Confluence

I recently decided somewhat late in the three year CLE cycle that I actually like having my license riding around my life in my wallet. Until now I had pretty much decided to let the license go but as time grew short I decided that I can afford the costs, I like having the license. I launched into a series of webcasts which concluded today but which have drawn me within easy range of the CLE credits I need to keep my license. One of the first webcasts that I viewed was Legal Career Makeover, the guy talked a lot about how attorneys aged 65 or even 75 had plenty of time to still contribute.  Okay, maybe, but mainly I decided I like having the license, that to me, being a licensed but retired attorney makes ME feel better than I suspect I would feel just being retired and no longer licensed.  So I have been doing webcasts.  One thing that has occurred is that a lot of these webcasts begin at noon. That means my rides have been kicking off more afternoonish than noonish. What this meant today is that I was out there in mad dogs and Englishmen territory. Today was a ride a bit too far on a day a bit too warm.

Very pervasive and very persistent pavement issues on Roselawn have influenced me to alter my path away from home.  I now loop all the way over to Larpenteur and cut back through something called Maple Knoll Drive before locating my preferred crossing of the very daunting Snelling Avenue at Garden. This loop increases the getting away from home distance by almost a mile.

As a result when today I rode to what in most years past has been one of my very common destinations I discovered that if I rode all the way to my desired turn around that I was going to have too many miles.  Riding along, hot day, making decisions, I ended up riding all the way there anyway.  The deciding factor?  There is a public source of water (aka water fountain) at the confluence of the two big rivers.

And I needed that water.  The distance was the same but I had to hydrate at a 3 bottle rate (did I mention it was hot?).  Because I only carry 2 bottles there clearly would have been a problem without that public source of water.  We mostly all have experienced a little dehydration disorientation at some point and I for one prefer not to do that anymore if I can possibly avoid it.

As reported previously that may not be the technical confluence. That is the Mississippi in the foreground, Pike Island center and the backwater separating Pike Island from the mainland leading back towards the top right between the land masses. The usual spot for recognition of the confluence is at the foot of Pike Island, another mile and a half or so downstream. But that backwater is a merger of waters from the Minnesota and the Mississippi, maybe not the recognized confluence but clearly the first mixture of waters. Considering the fact that I had already ridden too far and it was too hot, I am calling that good.

Here's an artsy shot straight down the side of the gorge from the overlook.

Me neither, I have no idea what any of that stuff is. Except artsy.  Mostly the trees are taller than you might expect just standing there on the overlook.  That foliage right next to you looking much like the shrub in your yard is probably the top of a tree about 50 feet tall.

One of the things about adding loops near the beginning of the ride is that it is fairly easy to knock one of those loops off on the return.  The wind was SSE anyway so I cut off the ride on the return along Como towards the east and my preferred route along Hamline Avenue and cut through the Fairgrounds instead.

See, a little too late in the day and a little too warm.  That's also a previously seldom seen here view of the Cattle Barn made possible by a later in the day sun angle.

We just watched episode 11 of season 6 of The Sopranos, the episode when Mama Soprano takes a vacation with her friend Ro (Tony is too busy with family matters to accompany her) to Paris. We love Paris.