Felt like the last

The temperature was again 15 degrees above average, a bit higher, in fact, than Tuesday.  The sun was out when I started but it was windy, a north wind.  At this time of year a north wind is cold.  It was pretty hard work but I got out there and got the one last ride that I really wanted.  A couple more next week would be a nice bonus but . . . By the end of the ride today the sky had clouded up and it felt like a storm coming.  What happens tomorrow will determine if today was the last.

North wind meant a ride to the north.  Here is a definite sign of where we currently stand in the relative to the calendar.  I ride past a church on Lexington on the way out.  They have already received delivery of the stock for the Christmas tree lot that they will be opening the day after Thanksgiving.

I deviated a little from the standard route to try to get an end of season photo of Grass Lake.  The MUT ends right foreground.  Gramsie Road with a mini van or something right about at the spot where the tunnel goes under the road.

All this means that the water is at least 5 feet higher than most years.

I got out to Vadnais hoping to see some big white birds.  In the past I have seen herons, pelicans and swans.  Today I saw swans.

And geese.  And ducks.  The water is quite shallow up at that end and all of these birds are bottom feeding.

In all I saw 10 swans on the lake today including a couple that were less shy than most of them.

The storm is coming for sure and here is the tarpaulin roof house as photographed today.

It seems apparent that the reason for no repair is not related to occupancy.  The house looks decidedly lived in including today having a trash bin out for trash collection.

Does this thing look flat on the bottom?

I will have bicycle content tomorrow as I have to repair that.

Everyone knows that almost all flat tires are flats of the rear tire.  That's my front wheel and is the second in a row flat of the front.  This one happened just as I was about to cross Snelling on the way home.  I convinced myself by looking down that there was still a tiny bit of air in there so I went ahead and rode it home, a bit less than 2 miles.

Two things.  One, riding with a flat is a really slow ride.  And two, it is really, rally hard to steer with a front flat tire.

That tire was already a formerly used front tire.  The front gets much less wear than the load bearing rear and when I change tires I typically save the less wear front for later re-use.  But when an already used tire gets a flat it is time to chuck it into the trash.

That means if there are any rides next week I will be palping a tire in an orange colorway on the rear and a tire in a green colorway on the front.

As noted above, we'll see.