Fall again

The weather forecast is for 80 yet again tomorrow but today was a pretty normal October day.  The sun came out and the wind died down and the mercury rose to somewhere pretty near to average for this date.

I read in the newspaper that "peak" for fall colors here has been quite consistent over the past few years, generally occurring between October 14 and 19.  That means that the peak is near and if I don't want to miss out on it I need to start featuring photos of colorful trees.

That's Chelsea Street looking north from Hoyt Avenue.

On my last ride my mid-ride sitdown featured a search for shade.  With normal temperatures having returned, today I was looking for a spot in the sun.

That is a not very urban looking spot, I don't think, featuring a birch clump and a nice patch of a long stemmed decorative grass.  I have heard that birches do not do well in urban areas, they don't thrive in areas with air pollution.

Personally I think birches should suck it up and thrive.  If I have to breathe this air then they should get used to it too.

Regarding the news from Michigan is it possibly true that nearly every one of the individuals arrested could be described as a "West Michigan man"?

Intermediate pool

The Army Corps of Engineers is conducting a maintenance project on the stretch of river between the Upper and Lower Saint Anthony Lock and Dams, an area only several blocks in length known as the Intermediate Pool.  This is the area of the river near downtown Minneapolis crossed by the Stone Arch Bridge.  For reference, the Upper Pool is above the dams, the lower pool is below the dams stretching from the lower dam to the Lock and Dam Number 1, informally known as the Ford Lock and Dam.

The project involves opening the Lower Dam to lower or draw down the water level to allow for inspection of various parts of the generally submerged infrastructure.  This is done, I now understand, periodically but obviously not often as this is the first I have heard of such a thing.  Apparently this was last done in 2008.

The project will last about 10 days with today and tomorrow being the days when the water level will be at its lowest.  It was a nice day for a ride, sunny and warm with a bit too much southwest wind, but downtown Minneapolis is southwest from where I live making a ride over there today downhill into the wind with a gradual uphill with a strong tailwind return.  I set off.

Well, there were too many people there.  But it WAS outdoors and with a strong wind.  I don't ride with a face mask but I now do carry one in the pocket of my bicycle jersey so when I got there I put on my mask and coexisted for a bit with my fellow citizens.  As is often the case for me for such interactions I found the experience to be tolerable if only just barely so.

And I took some pictures.

This is from the bridge looking upstream with downtown Minneapolis is the background, the upper lock dominating screen center.

You can still make out the ordinary high water mark on the concrete, the river looks to be down about six or eight feet.  This is a significant amount when what the Corps is guaranteeing on this stretch of the Mississippi is a nine foot deep channel.  The river bed near the lock has come into view, evidence of what was at the time of settlement a series of rapids which extended from below the then natural falls all the way down the gorge to Saint Paul.

This one is near the west bank, what was originally Saint Anthony before the two cities merged.  That is a run out channel from one of the mills.  Visible is a modern navigation warning sign.  The warning is necessary as all of this area is now generally underwater if only just barely so, meaning that this is an area of extremely shallow water.

This is below the dam, vestiges of what I believe is the foundations for the 10th Avenue wagon bridge.  Of interest is again the rapids and potential navigation hazards.  The beginning of the lower lock structure is there on the left.  And again, that area where people are walking in the photo foreground is generally river bed.

I crossed the river and tried with limited success to find a viewing spot for the bridge itself and eventually settled for this.  Again, the ordinary high water mark is still visible on the bridge footings.

All in all it was a pretty good show.

But after that I has to get home and it was going to be mostly uphill.  I stopped for a mini-Clif bar at what is likely to be my only visit this year at a spot where we have been going 18-20 times a year for the past 15 years.  That is a NewLOOK at Ridder Arena, home of the seven time national champion Gopher Women's Hockey team.

Riding with a strong wind is hard.  I think today's effort was more strenuous than the now several days ago 20 percent extension of usual distance.  By the time I got home I was pooped.

But perhaps the news from the Petkoff time and temperature display had something to do with that.

That was about 3:45 and qualifies yet again as probably the last 80 degree temperature for several months.  I turn left there and I can be home in 0.63 miles (5 blocks).  I can make it from there even when I am pooped.

My yearly mileage total at the end of the ride is 1,006, which is good.  I passed 1,000 while struggling on the uphill on Como past the Fairgrounds which is a hill which in my prime I charged.  But accentuating the positive there are still 3 or 4 or 5 or who knows for sure more weeks to ride this year.

It was an exceptionally nice Tuesday in early October.

Piling up frequent visitor points

I had not been there even a single time this year until just last week but favorable conditions moved me down into the really big city and over to this place.

Visible on the footbridge over the creek just above the Falls is what for that venue is quite typical social distancing.

Well, it is outdoors but it doesn't feel safe to me down at that end of the gorge.

I have one other place on my list that I still may try to make it to later this week when the weather is predicted to be gorgeous (possibly allowing another ride or two this year in shorts).  I considered that today but to get there I would have to ride through part of the main campus of the University and my thinking about that has evolved to the point that I think that I should limit as much as possible my exposure to students.  It just doesn't feel safe.

The sun was out today making it a really nice Sunday in October.  The temperature was about 50 at the start but I do have the gear.  It is interesting as the end of the season approaches and I start to have discussions with myself about what my floor temperature for starting a ride is.  Often and in fact, this year, I imagine to myself that 50 is about as cool as I will attempt.  Then a day like today comes around and it is clear that I have several more degrees below that point where comfort is very possible.

It is mostly still pretty green in Minneapolis.  Lots of the yellows have come and lots of those leaves are down but most of the bright oranges and reds are not here yet.  I think it is really pretty right now.  I leaned my bicycle against a sign providing hours and conditions of allowable parking and sat on a nearby retaining wall for a mid-ride sit down and got this picture.

I was riding roughly along the River Road.  The shared pavement which surprisingly manages with two painted lines, one solid and one dashed, to serve quite well as both a pedestrian and a bicycle path is over there on the other side of where the cars are passing.  Where I was was on Edmund Boulevard just about even with the south property line fence of the Dowling School.

In case anyone wants to know.

On the way home rather than ride up the Pelham hill, I rode around it.  Obviously you cannot really avoid the change in elevation, you can only flatten the curve.  I did that and it ended up taking more miles to do than what I had expected.

But I remembered this tree in Saint Paul from years past and wanted to check the colors in the other big city.  That's Dayton and Wheeler, a really striking maple in front of a stately old cottonwood, both standing out from the cerulean blue sky of one really excellent day for a bike ride.

The extra miles involved in flattening that hill stretched the ride out to the distance that I have been riding of late.  I am still feeling the effects of the Vadnais ride of only two days ago and intended that today would be easier.  It's okay though, it felt great.

LOOK at Lake Vadnais

I have had this nagging desire to try this for a month or so now.  My average ride has been of a sufficient distance and my comfort in being able to complete that distance have encouraged me to think about the old standard ride that I did so many times when I was just a little bit closer to prime.  The extra distance was sobering, an increase of 20 percent over my previous long ride, and the fact that part of that extra distance would have to be a long uphill made me hesitant.

But today I just decided to go for it.  It was definitely cool, a high temperature of only 50, but I have the gear, and the day was sunny and nearly without any breeze.  As I started my ride it just started to feel like a day when I could do it.

So I took my longest ride of the year and revisited Lake Vadnais.  New gear for today's ride included a full head covering (including my face which of course fit right in in today's world), full fingered gloves, a fleece vest and my heaviest bicycle jacket.  My fingers were not totally comfortable but in general the gear was a success and I rode in comfort.

There were lots of people fishing out there today and many more walkers than bikers but here it is, a LOOK at Lake Vadnais.

Really nice bike at about the 10.5 mile point in today's ride.  I knew I wasn't yet quite at the half way point but I did know that it was time for a short sit down and an energy bar.

I wanted to wait for the sun for a photo of the lake but it was taking too long and the colors aren't vivid yet so finally I settled.  Maybe I should have waited, those clouds were much more dramatic looking when the lighting changed.

The ride was not quite actually the old standard ride, today I rode it in the reverse direction.  That means that I got to the lake before the half way mark instead of after and the uphill was longer but not as steep as the up to Rice Street climb on the south end of Vadnais.

But I did get all the way to the Highway 96 end of Sucker Lake and went around the roundabout in that park as the turn back point, as is the case on the standard ride.

It was too far and I was feeling it in my neck as I ground out the final four miles but I made it home under Gzmoohoo power so I guess maybe it wasn't too far.

Here is a picture I took at Lake Como several days ago on a day when I did ride but for some reason did not post.

You can see the lake peaking through the trees frame right but what I like about this spot and why I took the photo, other than the bench I was sitting on, is there are two paths around this lake, one for pedestrians over there nearer to the lake, and this one, which is marked all the way around with painted bicycle symbols.

And that blue stripe along the away from the lake edge of the path.

I suspect that I am one of many mystified by that stripe.  I wonder whatever it could possibly mean.

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the internet

TOPWLH recently posted something about the relatively nearby and immensely historical Catholic cemetery.  She received a commented complaint that she left out one of the  most significant markers in the cemetery and was referred to me, of all people, for guidance on correcting this oversight.

Well.

So today I set out to try to be helpful.

During the time when I was out it was another gorgeous day.  The temperature topped 80 for the second time since the last 80 of the year was declared a couple of weeks ago.  But truthfully, the average high is now only 69 and 82 is a really nice day.  The colors are coming, getting a bit more noticeable every day.  There are now lots of yellows and some pretty striking examples of maple trees going orange.  I was taking my mid-ride sit down when I got this photo.

That is an oak tree and won't be changing for a bit yet.  The lighting and the shadows are really outstanding.

So I was sitting down.  That part of the monument behind my bicycle looks a lot like a bench to me and when you are standing next to it in the middle of a couple of hours of vigorous exercise it is definitely a bench.

I am pretty sure this one wins the award as largest monument in the cemetery.  It isn't the tallest, I don't think, but for pure bulk this one seems the largest to me.

According to the morning newspaper still 12 hours and 6 minutes between sunrise and sunset.

Change of season

Fundamentally there are two seasons, the season when there is more daylight than night and the other season.  Tomorrow is the solstice. (edit: at least the commenters were aware that tomorrow is actually the equinox)

But enough about that.

With today's ride I succeeded on a throw away line from the 1st of this month.  I have now ridden more miles in this month than in any previous month this year.  This is partly the early start this month but probably more importantly this is a product of slowly increasing fitness.  To illustrate, I do not this month have the largest number of rides for any month this year.  Fewer rides but more miles per ride.  I need two more rides this month to equal the largest number.  This still seems quite likely but I am not there yet.

All the weather sites said it was nice out today so I really only checked starting temperature and wind direction and headed out.  Oops.

I was less than a mile from home when a gigantic clap of thunder intruded.  Ordinarily that would be enough to get me right back into the house.  This time by the time I got turned around and headed towards home there was an emerging large expanse of blue so I stayed out.  And stayed close to home.

I didn't get rained on but interestingly I rode through lots of places where it had rained.  I tried to get a picture showing the contrast but I wasn't too sure how well wet pavement would photograph.  Given that, I was able to document 70 degrees at 3:28 at the Cattle Barn.

I had mostly been JRA so I was ready for a sit down.

I will be keeping an eye on the section of the newspaper that reports sunrise and sunset.  It was 12 hours and 5 minutes today.  The dark season is looming.

Nice Saturday in September

Every nice Saturday in September has an increased possibility of being the last nice Saturday of the year.

It was a plenty nice day for a bicycle ride and I took what is going down for this year as an epic ride.  That's good.  Approximately half the population of the metro area was also engaged in outdoor recreation.  That is also good but occasionally there were more people around than I am currently comfortable with.  More on that later.

A mostly southerly wind got me started off to the south.  My usual route takes me around the Fairgrounds on the east side but I have noticed that Como is torn up considerably beyond what I have previously reported, the project continues on west of Snelling all down the side of the Fairgrounds.  There appears to be pavement available but bicycles would have to share the lane with automobiles and the potential for that to end badly, especially on a weekend with the increased amount of traffic, so I didn't want to go that way.  I can get past the Fairgrounds on that route but with Como unavailable I can not get back to the west at that point.  All rides from that point head off to the east towards Como Park.  Today I adapted by cutting through the farm campus thereby staying on the west side of the Fair.

We have reached that point of the annual cycle when the natural lighting is magical.

This route gets me out of town and into the big city to the south much more rapidly than the normal route and I knew that I could penetrate much farther to the south than I had done previously.  For example:

Yes, indeed.  That's Minneapolis.  I was really close to the big attraction over there and I wanted to try to take a look.  It was a nice Saturday in September with far too many of my fellow citizens having that same idea but patience and a willingness to settle for the secondary viewing area means that I got this photo:

For once the autofocus worked for me.

I took my sitdown at 42nd and 42nd.

There is a school there, Longfellow, with lots of shade and a huge playground.

After that all I had to do was get home and I endeavored to persevere.  The long uphill on Pelham was daunting but as a family member explained earlier this year after arriving at our house on her bicycle, that hill is only long, it isn't really that steep.  You find a gear that you can turn and you turn it.

It ended up being a really nice Saturday in September.

Ambition

 It happened again here today.  After 82 unexpectedly appeared on Tuesday temperatures have plummeted to around 20 degrees cooler than average for this date.  As I neared home I rode past the insurance agency time and temperature display to find 57.  No one likes that big a variation between rides, it upsets your equilibrium.

But at this time of year once the cool weather gear comes out of storage it is standing by ready for use on every ride until the final ride of the season.  Looking at my bike log, last year the first time it snowed was October 12.  Snow came to stay on October 27.  Both of those dates are very early historically.  In any case we have reached a point where the end of the season is starting to come into view.  There should be at least six more weeks but probably not much beyond that.

I wanted to test my limits a bit today so I headed towards Island Lake and possibly points north.  This is an area where I used to go all the time but where I had not been this year.

Sometimes when you don't go somewhere for a while you discover that gremlins have been messing around in your absence.  There is a very ambitious park improvement project going on in Shoreview.

You turn off Lexington onto a path, ride through some woods with wetlands on either side of the path and then up a hill.  When last I was there all of this was just brush intermixed with some long grass, mostly brush.  The brush has been grubbed out and the county appears intent on planting one of those gardens of the types of grasses that were abundant here before widespread Euro settlement.

My opinion is that anything involving changing out what was there previously is likely to be an improvement and this particular project is quite likely to be a very significant upgrade.  I am going to have to ride out there again from time to time to check on the progress.

Here is where I took my sit down.

I sat on one of those landscape blocks.

That is a commercial orchard on Victoria Street.  Even when I ride that far north I don't make it to this orchard very often.  My usual route out there turns about a half mile before this and heads off to the east in search of Lake Vadnais.  That is starting to shape up as a goal for what remains of this season but not for today.

Visible on the ground next to NewLOOK is clear evidence of where we are in the season.  I wore full fingered (but very light weight) gloves over my biking gloves today.  It was plenty nice enough when the sun was out but at the half way point in my ride that had not happened yet.

Fake news

A few days ago I repeated the opinion of a local weather reporter that we had had the last day for this year of 80 degree temperatures.

Surprise.

Today was 82.  Pretty nice day for mid-September, I suppose, but too windy for a comfortable bike ride.  And humid.  But September humid.  There was a lot of water in the air but without summer time sun it just didn't quite cook up into that mixture that is so hard to breathe.  It felt muggy but a very breathable muggy.

And even without a cloud the sky was not blue.  There was a substantial and quite evident smear of smoke.  The cable news channels are reporting that multiple west coast states are on fire.

But I did ride and took my mid-ride sit down here.

I sat on the green rug simulating grass over there in front of the lawn mower picture.

From that spot I found myself looking at the hardware for one of the two sky rides.  There are two and they are NOT the same, they each have a name and the names differ in some insignificant detail which I do not at this moment recall.  I do know that the building back up the hill there which is underneath the track of this attraction is the spot where females have taken to discarding their undergarments while riding this thing during Fair week.  Note that there is no underwear visible today.  Which is as it should be, it is not Fair week.

There is quite a bit of road furniture as the grounds prepare for this weekend's drive through flu shot clinic.  I have already had mine so I will not be participating but I wonder if you could bicycle through and still participate.

 The sky looks blue but an indistinct sort of clear blue.  Smoke.

 This time probably was the last appearance of 80 for this year.  The average for tomorrow is 76 so 80 still seems possible but the forecast for tomorrow is cool again.  There feels like plenty of season left, we shall see.

Summer kit

We had visitors for lunch which delayed my start.  I ended up being out there in the warmest part of the day which today ranged from 68 at the Cattle Barn near the start to 72 at the insurance agency near home near the end of the ride.

68 is a really comfortable temperature for biking.  I spent a good amount of time trying to decide if 68 feels nicer the first time in the spring when temperatures are rising or in the fall when temperatures are falling.

No final decision was reached.

I was riding through the Fairgrounds noticing things like how different it looks over there in this year of no Fair compared to how it usually looks during September.  I came upon these two characters along the street in front of the Horse Barn, across the street from the Sheep Barn and just up the block from the Cattle Barn.

If you magnify the picture you might be able to see 68 at the Cattle Barn at 3:48.  But the picture of Paul and Babe is significant because they were also featured in my State Fair review post from the Fair of 2019.

I had stopped there for my mid-ride sit down.  I think that stone portal may have been placed there for the recent Fair food parade.  There is a mailbox just off frame left containing sales brochures.  That stuff could not have been there since last year's Fair, could it?

Our visitors reported on conditions in their neighborhood in the city across the river.  I bet they don't have anything on their street quite like this.

I see the remains of lots of broken car windows when I ride through the parking lots up at the Snail Lake Regional Park but usually all I see is the broken glass littering the pavement long after the car has been driven away.

These people better get on that, although they may have a bit of time.  Predictions of probability of rain remain quite low for most of next week or so.

It was a beautiful day and lots of people were out in it.  There was what appeared to be a youth lacrosse tournament playing out at McMurray fields.  Of further note, also visible is the warning track and outfield fence of the baseball field in the corner where an adult recreational baseball game had just concluded.

I know they are outside and that makes things safer but the sight of that jam packed parking lot makes me queasy.

It was a beautiful day, so nice that I went without all of that gear from a couple of days ago and rode in summer costume, OOTNDITHOD, a great day to be out riding.

Searching through a drawer full of gear.

It was 80 something the last time I rode.  We have had a couple of days when it rained and every day it has been chilly.  Today was nice enough to try to ride again.  At 3:20 at the Cattle Barn it was 57.

So two things there, yes, the Fairgrounds have reopened.  And 57 isn't really that big a problem.  I have the gear.

But gear the first time each fall involves searching through that drawer full of stuff.  I needed a long sleeved jersey, a base layer, gloves, bib tights, longer socks, a heavier under helmet head covering, and, of course, a fall jacket.

It takes a while.

But I got it all on and got out the door before dark.  TOPWLH took a commemorative photo and sent it along to our dafter.  Dafter's dafter viewed the photo and noted that I have cool bike shoes.  So life is good.

Today is a day full everywhere with moments and acts of remembrance.  Here is the fire department for the next town over dangling an oversized flag from a ladder truck over the major thoroughfare in town.

And here is the final rose, I have now published photos of all 20.

I saved this one for last because it is one of my favorites and because it is the only one of them that it would have been impossible for me to reach by bicycle.  It is located at the offices of a local construction company on the other side of one of the freeways.  The only public street from which this site can be accessed is that freeway.  I suspect that it might be possible to get there by riding through a parking lot and loading dock area of a warehouse adjoining the construction company but even that would involve a ride of several miles in often unpleasant traffic.

I visited this one in my car.

My favorite is the one published on July 19.  It has vibrant colors and the best location, on the hill above the lake in Central Park.

Last day of summer

It feels pretty bad to say that but the indications this year are pretty clear.  It was 82 when I got home from my ride, predicted high for tomorrow is upper 50s with no return to 80 likely until April or May.

Tomorrow is Labor Day, the last day of the State Fair and the first day of fall.  I am not ready, who is ever ready for the end of summer but . . .

I rode to Lake Johanna for the first time this year.  I remembered correctly that it is downhill to the lake.  Imagine that, water accumulating in a low spot.  What I didn't remember is such a robust crowd.  I thought the Lake Johanna crowd was usually pretty sparse.

Lots of boats and even a life guard on duty.  Well it is the last day of summer.

And the last day of the Fair.  This is one of the things we missed a lot.

Two of the things, actually.

Only a couple left to go.  This one is in a nondescript office strip mall/park on Rice Street.

So long summer, come back as soon as you can.

Grass Lake

I have been trying to ride every other day and that makes yesterday ride day.  For one of the first times ever I violated the Auckland Rule by declining to ride in windy conditions.  Rule or no rule gusts of up to 39 mph promised to suck any possible pleasure out of bicycling, I stayed inside.

But I got right back on, making it out the door this afternoon.  I remain theoretically on pace for most miles in a month.

I rode out to Grass Lake, my second time there this year.  I have ridden through this underpass many, many times but not today.

At that, the water appears to be down quite a bit from high water mark still visible on the concrete.  If that water goes down a bit more it will be an indication that the water level in the wetland over there on the other side has probably gone down enough to reopen the bike path.  That may be of interest to some but not necessarily to me as getting this far was pretty close to the end of my range.

This one is in a warehouse district on the far west edge of the city, way over on the other side of the freeway.

If you upload pictures in the new blogger interface they are automatically displayed at a large size.  If you have to do something else for a bit and save the photos included draft, when you come back the photos have resized to something smaller and there is a confusing new interface to try and get them back up to the upload size.

First

I entered today's miles in the bike log and when I did I noticed that this is the first time this year that I have ridden on the first of the month.  What this means is that I am on pace for my most miles in a month of any month this year.

Only time will tell.

I was headed south when I spotted this sign.

I almost passed it by but after half a block or so I decided that it might be a metaphor for something so I circled back for a photo.

So the street is closed but it is still suitable for bicycle traffic.  The message might be parallel to the treatment accorded to bicycling in general by the automobile culture.

While making that circle I noticed some unexpected traffic heading into the front entrance of the Fairgrounds.  There is no Fair but there are currently two events on the grounds.

You turn right just inside the gate (only if you have a ticket, there was a police car parked right there to keep bicyclists out) and proceed a couple of blocks to the Fine Arts Building.  The information so far available to me has not been clear on whether crop art is included this year but I doubt it.  Even the crop artists don't indulge themselves with the conceit that their art is "fine". 

I have been to the Fine Arts Building many times during the annual show and highly recommend it.  And I am glad that they have gone ahead with it even with the Fair cancelled.  But I lament a mindset that finds the Fine Art show necessary when the rest of the Fair is not.  Crop art is every bit as much art as anything in the Fine Arts Building on the 12 days of fun ending on Labor Day.

Here's where I took my sit down.

I sat on the grass and leaned my back up against that stone wall.

Here is today's rose, it is the placement at the local mall.

I expected to find it inside the mall in the main atrium.  Instead it is out on the sidewalk in front of the sea aquarium thing between Macy's and Penney's.  This one really lacks any effort at presentation.  The combination of colors lacks drama.

At last, a corn report

I have not been very diligent about posting corn reports this season.  Part of the problem is that I have adopted a new crossing point for Snelling which includes an approach along Larpenteur.  My former route followed Roselawn and took me directly adjacent to the corn field.  For some unknown reason today I set out to ride Roselawn up to Snelling.  I got one of my best looks of the year at the corn field.

It appears that I have missed something.

*sigh*

It is barely still August but it is still August and August is a summer month.  We had breakfast outside on the deck this morning and everyone put a jacket on.  So today was a coolish summer day, temperatures in the 70s with a fresh breeze.  It was very pleasant, a very nice day.

The breeze was almost completely from the south so I angled off in an angle mostly southerly and ended up a place I haven't been for a while.  I took my sit down here.

What I liked about that scene was the wide variety of man made objects in the frame.  Those closest stones are limestone, the obelisk and the other stones further away are granite.  There is a steel electric power transmission line tower center frame, very new age technology.  Then some tall office towers and over to the right two churches, the one farthest away being the local Cathedral.  I learned in France that our big church is a cathedral and the biggest church in Minneapolis is a basilica because this one is the bishop's church, the one in Minneapolis has no bishop.  I learned that on a day when I visited Notre Dame Cathedral and the Basilica of Saint Denis.

I passed near the Fairgrounds on my route home and came upon this enterprising citizen reacting to the large decrease in number of people wishing to park in his neighborhood this week by posting a substantial decrease in his usual rates.

The guy with the dogs is not the homeowner, the homeowner is sitting in the shade, you can see his right foot peeking out from behind the bush frame right.

I felt strong but compared to lately but I am quite slow.  I was riding along next to the lake when I noticed that I was completely not gaining on a father riding with his two early grade school age children.  I wasn't really falling back from them but I was definitely not gaining.

This one is located at the local branch of the county library.

I went through and counted again and cross referenced my published photos to the informational website.  Sixteen down, four to go.

Got rained on in the last mile

 I am a little uncertain about this new blogger.  As usual, change is hard, it isn't so much that there are things I don't like.  It is more that things are no longer where I expect to find them.

*sigh*

And then there is the whole return key dropping me down two lines instead of one.  After a lifetime of return- return to start a new paragraph blogger wants me to get used to using only a single return.

I am a little uncertain.

We did not have Tropical Storm Laura but we did have a pretty intense if short burst of rain this morning and it finally broke the string of too hot too humid heat advisory days that has dominated the last half of August.  There was still a 30 percent chance of more for this afternoon but that was a 70 percent chance of none and it was starting to be too long since I had ridden.  Also, yesterday was the scheduled first day of the Fair and I wanted to ride by over there.  The Fair Food Parade was having another go today and I was interested to see if the smells of the Fair might be present near the grounds.

No.

I was trying to keep an eye on the northwestern sky which was where the incoming weather figured to announce itself but I got distracted by this bench.

I took my mid-ride sitdown there and made the mistake of leaning back.

That turned out to be way comfortable and with a pretty pleasant day going on and a four way stop right in front of me providing plenty of entertainment I lingered perhaps longer than I should have with a 30 percent chance of rain.

And for the first time this year I got caught.  The first drop was just outside a mile from home and after that the rain came on fairly rapidly.  It was raining by the time I got home, not a very hard rain but also clearly not a sprinkle.

So that's one more intrinsic bicycling experience checked off this year's list.

The rain didn't last long and later I went back out and recycled to finish out the number of miles that I had been hoping to ride.

This rose is the second closest to my house.

I think it is interesting that they finished some major tree pruning there this year.  We have done some pruning ourselves in our yard but our tree work was storm related.

State Fair food

It might have been too hot today but I got a morning text from our beloved dafter detailing a 22 mile bicycle ride.  I did my part and boosted the family total to 40.  When I started I thought it might be more than that but it was too hot.

I was riding down Larpenteur getting warmed up and idly planning my ride when I spotted this while passing the Larpenteur entrance.

I am well familiar with the usual annual routine of the closing of the Grounds just before the actual Fair kicks off but no Fair will be held in this year of COVID so this caught me a little by surprise.  I decided to ride around to the front entrance on Snelling to see if I could learn a little more.

And I could.

I had, of course, heard about this food parade thing but I had not realized that they were going to close the Grounds.

I spotted these on the way home and was much reminded of flowers I have observed at about this time of year in other years when I was riding in Michigan.

The blossoms are very similar in appearance to cardinal flowers so they may be related but they seem very unlikely to be the actual flowers I have seen growing wild in the ditch somewhere on I believe 168th Street.

It's an interesting yard design concept, some red flowers planted next to but not completely surrounding a boulder and then encircled by a stick in the ground white wire fence.

Today's rose is another of the ones located at a hotel.

By my count, thirteen down, seven to go.