Rain and what?

It was chilly and grey here today and I seriously considered whether the weather gods had ordered a rest day. An examination of the forecast for overnight tonight changed my thinking.

Of course, snow is anything but out of the question for the end of April.

I was battling a pretty strong southeast wind with mostly east and west riding again today when I rode past the Fairgrounds. There was obviously big doings (lots of parked cars) so I swung through the gate to see what was up. It turns out that this weekend is the big Horse Expo. And the first appearance at the Fairgrounds this year of rent-a-fence.

I was paused there after taking the photo adjusting my layers (removing full fingered glove liners if you must know) when a passing horse lady paused and leaned in to tell me that, "It's easier to ride a horse."

I thought for just a moment and then replied, "Yes, you're right." And probably she is right although riding a horse for a couple of hours a day 160 times between April 1 and November 1 would undoubtedly require a significant investment of effort.

She had started to walk away when I blurted out, "But I didn't have to train the bike". It was her turn to agree.

I rode down into the city for a bit and caught a glimpse of this scene on the freeway.

There isn't even anything major going on down there. It's about 2:45 in the afternoon and there is some construction off in the direction where all of the cars seem to be going. But that isn't good for mid-afternoon Friday.

A couple more details of yesterday's bicycle fatality. The incident occurred at 8:45pm. Tonight sunset was at 8:14. The police report as quoted in the newspaper said his bicycle had "standard reflectors" but no lights. He was on the left hand side of the street riding north against traffic in the outside lane of two southbound lanes. A local police captain is quoted as saying that "bicycles are supposed to ride in the same direction as traffic." The driver of the car was not issued a citation after the accident.