here that survived that frost last week. I believe 29 is actually considered to be below freezing.

The temperature inched up but even by the time when I wanted to start my ride the digital display had risen only to 42. Well, I convinced myself, 46 was OK, 42 is only a small increment colder. See above icicle in mustache reference.

I kept pretty much the same gear but also put my shell mittens in my jacket pocket just in case and started on down the road. Probably your question is, how was it? Truthfully, into the wind on the way out it was just a little bit too cold. I headed out to the north into what was described as a light breeze but which when in hit my face felt pretty darn cold. My hydration ritual is to drink 6 or 7 ounces of water from one of my 16 ounce bottles at every 5 mile increment of riding (it appears that today's word is increment). I generally do this without stopping but today I stopped at 5 miles, took a drink and put my mittens on. By the way, the good thing about riding at 42 degrees is that the water is refreshingly cool.

So it was cold but even so I can go a bit colder. I still can add one more layer on head (full balaclava), hands (woolen mittens for inside the shell) and feet (Windstopper shoe covers).

The sun helped when it was out which it mostly was, it was cold and crisp, a really pretty day. Except every time I wanted to take a photo. I rode to Lake Vadnais and almost never go there without a picture. Today the sun disappeared behind a giant gray cloud bank as I rode down the hill to the lake. I can take a hint, no Vadnais photo.

A bit earlier I had waited a smaller cloud out just across the street from the picnic pavilion at Snail Lake. I thought these sumac where doing a nice job of displaying their autumn colorway.There's also some orangey maples stuck in there behind the sumac.

Numerical section: I got my average miles per day of the month above 10, in fact, above 11. WOOHOO! The LOOK is now at 17,402. When I got in my car after the ride to go to the bakery the Camry mileage was at 17,507. At this time of the season 105 miles may still be too big a gap to overcome but someone tell my car to look out, my bicycle is coming.

The season draws near a close and I am closing in on my annual mileage goal. Today I considered that there are only 3 weeks left in October, probably I can get fairly regular rides in during that time. And even in November there are bound to be days when it won't be any colder than it was today. It looks tough, but LOOK may still catch Camry. On the other hand the forecast for tonight is snow developing and continuing tomorrow. The growing season is over, can the bicycle season be over as well?

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Average revisited

The month of September featured day after day of temperatures 10 to 15 degrees above average. The month of October appears to be on the way to once again establishing why it is that average is called average. Yesterday was nearly average but today returned to the persistent pattern of temperatures 10 to 15 degrees BELOW average. It looks like the whole average high temperature is going to end up being "average". Temperatures that far below usual meant that it was pretty chilly today. As I prepare this post, it appears unlikely to ever reach 50.

I knew setting out on the cycling season that there would be at least a handful of days when I ride with temperatures in the 40s. I just didn't think they would be in the first part of October.

But as I have said before, I have the gear. Today I added the long sleeved base layer and the long sleeved heavyweight jersey. At those times when I was riding into the fairly brisk breeze it got a little chappy around my chin and neck but other than that it actually seemed pretty nice most of the time. Warm enough is good.

This tree at the corner of Asbury and Garden is displaying its complete autumn colorway.I got that picture while the sun was out, a situation which was not always true while I was riding. The sun kept ducking in and out. I rode to some places that I have never ridden before and at a couple of spots wanted to get a photo but decided to go for the photo some other time with more attractive lighting.

I had a social interaction with a mail carrier. I passed a youngish mail man in that part of Falcon Heights which is serviced by the traditional walk the route door to door mail service (over here in Roseville it is all done with a truck driving mail box to mail box). I, a pretty fully covered up cyclist, suggested to him that it was getting a bit nippy for his costume which featured shorts. He demurred, saying that there was still plenty of shorts weather left. He might be right, on the other hand he isn't creating his own 20mph windchill.

The wind was northwest so I edged off towards the west again towards seldom ridden streets. I got all the way over into New Brighton again but was already heading back when the sun made a cameo appearance. This occurred as I was riding past the intersection of the two main interstate highways closest to where I live. I stopped to get a picture but wasn't fast enough. The sun went back behind the clouds before I could fumble the gear out of my gear. I took the picture anyway. It looks to me like the heart of the monster.I tried a new crossing of Snelling at the spot where Old Trunk Highway 10 intersects Snelling from the northwest side to continue on as Hamline on the Roseville side. There's pretty heavy 60 mph traffic at that spot but I found a gap and got across fairly easily. Once on Hamline I reentered familiar territory. I have tried for two or three years to get a photo of this line of bushes near that intersection at a time when the color was bright. I don't think I've ever got it right before but today the sun reappeared as I rode past so I decided to give it another go.Just as with the previous photo though, the sun started to duck behind the clouds. I had to wait for it a bit and eventually the sun cooperated.

Today I raised my average miles ridden per day for the month up to 10. I should be able to hold that and 300 would be a respectable enough month of October. I started out hoping for more and will still be looking for more. But getting the average up to double figures after the dismal start to the month was good for my spirits on a day too cold and not sunny enough. It was a good day for a ride.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

First Wednesday

After yet another day of pretty significant rainfall it was reassuring to see the sun again this morning. By about noon it was warm enough and dry enough for another try at this whole bicycle thing.

Do they do that Civil Defense siren test on the first Wednesday of the month everywhere? We are all pretty used to having the sirens go off but it was still a bit of a start for me when they went off today as I happened to be quite a bit closer to the siren than I usually am.

I had just turned into the Fairgrounds, the siren is on top of what I have always thought of as the Horticulture Building.At the end of the ride I went cyclocross to ride across some lawn at the Fairview Community Center to circle up to Brimhall to get a shot of the siren that is the one that normally interrupts my first Wednesday nap.Mind you, this first Wednesday nap is going to be a tradition, but the truth is it is a tradition in waiting, I haven't actually got into that habit, at least, not yet.

I have always thought of that Fair building as the Horticulture building but I had a vague thought that it was actually the Horticulture-Agriculture building. It is an octagonal building with an entrance at each of the eight intersections of adjacent sides. Today I took a lap and a half around the building. There is a sign above each of the entrances. Four of the signs say "Horticulture". Four of the signs say "Agriculture". Here's one of the Agriculture signs, at the entrance nearest the SkyRide.Note to family and friends and anyone who might be in the group with me and TOPWLH the next time we go to the Fair: At some point I am going to suggest going by the Horticulture Building. The correct reference which I probably will not use will be Horticulture-Agriculture Building. I hope this alleviates any potential confusion. I know it doesn't for me, but maybe for others . . .

I rode around the grounds to check on the still ongoing post-Fair closure. I think all of the temporary stands have been removed but there are still a couple of the big circus size tents. It is getting close to being back to normal though, there was a horse show starting up at the Coliseum with horses and horse manure again evident in the southwest corner of the grounds.

I also found a to me previous unknown goose refuge, the pool of water in the pasture at the back corner of the farm campus next to the Fair.That's pretty much the same spot where I have photographed real cows a couple of times. Today it belongs to the geese.

Today's ride was only the second ride this week. Usually one of the joys of riding at this time of year is my level of fitness. I have done the work, I am fit, I am strong. And usually after a day or two off I feel really strong. Today didn't quite feel like that though. I felt OK I guess, but clearly there was a little edge missing.

*sigh* The biggest disappointment of Fall is the very clearly felt loss of fitness. I hope this isn't the start of THAT. I've got a couple hundred more miles to go, for sure, this season, and should have a few more instances of days when I feel strong, I feel fast.

I rode through the farm campus to see what the really large cows were doing today.I love those cows. As the pictures show, it was a really, really pretty day today.

I had an on the bicycle social interaction today myself. I had just ridden down the big Saint Anthony hill from Pelham to the river when a young person rode up next to me. He announced that he had seen me last week. He then provided enough details of when and where that had occurred so that I remembered seeing him as well. The previous encounter occurred a week and a half ago when TOPWLH and I almost got caught in the rain after turning around at the Freewheel shop on the Midtown Greenway. When we stopped at the shop I noticed that a person sitting at one of the tables was taking notice of the LOOK. I noticed again that as we left he again took notice of the bicycle. He was openly admiring and it is pretty hard not to notice that.

Today he rode up next to me and we had a chat. Before he rode away (I did say he was young, didn't I? That means he was strong and fast in a way that I just am not.) he made a comment. "Very nice bike," he said.

He was young and strong and fit and riding a pretty nice bike himself. It is always nice when someone admires my bicycle. It is especially nice when the admirer is knowledgeable enough to actually appreciate what it is he is admiring.

Monday, October 5, 2009

I remembered how to ride a bicycle

I have just gotten back on my bicycle after not having turned a single pedal stroke for four days. I checked the log, and except for one six day stretch in late March, four is the most consecutive days off the bicycle since the first ride of the year in early March. And that March six day deal, for one of the days the log contains the terse note: "Snow", so arguably that was pre-season riding anyway.

I was confident that I was going to get in a ride today, so confident that I was a bit lax in keeping track of the weather radar. I WAS monitoring the temperature, waiting patiently for something over 50. Just before noon I looked a the radar and discovered, horrors, that the entire western half of the state seemed to be experiencing rain. I rushed to check the living room thermometer and decided that anything that rounds to 50 was close enough. I hurried through lunch and began preparations to ride.

Layering gets easier as you go along. Today I had the proper gloves and I also added my summer weight helmet liner underneath the heavier ear flap helmet liner. The gloves were my good ones which keep my fingers warm and the two layers on my head gave me on that major location for heat loss as many layers as I had on nearly everywhere else. Bingo, warm enough.

I got out to ride barely in time. As I sit at the computer now it is raining and has been raining for a couple of hours. I rode with gradually gathering clouds but finished before it was much more than beginning to be threatening. Now it is wet again.

Much like my sibling in Michigan, I assumed based on the large number of miles ridden in September that a record or near record year was in the making. For the past couple of months I have tried to keep my average miles ridden per day for total days of the month (as opposed to days with a ride during the month) over 20. With 30 days in a month that makes a 600 mile month.

With today's ride I raised my average for this month all the way up to 5.2 miles ridden for each day of October.

*sigh*

We have in our yard one of the many species that are referred to as "Burning Bush" due to the fact that the leaves turn red in the fall. Ours is just starting to the change.I rode around the neighborhood a bit making sure that I was properly layered and then started out towards the north. I passed the corn field and found nearly all of the corn gone replaced by dozens of geese. Here is the view from pretty much the same spot from which living plants have been photographed for the past approximately four and a half months.It is always a bit of a shock.

There is still a tiny bit of corn standing down at the other end of the field and these guys are up to something.They don't look like students, they must be faculty and staff. They are gathering complete corn plants. If you check the harvest photo from last week you can see that the main harvest was a silage chop. I don't know what these guys are up to but I suspect a teaching moment of some kind.

This evening in France, Tours 1-1 Nantes. FC Nantes remains firmly in second place in the Ligue 2 table.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Edward the Mad Shirt Grinder

Three days of rain and cold weather has left me off the bicycle and spending too much time roaming YouTube, probably to my detriment.

Have you got 9:23 to spare? And do you like rock and roll piano?

Right click and open in a new tab Quicksilver Messenger Service. This is Edward the Mad Shirt Grinder from the Shady Grove album from 1970. It features the legendary Nicky Hopkins on piano.

I came into possession of this album and this tune on a reel to reel tape while I was in the United States Army stationed in Cam Ranh Bay Republic of South Vietnam. I was there from 1 April 1969 through 3 November 1970 (but really, who was keeping track?). While there I possessed an Akai reel to reel tape recorder which allowed me to play my own tunes. The music was extremely helpful in keeping me sane. I played Quicksilver Messenger Service a lot.

I had a large 20 inch fan which was enormously useful to me in survival and maintaining relative comfort in the 12 degrees north latitude tropical climate. I think it was either NoDak or Dutch who got his shirt caught in the fan once when I was still an FNG**. After that the fan was always referred to as Edward.

This is really really good piano playing. It is really good for the first 5 or so minutes but the first 5 minutes is only a warm up. At about the 5 minute mark Nicky starts playing fast, and then he plays faster, and then for the last couple of minutes he plays really, really fast. And really, really good.

It is an obscure little bit of music, not extremely well known. Every time I get someone to listen to it they say they have never heard it before.

If you like Nicky Hopkins, after Edward is over listen to She's Like a Rainbow by the Rolling Stones. I know they say Rolling Stones but that's Nicky Hopkins on piano.

Hockey again tomorrow, I hope to be riding my bicycle again on Monday.

**FNG - slang term for a ____ New Guy.