I rode past the Fair today

And I won't be doing that again until after Labor Day. There was a major traffic tie up at the Como gate nearest Snelling. The right hand lane was full of people waiting to turn into the grounds. I had to go out to the middle lane and ride amongst the cars to get past there and then watch carefully to assure that the trucks turning out of the grounds saw me before they made any impulsive moves. It came off okay but . . .

Too dangerous.

But having ridden past the Fair I was free to ride down into the big city.

I actually passed a youngish rider on Summit. That never happens, Summit is home to RacerBoy. But this youngish rider had full panniers front and back. He looked to be packing maybe 40 or so pounds of stuff. I rode beside him for a bit and asked him where he was headed. "New York", he replied. "Ambitious", I offered and he agreed adding "I am just a little bit crazy". I offered that everybody on two wheels is a little bit nuts. He actually hung on my wheel for a bit but when the street turned uphill he had too much stuff on his bike to hang with even such as me.

I rode on down to the Cathedral, hoping to get a picture of the tourer when he passed. I waited a bit but apparently he had chosen another route, probably down Ramsey Hill. With as much stuff as he was carrying that again was an ambitious choice.

Here is some more early signs of fall on lower Summit Avenue in front of the James J. Hill Mansion.It was a pretty day, if a bit humid, and I have been short of photos of stone churches for the last couple of months. The Cathedral was standing out against a blue, blue sky.This afternoon I met golfingal in the parking lot of Maplewood Toyota to complete delivery of a recent eBay transaction. She happened to be coming to Saint Paul today so I didn't even have to go to Monticello. I am now the owner of these.And of 53 similar pieces. Wireless promises to take 6 or so place settings and any extra cereal bowls off my hands. That leaves 4 dinner plates, 5 salad plates, a few cups and many saucers, a gravy bowl and some miscellaneous probably not really matched up salad bowls.

Nice, huh?

Any takers?