East South East

East south east was the wind direction, and it is also the direction of Windmill Island. Since I haven't been there for a while, I headed out there this morning. It was about 50 degrees when I left and 55 when I got back, but it felt warmer than that. I felt overdressed and too warm by the time I got home. There were a few cars in the parking lot, but mostly I had the place to myself. There is a little Dutch village there, but none of the buildings were open.

Lots of flowers scattered around, though obviously no tulips at this point in time. They seemed to be getting ready for the annual Halloween event that is a major fundraiser for them. They do a re-creation of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, complete with headless horsemen. It's fun for the kids, and adults who still celebrate Halloween.

On the way back I rode through the farmer's market on 8th street. Saturday is their big day, and there were more signs of fall in that one block than in the rest of the township. A fun ride.

Low Water

With the lightning tracker showing bright flashing lights coming across the lake, and only about an hour until sunset, there will be no ride today. Again.

We do need the rain, I'm told. Water levels on the big lake are down, exposing lots of beautiful beach. The results on Lake Mac are not as pretty. Mostly mud flats and dried out cat tails. Maybe tomorrow's weather will be more cooperative.

Hemlock Crossing

Monday we hit a new record high temperature for the date of 91. Tuesday was humid, then windy, then thunderstorms. Rain overnight left the streets damp, and it was about 60 when Lynne and I left for our annual fall ride up to Hemlock Crossing. This is earlier than usual, and the trees are only just beginning to turn color. It was cloudy and damp when we left, but the promised clearing gradually occurred, and we were in sunshine by the time we got to the park. There was just enough of a headwind on the way there to be annoying, but that did give us the advantage of feeling quite strong on the return trip. It was a longish ride for me for this time of year, but the temperatures were about perfect for biking. It was a nice ride. I even got to show Lynne three white alpacas in the pen where I photographed the brown one over the weekend. She, too, was surprised that this area has so many alpaca farms.

This is a maple tree that I am pretty sure is healthy. It's root system is near the water table, so it should not be stressed. It is still a nice dark green, but the leaves on the ends of the branches are beginning to turn red. I am going to use this tree as my benchmark for fall colors.

Band Practice

The West Ottawa Marching Band was taking advantage of an unusually warm September morning by practicing outside. This was the second time I'd heard them, so this time I hunted them down in the parking lot of the high school. I had already tried and failed to get another alpaca photo. I rode by the farm on Greenly that TT had found with his mad Google skillz. There were two white alpacas in the fenced in area, but too far away to get a clear shot even with the maximum zoom and resolution on my camera. I had no idea that this area was home to so many alpaca farms. Live and learn.

GZ's observation at Lake Vadnais rang true for us. A lot of the trees seem to be in the process of fading rather than changing color. A few exceptions, of course. This is the same tree that I posted here a week or so ago. (Tomorrow looks like a rest day, so I won't likely be posting.)

Equinox Eve

While I was waiting for the sun to set last night, I watched this guy buzz the sea gulls in his parachute toy. Sea gulls are vermin, so no issue there. A sea gull in his engine might have caused a splash. I am using the neighbor's weather vane to establish that I am facing due west here. Not exactly Stonehenge, I must admit.

On the subject of the alpaca/llama. I don't talk to strangers, mostly. The house with the pen with the UGO (unidentified grounded object) has a very long driveway, such that the house is not visible from the street from the front. An approach would require way more trespassing than I'm comfortable with. It will remain a mystery, at least for now. I did ride by there today, and the pen appeared to be empty. A nice ride up the PSPS, sharing the roads and paths with a ton of people not yet ready to give up on summer.

What the Heck....?

My exact words to myself as I whipped past an opening in the trees were, "What the heck was that?" I had to go back for a photo. It probably isn't native, though I've never seen a wolverine up close. I don't think that is what this is though. And I almost left my camera at home. The winds have died down somewhat from the last few days. Still enough to be a factor in my choice of ride directions. Quite bikeable, though. It was another short ride, as I need some energy left for the SLO's visit this afternoon.

Here's the barn I planned to post before I ran into the ... well, whatever it is. I still like the barn.

Acorn Shower

I found a few not too subtle signs of fall on my ride this morning. First, it is too d**n windy. Second, the field corn is about ready to harvest. Michigan's (puny) corn, shown here, has nearly dried down enough to make silage, or whatever it is they do with this stuff besides feed it to pigs. Or maybe that is what they do with it. Hey, what do I know about corn?

Some trees are beginning to show signs of changing colors. Some have even already dropped their leaves. Not most, or even many, but they're obvious out there.

And last, but not least, is the autumnal acorn shower. A gust of wind (see above) shook an oak tree's branches as I was riding under it. I was showered with 5,000 acorns. (Maybe a few too many zeroes.) The one that hit my thumb really hurt! The ones that hit my helmet just gave me one more reason to be glad that I wear my helmet. Still too windy for a long ride, but with October just around the corner, I'm just happy for weather I can ride in.

Late Ride

My new work schedule (or lack of work schedule, more accurately) has given me more time to ride this September than I have had in years. Today was a work day though, and it was nearly 6:30 before I left for a ride. With sunset at 7:45, that makes for a short ride. I rode down to the state park, planning to take a picture of an empty parking lot and snow fences up across the beach sand. Except the parking lot had a bunch of cars in it, and the snow fences aren't up yet. Last year they went up about a week after Labor day. There were a couple of sailboats coming in the channel, so I lined up a nice shot of them, only to have my camera tell me the battery was dead. So here's a photo of some orange flowers that I took on Tuesday, instead. No killer frosts here yet. It was a nice ride, light winds, but I had both of the new lights set to fast flash as the sun went down behind the trees. I got passed by a guy on a road bike, who then slowed down enough for me to almost catch him by the time I got to Lakewood, about a half mile later. He looked back and saw me, and stood up on his pedals and put about a quarter mile between us while I waited for cars to clear so I could cross the road. So I didn't win the race, but at least I made him work for his win. Enough exercise to be out of breath by the top of the hill. Good enough.

Fall Beach

Today's bike ride was all about the wind. It is warm for this late in the year, so I rode in bike shorts and a short sleeve jersey this morning. But the winds were unrelenting. In the teens when I left, and nearly 20 mph when I returned, gusting higher. So I did not get in the long ride that I had hoped for. But I rode enough to get tired, and it was a beautiful mid September day. Wind or no wind. I didn't find anything blog worthy to photograph on my ride -- though I did get another turkey photo or two. Instead I took my camera with me to the beach. The dune grass is starting to get seed heads, a sure sign that fall is well under way. Water levels tend to drop this time of year, leaving us with some additional sand. At least until the November storms arrive. The water is still fairly warm, and it is usually the clearest in the fall.

Except for a few sea gulls, I had the beach to myself. Hardly even a foot print besides my own.

Windmills

There is no shortage of windmills here. Especially the fake kind. You'll find them decorating parks near Lake Mac, like this one, and as a popular form of yard art. Mostly pretty tacky yard art, but then...... The view I got of the real windmill on Sunday was from a distance. I took this from the north bank of the Black River, and the windmill is on, well, Windmill Island. Also in the Black River.

You can see a little bit of the river on the right side of the photo. Water levels are low on the river this year, and especially at this time of year. It was 54 degrees when I rode out this morning, my typical ride to PSPS and back. There was a pretty good SSE wind on the way back, but I found enough shelter from the wind for all but about a mile of it. It was about 60 by the time I got back. Nothing much to report, other than I don't have much company on the roads or paths, even on a really nice day like today. Fall has fell, I guess, and casual bikers have retired their bikes, except perhaps for weekends.

This Is D&W

I checked on TJ before I left. He declared that as long as no one said b**f, he was fine. And that he had had pizza for breakfast. On the mend. So a Sunday without the SLO's around, and a fairly healthy wind from the south. East sounded good. D&W is east, and there is a little river front community behind it that doesn't feel like it is part of Holland that I haven't visited lately. So for GZ's readers who find there way over here, and aren't familiar with D&W (though I'm not quite sure who that would be), I have included a picture of it. It was a pretty day to be exploring, and I found another one of these. There is also a creamery back there, and a few isolated views of the windmill on windmill island.

On my way back I stopped in Kollen Park and took a picture with my self-timer. This is the much discussed new jersey. It is pretty visible -- bordering on ugly. But it was a beautiful day, and I was glad to be out in it. Even though I was a little overdressed, as it turned out.

The jersey was almost not quite warm enough in the 40's, and was a little too much in the low 60's today. I'm guessing it would be good through the 50's. (For BB: Note that my socks match the jersey.)

Being a Little Nuts Helps

There was a plan in place for today. T.J.'s first soccer game at 10 am, so by 6:45 I'm loading up the truck with items for Park Township's recycling program. We waited our turn in line and got rid of an old computer (sans hard drive, of course), a non functioning monitor and a number of other items. Home in time to put on my new cold weather biking gear and ride out of my driveway by 8:15. It was then 43 degrees. I can say with some authority that the new long sleeve windstopper jersey is 'almost' warm enough for 43 degrees. If there had been any wind at all, it would not have been. I got home just in time to change to go to TJ's game, and found a message from Nancy that TJ was sick, and thus not playing soccer this morning. Apparently the same 24 hour flu bug that Nancy and Nikki had earlier this week. So I could have ridden longer. Or re-cycled. But my short ride was about right. First of all, did I mention it was cold? And I got enough miles on my ride to officially meet my weekly goal. And I got to try out my new jersey. Here's a story. I passed two scantily dressed women running/jogging on Lakeshore. As I passed I asked, 'Aren't you cold? It's 43 degrees!' They responded in unison, 'We're freezing.' So here's the thing. I wasn't the craziest person out there this morning. And it was a really, really nice ride.

Wind? Or rain?

It has only rained once today so far, for about 5 minutes. I, of course, found the only time it was going to rain, and rode in it. Good grief. I was only a few miles from home, headed out, and near a covered picnic shelter, so I waited out the downpour. Isolated rain this morning, followed by building winds this afternoon was the forecast. I chose isolated rain, and lost. I guess. Though this is what the winds are currently doing. I chose to continue once the rain let up, and by the time I was north of Riley, the roads were dry again. The rain swept the winds out of the area for a short while, and -- except for the brief downpour -- I had a nice ride. I stopped for a minute near the Port Sheldon township offices, for a hydration break. Today is the day real estate taxes are due here, and there was more traffic in and out of that building than I'd ever seen before. I eventually got as far as the north end of the Pigeon Lake bridge before I got tired of riding into the wind and turned around. The winds had built back up by then, and that was far enough. It was a WNW wind, so not a lot of tail wind returning, but some. It was about 59 degrees when I left and 58 when I got back, so a cool ride. Even without the rain. Gino is quite right -- cold on a bike is miserable. I had enough layers on to be comfortable today, including a helmet cover -- invaluable in the rain. But a trip to my LBS was in order, to check out cold weather gear and blinky lights. Fortunately I had enough resources left after I paid my taxes to support my bike habit. Two new blinky lights and a new windstopper long sleeve jersey in a very visible yellow. Fun.

Monkey Business?

I found this sign on yesterday's ride. It made me smile, as I couldn't help but envision utility workers swinging from the branches. This is along a nice wooded stretch just south of the Pigeon River. There seem to be new sewer pipes going in, visible on the left of the picture. That often means there is a real estate development about to go up. It's really too far from town from that, though. And the real estate market here is pretty slow, so it wouldn't make much sense. Still, it is a funny sign. It was very late in the day today before I had the chance to ride. In fact, it was only a little more than an hour before sunset. My weekly mileage totals are shrinking because of work and weather, so I rode anyway. On my way home I had to shoo these turkeys out of my way. (Actually, I yelled 'gobble, gobble' at them. They did not appear to be amused.)

There have been way too many turkey photos posted here, but this should be the last one. (Like Gino's corn photos, maybe?) On my way up the hill near home, there were two couples riding out of the neighborhood. Ten minutes before sunset. I assumed they were going for a very short ride. I had my blinky light attached to my seat bag and turned on. I only have the one rule about riding after dark. I don't do it.

Lake Effect Clouds

One of the impacts of the big lake on our weather is the creation of clouds when the cold air comes across the warmer waters of the lake. In the winter this gives us snow. So far, just cloud cover. Yesterday the winds were howling across the water, with 35 mph sustained winds reported at Spyglass. I did not ride, but I did enjoy the cloudy sunset. (This is two photos stitched together, a process I haven't quite mastered yet.) The cloud cover served to keep us a little warmer overnight, but it was still only 57 when I left this morning for my 'long ride' of the week. It also blocked the sun, so it was all of 58 when I returned. The wind had settled down quite a bit, thankfully. I'd originally planned to ride to Hemlock Crossing Park, but it wasn't going to be a nice day for pictures there, and the fall colors aren't far enough along yet for really good fall photos. So I settled for this picture of a barn. Yes, another one. It is about a dozen miles from home, so near the edge of my biking range.

I liked the old weathered look of the barn even before I saw the sign. This is a Centennial Farm; one where the farm has been in the same family for over 100 years. Worthy of a photo. Wind from the northwest, so a fairly decent tailwind returning. Fall has clearly arrived, and the same routes I've ridden all summer are starting to look very different. Life is a photo opportunity?

Monday Morning Ride

More turkeys? I'm still trying to get a decent shot. This was taken this morning along 160th, north of Van Buren Street. I got caught in a little rain on the way home, but was dressed in enough layers that I didn't get chilled. Enough rain to drip off the edge of my helmet though. Yesterday's sky was bright blue, the sun was out and the wind was light. Today was cool and cloudy, very much like fall has arrived. It happens that way it seems -- one day it is summer, the next it is fall.

In the area of obscure sports -- at least for us here in the lower 48 -- it has recently come to my attention that World Cup Rugby is currently going on. The All Blacks are favored to do well. "The All Blacks were in awesome form on Saturday against Italy, blowing the Six Nations side away in the first quarter of their opening match before coasting home to win 76-14." From the NZ Herald. And, "ST ETIENNE - It's the World Cup mismatch that has fans wincing in trepidation - Portugal against the mighty All Blacks." Same source. Ah, HAKA, anyone?

Blue Sky

Another really nice day for a bike ride. I rode out to the new golf course, mostly because it is east of here and the wind was from the east. Yesterday's clouds have mostly cleared, leaving us with a bright blue sky. While I was out, the odometer on the Ruby crossed over the 5,000 mile mark. And my total miles so far this year crossed over 2,500. My goal for this year is 3,000 miles, which seems to still be within the range of possible. So all in all, a satisfying ride. Though I'm a little knackered.

On the subject of fake food. I tried one of the Luna Lemon Zest bars today on my ride, on the recommendation of a commenter on fatcyclist.com's blog. It was not satisfactory as food. Just so you know.

More Barns

I wasn't keen (as the kiwis say) to ride today -- too late in the day, too humid, and too windy to name a few of my excuses. But our TV weather people (Craig, Hally, Matt and Peter are a representative sample from our local stations, so I will call them CHMP) -- anyway, CHMP is predicting rain and gale force winds tomorrow. So even with pop up showers forming south of here, I headed out about 5:30. Didn't expect much of a ride. Sometimes lowered expectations are a good thing. Slow going, but nobody was racing me, so it didn't matter. This barn is one I like, passed early on the ride. It's near Ottawa Beach Road, so not in a very rural setting, but it has some character. Or at least it looks old.

This one is further north and east, and is part of a blueberry farm, as you can see from the sign. Not much to recommend it, other than I used to know the wife of a man who died in that building, so it holds some interest for me. It isn't really blue, either. Sort of greenish, in fact.

My gold standard for blueberry farms is Bowerman's, however. The barns next to their house are blue, as is their house. But those barns are hard to photograph, as blueberry bushes are planted pretty much all around them, at least from the views from the road and the end of their driveway. The photo above is also Bowerman barns. And these are pretty distinctly green. These are behind their fruit stand on James, now closed for the season. I like the sign. It has some charm. I especially like the part about no firearms. Does that really come up a lot? Anyway, I got home dry and will admit that it turned out to be a pretty decent ride.

White Barn

I took this photo because I liked the old farm equipment, as well as the white barn. It's a blueberry farm, naturally. It was a very cool moment -- the sun was warm, the way it is on a day that is going to be really hot later on. And behind me there was a blueberry field in the process of being hand picked. The workers were playing a radio station, with harmonica music with a distinctly Mexican beat. I'm not sure what variety of berry is being hand picked at this point. Bowerman's is closed for the season, so it was a surprise to see harvesting going on. Further down the same road I found these guys.

I missed the best shot because I couldn't get my camera out fast enough. There were probably a dozen turkeys in the entire group. If I'd been looking ahead more I might have seen them in time for a better photo. This is the time of the annual suicide march of the oak worms, however, so I spend a lot of time trying to avoid running over them. They aren't as bad as last year, but just about the time I think they're through, a new batch of them shows up. Ugh. Still, a really nice ride.

Season Lingers

The thermometer on my truck said 89 when I left work this afternoon. Plenty of humidity still, and a very July kind of feel to the air. I'd say that summer isn't quite finished here, yet. I did take a short ride, and there was just enough breeze to keep it from being oppressive. Nancy liked this photo from a ride I took over the weekend. It is up behind the Pigeon River bridge, down a gravel road a ways. I didn't go all the way to the end of the road -- it had to end at the river, but I've developed an irrational fear of tall grass, so I turned around. Something about deer ticks liking tall grass. Anyway, this little creek flows into the Pigeon River. A pretty spot.

I included this picture because I've been riding past this barn all summer, and it has this tree trunk sitting on top of a tree stump in front of it. It's been bugging me, because I'm pretty sure trees don't grow this way, and I can't figure out what purpose it serves. So if there is an explanation for this, I'd like to know what it is. I also like photos of barns.

Orange signs and sunsets

So I spent some time both yesterday and today looking for interesting signs. I think my series on 'road ends' was probably my best efforts there, but I did come up with something colorful for your entertainment. From the signs, can you tell where I am? Of course not. Neither 152nd nor Lakewood. Good signage, right? To be fair, 152nd is the cross street. I took the picture on the James Street path. There were four or five of these flying parachutes buzzing the beach just before sunset last night. The SLO's loved it, so I took a picture of one with the slightly orangish glow of the setting sun as a back drop. So my theme is the color orange. Sorry, Gino.

I rode north today, with a south west wind. On purpose. It was a very nice ride. I was looking for a sign with a water back drop, and I assumed that there would be one at the Pigeon River bridge. I was wrong, as it turned out. I also explored a side road down behind the bridge where there is a launching spot for canoes. It was gravel, and got too sandy quickly. But I got a picture or two that I might display here on the next rainy day, or slothful day, whichever comes first. No labor for Labor Day, perhaps? Today was an excellent day for a bike ride.