An amicable encounter

There has been the usual springtime exchange of acrimonious letters to the editor from a pickup truck driver and an overwrought bicyclist in one of the local daily newspapers. I was reminded again today that virtually every motorist I encounter is courteous and mindful, sometimes overly mindful, of my safety. I was crossing the Hamline overpass over 36 heading north. The freeway entrance is on the far side of the overpass. The entrance requires a right turn and there is a right turn only lane. Because I am not going to turn and because I wish to be perceived as a vehicle, in situations of this sort I prefer not to ride near the curb in the turn lane. I am not going to turn. I ride in the farthest right lane which is going to go straight through. I try to ride as far to the right as is safe in that lane.

This situation doesn't come up very often but when it does I find myself in the position of having cars both to my left AND to my right. Today I missed the light and when I stopped (yes, I do obey traffic signals when other vehicles are present) I heard a voice speaking to me from the unexpected side, my right.

A man driving a van, who upon the brief glance I was able to take before the light changed appeared to be of the age group with nowhere to go and all day to get there (my peer group) had rolled his vehicle up next to me. He said, "You've got the right idea. I wish I was biking today."

So there you go, yet another friendly exchange between groups that some seem determined to portray as natural antagonists. While there are undoubtedly jerks on both sides of the divide, I find the huge vast majority of people operating motor vehicles to be extremely courteous.

The local media has also recently reported on a bear seen in a tree in a Twin Cities suburb. I have ridden by this fellow quite a few times but was inspired today to include a photo.Not quite as impressive as the cows or the white bear on Highway 61 (Polar Chevrolet) or the white bear at that Wireless likes in Musée d'Orsay. Probably also not quite as impressive as the bear in the tree in Blaine.

Riding nearly every day means that some days I do not feel particularly strong or fresh. On the other hand, I have found that fairly often on the day after a day when I don't have it that I feel just fine. Today I felt just fine. The winds were light and variable but seemed slightly north at the start so I rode again out towards Shoreview.

Here are four flowering crabs standing in a rectangle in an Arden Hills yard. Those who have ridden the northern routes with me or perhaps even those who have made some sort of misguided field trip may recognize them. They are at the top of the first half of the hill up from Lake Josephine.And those two trees that I pictured a couple of days ago have advanced far enough that I was again compelled to STOP for another angle.The white flower tree is still a tiny bit ahead of the red flower tree. These two may make yet another appearance if I happen to ride out that way when they are both in full bloom. It is one of my spring favorites, gorgeous and fragrant.

I altered the route a little and rode down through the Fairgrounds. Here is something I have never seen before. They have put up an auxiliary fence blocking off only a part of the grounds and are selling tickets. It is the Minnesota Horse Expo and it must be a really, really BIG horse show.At the other end of the Fairgrounds this weekend is something called the Active Living Bike Expo. According to the website this thing is an official kick off for the summer biking season. Someone should have told me this earlier and I could have saved myself this past month's often pretty hard work.

Here's something I found on Bike Snob NYC that I think is pretty amusing. The first time I watched the clip it included a 30 second McDonald's commercial and I apologize if you have to watch that. It wasn't there just now when I went to get the embed information.

"The show is called "Dhani Tackles the Globe," and the premise is that "NFL linebacker and travel enthusiast" Dhani Jones travels enthusiastically and partakes in local sports. In the season premiere, Jones goes to Italy and does the Gran Fondo del Monte Grappa.

It's pretty much what you'd expect: Jones goes to an Italian bike company and gets a fancy race bike; Jones eats pasta prepared by a sturdily-built Italian woman; Jones gets shelled in the first kilometer of climbing but manages to finish; Jones concludes that cycling is really hard and that Italy is awesome."

Two things, one it is a pretty nice bike and two I am going to agree with Dhani that cycling is really hard. I also think Italy is probably pretty awesome.