Slightly overdone

It was 20 degrees C shortly after noon when I started out.  Anything 20C or above is pretty much officially a nice day.

I rode out to the 8 lakes again.  Today I tried.  Up until now I have mostly been JRA out there.  Today I felt pretty strong at the start and tried to keep the pace up.  I ended up with an average speed nearly 1mph above what I have been averaging.

I also ended up slightly over cooked.

Sometimes you gotta try though.

I rode through Vadnais and my assessment of yesterday is most likely correct.  Riding through there at mid-day M-F is not going to be ideal but it IS going to be OK, probably not a heck of a lot worse than what it was like last year with a wider paved area.

I got a photo of one of the stone fishing areas newly constructed between the new path and lake's edge.

This is a good choice as a location for a fishing platform.  I (and the Guest Rider) get out there quite a bit and we have had at least a couple of conversations with a young WOMAN (yes, some women fish) who fishes at that spot based on a tip she received from an older fellow (we have met him too, but only once).  Apparently there is a weed bed slightly off shore there that the older fellow and his female fishing disciple have decided is a "good spot".

The effect of the new platforms is to elevate the angler up off the immediate shoreline.  This will make citizens less likely to try to interact with what is, never forget, my drinking water, by wading or engaging in other activities which, due to the fact that it IS my drinking water, I prefer not to contemplate.

Meanwhile, before I get too squeamish, it is probably best to remember that ducks f . . . well, you know what I mean.

And speaking of ducks, I saw some new wildlife out at Vadnais, a species of duck never before seen by me out there.  I tried for a photo but as we all know, the wildlife, she is shy.  Ducky swim away, photo tres blurry.

But I do have this new inter tubes dealie, so I was able to type "ducks with white on head" into a search engine (what is this search engine thingy?) and come up with lots of images of ducks with white on their heads.

My new ducky is one of these:

 Hooded merganser.

According to Wikipedia (and confirmed by my observation today) Hooded Mergansers have a crest at the back of the head which can be expanded or contracted.  In adult males, this crest has a large white patch and the head is black.  The male kept popping his crest.  It was actually quite a good show during the time that the merganser family was close enough to shore for me to be able to get a good view.

But not a good photograph.  The wildlife, he is shy.  Ducky swim away.