PSPS

I rode on Saturday.  I got a photo but didn't post anything.

It was my first ride of the season to a destination.  A destination ride means you go somewhere.  Life experience dictates that you not go somewhere until you have confidence that you will be able to get back.

The first destination was Lake Como.  Here is LOOK at Lake Como.

Lighting for that photo may make it indistinct but the ice is definitely out.

Saturday made three days in a row, again something that I haven't done for a long time.  I took Sunday off.

But I was out again today.  I added a couple of miles to my previous distance and can now report that if bicycle fitness does not significantly degrade between now and August that I will be able to make the out and back ride to the PSPS.

I was just across Snelling heading to some JRA at the Fairgrounds when a young person on a pretty nice bike passed me.  He took the time to tell me that he really liked my bike.

So the old bicycle still has it even as the old bicyclist increasingly does not.

The extra couple of miles took me down to Dead Man's Curve.

That spot actually has been well within range almost from ride 1.  There didn't seem any reason to go there though as there isn't anything very close on the other side of the underpass to justify going through there.  What you get is some unpleasant traffic, an uphill I really don't care for and usually a bunch of broken glass in the bike lane.

The thermometer said it was 82 when I was at the Cattle Barn.

A nice day for a ride.

Auckland Rule

Today was much too windy for bicycling but I managed to eke out a ride anyway.

And it turned out to be a day of glorious scenery, starting with the quite nearby tulip yard.

Not even three weeks removed from 16 inches of snow.

I also circled by the tree that I mentioned last week.  The leaves are a bright and pretty shade of green.

Last week they were even more fresh looking but I think the shrub is still looking good today.

And sure enough the first sighting of some slightly pinkish flowers on someone's yard shrubbery.

It is a late spring but having finally arrived the season is definitely now moving rapidly.

I also realized that I did not report yesterday's largest piece of bicycle content.

It is now May and as I have made a few rides since the blizzard I have been monitoring the street sweeping.  Most of Roseville has been swept including my street and the nearby streets that make up my usual egress and ingress from my neighborhood.  Lauderdale has not been swept yet but most of Falcon Heights has.

We had day care pick up on Wednesday, I did not ride.  But on Tuesday I had noticed that the nearby streets in Saint Paul that I ride a lot, the streets between here and the Fairgrounds, were posted for no parking on Wednesday, strongly suggesting that those streets were going to be swept.

I went all in, figuring that the sweeping of the streets meant that the season had arrived and I could ride my summer bicycle.

I was determined but, and here comes the bicycle content, I almost didn't get to ride at all.  The tires on FirstLOOK needed to be pumped before I could ride that bicycle and my pump didn't seem up to the task.

It took a while and a bit of fiddling with three different pumps but I eventually got the tires up to a pressure sufficient for riding.

Last evening I embarked on a project involving my main pump.

What the heck was the problem and was it something I could fix?

The metal parts comprising the pump head needed to be tightened and indeed that was something I could fix.

A tiny bit disappointing.  When you set out to do something expecting that it will be a project and it ends up being way too easy you don't get the big satisfaction reward of having conquered something difficult.

*sigh*

But I did get to ride today.

South wind at start. north wind at finish

Which means head in wind in both directions.

*sigh*

But by starting out into the south wind I passed by a couple of things that I mentioned the other day but which I had previously failed to photograph due to user error (I forgot to bring my camera).

So here is the many times previously pictured first flowering shrub that I encountered this year, and many other years in the past.

Less than three weeks after 16 inches of snow.

This one is a different species but pretty showy.

The white flowers come first, the blossoms with some color seem to take just a bit longer.  But soon enough there will be some pink and then some darker pink and all sorts of springtime joy.

One last look though, here is the State Fair parking lot approximately across the street from the Toro building.

Even with temperatures into the 70s that pile has not quite given up yet.

I would be surprised to find anything there tomorrow though.

The garage thermometer today reports 77F.

Hooray, hooray!

But I forgot my camera.

I saw a really pretty fully budded out tree, a couple of flowering shrubs and a parking lot at the Fairgrounds that still has a fair amount of snow.

I rode a couple of days ago and got this picture of the last bit of snow in our yard.

Even that bit has now vanished.

So it must be May.  Let the outdoor activities resume.