Orange ball appears in sky

That equinox thing has apparently come and gone. This means there is no longer even a single valid reason for pretending it is summer. Soon enough I will be mostly posting photos such as this one.I like that one as one tree is mostly changed and one tree is still in summer hues. As may be apparent from the photo the sun emerged this afternoon in time to make the day seem palatable even if it was too late to make a warm bicycle ride.

On the subject of yield right of way, I have several general guidelines that if combined probably end up making a personal rule.

1. The nautical rule. Anything under power should yield right of way to unpowered, stink boats yield to sails. For me this applies to pedestrians, I yield to pedestrians. Even though we are both under human power, the mechanical advantage that I have is significant enough for me to invoke this rule.

2. The following vehicle rule. A vehicle striking another vehicle from behind will always be at fault. I use caution and yield when approaching pedestrians and/or slower moving bicycles (not that that happens very often) from behind.

3. The last best chance to avoid a collision rule. This is a corollary of the following vehicle rule. If I see you and can take evasive action I do so.

4. Yield to slower moving traffic. This is mostly pedestrians.

5. 10 mph speed limit on the bicycle path, particularly in the presence of pedestrians. Anything faster than that is dangerous and besides, 10 mph happens to be the law on the path in Minneapolis that I am most likely to be on (the River Road).

6. If I am obeying the law and you are not I expect that you will yield right of way to me. This applies mostly to salmoning bicyclists, but also to jaywalkers and certain idiot cars. I do not insist upon this but I do expect it. True story, today's salmoning bicyclist was also talking on his cell phone. That seems to be becoming somewhat common lately. I usually want to ask the idiot in question how they intend to apply the brakes if doing so should become necessary.

7. Always yield to horses.The WSCA (Western Saddle Club Associations, Inc.) is having their big annual show over at the Fairgrounds this weekend. You can tell is is western saddle club because all of the riders are dressed up like cowboys. Well actually there were a lot more cowGIRLS today. They all had big hats, cowboy boots and spurs.