Friday, July 14, 2017

Destination

I thought about it and decided that with Deadman's Curve open, that following a mostly direct path would bring this destination within the outer limit of our fitness.
Friday afternoon in July at Minnehaha Falls.

It was cool at the start, temperature not yet 70F, but it got to 70 pretty easily as we rode along.  The sun was mostly out, the wind was very light, we had a really nice ride.

I note for the record that if we can get that far that it is only about another mile and a half or so to where three of our favorite people live.

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Investigation report

It was hot today but mostly overcast.  When the clouds were present the wind felt temperate enough to allow a little riding around.  When the clouds parted the sun was a burden.  When the clouds were present the possibility of precipitation always was present.

Just riding around.

I had about nine miles in when the sun first became a burden.  After that only roads that led closer to home were considered as an option.  Even so a couple more periods of clouds allowed me to achieve a respectable total.

I spotted this about four miles from home and about nine miles from the end of the ride.
That's a Trek comfort bike, a fairly nice bike, several important degrees above the department store POS that we all see so much of.

It is leaned against a signpost in the middle of a block with no lock to be seen.

All signs point to this being a stolen bike.  The thief lives nearby but not in the house that the bike is in front of.  He lives within walking distance, for sure.  But he was wily enough to not leave the evidence directly in front of his residence.

The bike was also stolen from somewhere within walking distance.  He was out walking when the opportunity theft presented itself.  Where I spotted the bike was close enough to Como Park that I suspect that is where the crime occurred.  The lesson is, as always, do not let your bike out of your sight if it is not locked.

Chance that the bicycle will ever be returned to its rightful owner?  Almost nil.

I ride through that neighborhood a lot.  I have no evidence whatsoever but if I had a guess to identify the perp I know what my guess would be.

Monday, July 10, 2017

Lake Vadnais

No bicycle race this morning so we had to ride our bicycles in order to produce some bicycle content.

Fitness is gradually improving.  We stretched a bit with a ride out towards one of the common destinations.
It looks like we turned around in the parking lot of a liquor store but actually we were in the parking lot of a food and fuel.

We saw Lake Vadnais and photographed the lake but as the name of that liquor store probably makes clear, we were on the ridge overlooking the south end of the lake.

The thing is we were pretty close to the outer limit of our fitness levels.  If we rode down to the lake we were going to put that elevation change between us and home.

Instead this time we headed for home.

Probably next time.

Friday, July 7, 2017

Tear down

We watched today's near dead heat from Nuits-Saint-Georges.  The cycling press is reporting the margin of victory as 6 millimeters.  That's six tenths of a centimeter, a bit under a quarter of an inch.  I dunno, it looked closer than that to me.

The really oppressive dangerous heat has passed, at least for now.  It was an excellent day to be out on a bicycle.

You don't see much of this in our neighborhood, but as recently as last month there was a house on that lot.
It was a nice day for a ride but nothing appealed to my eye for a photo.  Not to worry, I do have some bicycle content anyway.

First, on the way home Wednesday I passed through the intersection of Raymond and Como.  That is news because it is now possible to pass through there.  Construction is not yet complete but the road is open.  A route to the big city to our south has been opened.

And then there is this.  I purchased new heel pads for my fancy Italian cycling shoes.  Who would have expected that shoes have parts.
I almost always put my right foot down when I stop and that red bit was worn down to the point that the integrity of the screw holding the pad in place was in doubt.

While I was at it I adjusted the cleat on my left shoe.  Who knows how these things happen but over time the cleat on the right shoe had moved to the furthest inboard setting while the left shoe cleat had moved to the furthest outboard.  This meant that I had a slightly different position for each foot.  I thought the left one was a bit off the center of the pedal.  I moved that one back to what I hope is more or less the position of the cleat on the other pedal.  Presence or absence of knee pain will inform me of the relative success of this adjustment.

That's not much bicycle content, but it is something.

Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Fourth of July

Family on the deck for grilled chicken and sausages (both bratwurst and kielbasa), Sharon's baked beans, a pasta salad and some good times.

The guest of honor was in the first group to arrive.
Patriotic stars for both Mom and Grandma.  The little girl has a shirt with a field of blueberries and stripes of strawberries.

She went out in back and discovered that she had her own chair.
The very first thing she did after initially laying her eyes on the chair was go over and climb in.

I think she liked it because she could easily get down without any help and wander over to the next thing she wanted to do.
The group at dinner.
We love you all, it made us happy to have you here.  It was an excellent day in our backyard.

Monday, July 3, 2017

Important traffic update

I wanted a couple more miles today than yesterday and with a southerly wind I figured on a tour de Fairgrounds and a check on conditions at Deadman's Curve.

The news is unbelievably good.  One of the major blockages that has made it very difficult to leave our neighborhood has been removed.  The paving project at Deadman's Curve has been completed.
And really good bicycle riding news there too.  Notice that they have extended the bike lane through the underpass on both sides.

And take a really close look.

The path has been curb protected.  They have moved it up off the street and put concrete curbs between the bicycles and the cars.

One of THE most dangerous spots for bicyclists has had bicycle safety radically improved.

I am a little worried about driving through there in my car, though.  The pattern for cars has always been to take the shortest route through, meaning that from both sides cars almost always cross the center line.  In the past they could do that as there was extra pavement on each side where cars could go when it was necessary to avoid a head on collision.  That's what made that spot so dangerous for bicycles.  That extra car space was the space where bicycles were and as all bicyclists know, bicyclists just cannot rely on the cars not taking your space.

That extra car space is now gone, gone up over the curb and firmly assigned to bicycles.

We shall see how the cars react.

The road is not quite clear yet, as there is still this down at Como.
FirstLOOK for scale.

You can now get through DMC but you still have to take a little detour if you want to get to our house.  It's OK, it is an easy detour and one easily navigated by anyone with basic knowledge of the neighborhood.

I wanted to check on the Lao Fourth of July celebration but it is already over and the crowds have moved on.  The rent-a-fence is still present as a reminder.
I got the extra miles I wanted.

Who knows, fitness may still be possible.

Sunday, July 2, 2017

Corn update

The truth is that it is pretty hard to improve your bicycle fitness if you ride only very occasionally.  Yesterday we set out to improve bicycle fitness.

The destinations are closer this year than they have been in the past, see above.

But we rode out to Island Lake Park.
It is about 2.5 miles from there to Vadnais.  Progress.

Here is a couple of days early check on the Fourth of July knee highedness.
Chin high seems good.  It has been a good year for corn, plenty of moisture.

Fairly obviously we are back in the USSA.  There is no place like home.