Miles to Go

These woods were lovely, dark and deep today. But not snow filled, as yet. The temperature on my ceiling (if you don't know, don't ask) was 38 when I woke up, and 34 by the time I left for my ride, dropping to 27 by the time I got home. It was a short ride, as I am still adjusting to the cold. There was a discouragingly strong wind as well. But as you can see, the roads are still clear and dry. And there is plenty of shelter back in these woods. In fact, a nice enough ride. There was a little spit of sand at one of the road ends in Waukazoo that wasn't there this summer. I liked the pattern that the waves made on the sand, and the prints some bird left behind.

November ends today, and with it the challenge of daily blogs. I enjoyed the reading of them, if not always the writing of them. And just for spite, tomorrow is the first of the month again, and theme day. I think the theme is bridges. The Auckland blog has a photo of their harbor bridge and a comment about theme day.... I'll see you back here when I next have something to share.

It's As Cold As Ice

Today was a work day, and class went pretty well. Walking from my office to the parking lot was not as much fun, however. I tend to dress for the outdoor temperatures much better when I'm biking than when I am going to be just walking around in the cold and today was no exception. It doesn't make sense, really. At least when I'm biking I am generating some heat. But I did not bike today. It just didn't seem like a good idea, somehow. 27 degrees -- marginal, at best. And there is some ice here and there. When the lake levels dropped here about 8 or 9 years ago, people who lived on inland lakes found it harder to get their boats and such from their docks to boatable waters. A partial solution for some was to dredge channels from their houses to deeper waters. This is one such channel, within walking distance of home. It hasn't frozen over yet -- at least one person has put a bubble making device at the end of their dock to prevent ice from forming. The ice has just begun its advance, as you can see. It has not as yet reached throat cutting dimensions. But it is still only November.

Sunrise, Sunset

Inspiration provided by TT. Sunrise this morning was at 7:51, sunset this evening is at 5:12, for a 9 hour and 21 minute day. About 12 more minutes than in St. Paul. Sunrise and sunset at the solstice on December 22 are 8:11 and 5:11, according to the website I found. 9 hours. This is a photograph of this morning's sunrise, taken over my deck. Nice, I think. Thanks, TT.

The wind was fairly calm at sunrise, but forecast to get quite brisk and gusty later. It was also in the mid 20's. I have just two guidelines for riding in the cold. Clear and dry road surfaces, and 'Acclimate'. I took a short, fairly easy ride.... it was the coldest temperature I've ridden in this year, and it takes a few rides for my lungs and muscles to adjust. 29 degrees when I left, 32 when I got home. I made some gear adjustments, but still find that what I have keeps me relatively comfortable for about an hour or 90 minutes at the most, in these temperatures. Beyond that I start to get chilled. Not a bad ride, but fairly hard work wearing what seems like about 10 pounds of gear. Still, hard core isn't supposed to be easy.

Sand Dune with Trees

Inspiration provided by Wireless, who very recently posted photos of breathtakingly gorgeous French sand dunes. Amazing photos -- what? You liked the art and old buildings and the rhino? Fine. I like sand dunes. This photo was taken yesterday during my bike ride. The closest thing I have seen to those gorgeous expanses of sand in France would be in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, north and west of Traverse City, on Lake Michigan. Worth the trip if you are every anywhere close. The sand dune shown here is called Mount Pisgah, and is located in the Holland State Park. It is reported to have shrunk several feet over the past 15 or 20 years, in theory because of erosion caused by people walking on it. I have no doubt that that is a factor, but I believe wind erosion had a significant role. Although the people who walked on it broke down the natural vegetation, exposing the sand to the wind. There was a 64 mph wind gust measured at this same park today. How could wind not be a factor there? Local legend has it that Michigan has the only 'treed' sand dunes in the world. ('Treed' means the sand dunes have trees on them.) Thank you, Wireless.

Winter Bike

Fair warning. This is another bike ride post. 36 degrees instead of 37. Lighter winds, grayer skies than yesterday. But pretty much the same route. The significant difference was that today I rode my winter bike. I bought it a couple of years ago, and it has been ridden very little. After today's ride the odometer said 158.3 miles. Even my 'new' Florida bike has more miles on it. (It is the sixth bike I've ridden this year, on my way to today's total of 3,400 miles.) It is very unlike my primary bike(s), as you can see here. Fenders, flat handlebars, shock absorbers on the front fork and seat post, fat knobby tires, grip shifters... the list goes on. I changed my mind about riding in the cold and snow shortly after I bought it, and I rode it this morning because the radar showed blue and pink over Holland when I left. There was no blue or pink precipitation at any time during the ride, but it was interesting to ride this bike again. In many ways, a bike is a bike is a bike. I enjoyed the ride, though I got a little chilled. Today's 17 miles felt a lot further than yesterday's 16 miles. Still, an occasional change in the line up is a good thing, I think. The Bianchi Advantage. I may ride it again before the year is up. WooHoo.

70 and Sunny -- In Auckland

(Click on the black screen first, then the arrow.)

It's funny how many people are willing to do my thinking for me. As I was layering up to ride, my darling daughter said, "It is too cold and windy to ride." "No, it isn't," I sighed. I have heard this before, always from people with less experience at this than I have. Now and again they are correct. But today I felt it was necessary to invoke the Auckland Rule. It was 37 degrees when I rode out, and the wind was from the SW at more or less 20. It was the nicest ride I've had in some time. Riding through the beech woods is nice as a first leg, as the trees and houses give a lot of shelter from the wind. It felt good to be on a bike again after a long lay off. I'd originally planned to go to the State Park first, but the headwind got stronger the closer I got to the big lake, so I headed north on Lakeshore instead. Tunnel Park also provides views of the lake, so that was my new goal. (I tried out the video function on my camera there, which seems to have worked, as far as I can tell from this end.) I rode a little further north along Lakeshore before heading back inland and eventually back through the woods towards home. I like riding along Lake Mac at this time of year, at least in part because it is much better behaved than the big lake. As in, it didn't spit sand in my face. I'm still getting the sand out of the wrinkles. Home in time for a turkey sandwich for lunch. It was the first ride I've taken this year when I did not see another biker while I was out. So for at least that hour and a half, I was the most hard core person on the road.

Sun Down

The sun is setting, after having been mostly a no-show all day. It was not as cold today as yesterday, but we had substantially more wind. A bike ride may have been possible, but I did not take one. This is my final photo of my maple tree, as well as the Kelsey tree next to it. Neither tree displayed much color this year, though many others near by did. I'm not sure why that is so. Nancy and the SLO's are keeping me company for the weekend, and we spent some time at the mall today. (TOPWLH is visiting Mr. Fisher and Mr. Paykel.) Chinese food is on the menu for dinner here. I think that this is your 'pie' night, so I'm guessing that pizza is on your menu. Best wishes to all. (I'll try to find something to post tomorrow besides the weather and food.)

Pearly Gates

Apparently the correct spelling is "Perle Gates," but it is pronounced the same. On a cold and gray November day we went to the Christmas Market on 8th Street. I expected a lot of Dutch crafts, but found a variety of Dutch and non-Dutch items. This stand, staffed by some very cold but friendly people, had various items made from local Alpaca wool. The SLO's each got a stuffed animal, shaped like -- well, an alpaca. The wool is quite soft and silky. The proprietor said that the real money is in breeding the animals, but that the wool is quite warm. Hollow strands, or something. His farm is north of Zeeland, so it isn't either of the two that I have ridden by on my bicycle. (I am pleased with myself for having found a semi-new topic, that almost ties in with biking, on a day too cold and windy to ride.)

Thanksgiving Beach

I am resisting the urge to post a picture of a turkey today. This morning TOPWLH and I went out to check on the beach. It was fine, and there was even a little bit of sun. I had planned to go down to the beach to take a few photos, but the stairs were very icy. It got cold enough to snow, but all we got were a few flurries overnight. We did get a lot of rain before it got cold, so there are quite a few slick spots. I will not be biking until I'm sure the roads are free of any ice.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Ready for ..... Christmas?

This may not qualify as an original thought, but there is increasing evidence that the holiday season is under way. It may be that our mild fall weather gave people an opportunity to get started on their seasonal decorations early, but there are quite a few houses already decked out for Christmas. This one looks to me to need a little snow. 2 to 4 inches are forecast here overnight, so it should fit in better tomorrow. I saw it on my way home from Meijers, having picked up a few items for tomorrow's Thanksgiving dinner. Walking around the store is likely to be the only activity I attempt for today. It is another day of overcast and drizzle. A typical Michigan November day.

Four O'Clock Forest

Does this photo look like it needs a little brightness adjustment? Some help from my trusty photo editor software? So does my world. It is another day of dark, dark, dark. It's not even really very cold yet -- that comes tomorrow, they say. But the mist/drizzle and fog are unrelenting. I have nothing bikey to post today -- typical for Tuesday, even without the rain. It also comes up short as an activity blog, unless 2 hours of standing in front of a classroom count. (There is some walking around that goes on, so it isn't just standing in one spot for that long ... thankfully.) I did stop at the bakery and buy some pumpkin bread this morning. Two loaves, one to test out to be sure it is up to my standards, and one to eat on Thanksgiving. Something to look forward to, as the eating season begins just as the exercise season seems to be ending.

Just Riding Around.

It was quite a bit warmer today than yesterday, and I went back to my old Pearl Izumi Barrier jacket over two base layers. I stayed comfortable throughout the ride, much better than yesterday. It was another dark and dreary day, with clouds and even some mist in the air as I left the State Park. I'm beginning to sense that the end of this year's biking season is close at hand. The forecast for the next few days borders on ugly, with snow and rain every day through the end of the week. I almost didn't ride today, but used a trick GZ taught me a few years ago.... I switched my bike computer over to elapsed time instead of miles. So today's ride was just to get in an hour's worth of exercise. I'm pretty sure that there will be a few more rides in 2007, but I think that I'm pretty much ready to take a break for a while. Every year needs a rest period, and it must be time for one soon.

Layering Error

Yesterday it seemed as though I was overdressed a bit. Just a little too warm on the return trip. So today, with a similar air temperature, I changed the top layer for something lighter. I was fooled by the sunshine coming in my window, I think. There was a briskish ESE wind about 14, compared to yesterday's lighter wind. Enough difference that I got fairly chilled. ESE is where Windmill Island is located. Closed for the season. The gates are new I think, as I know I've ridden out there pretty late in the season before. Though maybe not this late. Anyway, the sun was still out at that point in the ride, but disappeared shortly afterwards. I rode south through town, having decided that people who ride south of town use Central Avenue. It worked pretty well, 4 way stops at most of the busiest intersections, and the road eventually goes to the airport on the south end of town, with access from there to country roads off to the south. My source for this information came from http://www.routeslip.com/, a site I found as a link off one of our local bike shops web site. Individuals post their favorite routes. I looked at St. Paul and found a route from Lake Vadnais to Erik's in Minneapolis. I haven't explored it too much, but it looks like an interesting tool. It does elevation maps, for one thing. Very TdF. I think I'm going to go make some tea to remove some of this chill. (I hope BB has recovered from her chills by now.)

Let Them Eat Cake

TJ will be nine tomorrow. Whew, how did that happen? He had his 'family' party today, and tomorrow he and a few friends will continue the celebration at a place that specializes in equipment you can bounce around on. They think it is fun. Instead of a traditional cake, Nancy got this cupcake ensemble. Lots of high fructose corn syrup. A good time was had by all, as far as I could tell. I did squeeze in a short ride this morning before the rain came. Just enough miles to give me a new record for November miles. That is always good. Other than February and December, November was an easy one to pick off. Setting new PR's is good for my morale in this dark and cloudy month.

Continuing Themes

It didn't look like it was going to get much warmer than 39, and it didn't. Even so, it turned out to be a nice enough day for an average length ride. I took this before I even left my yard. Next to the steps out the back door of my garage. Roses in November. That bicycle wheel doesn't look like it has enough spokes. Yes, indeed. The Elite returns to the rotation. The radar showed snow, but there was none out of my window. Cautious, I rode the old bike. No need, it was clear and dry the whole way. But I had forgotten how much I like that bike. It was a very nice ride.

Everyone else seems to have posted geese photos, so I thought I would add mine. Again, taken before I even left my back yard. Nowhere near as impressive a gaggle as the ones captured by GZ and TT, but then, this is my first try. I'll keep an eye on them and see if more of their cousins show up. Notice how green the trees still are at the end of the bayou. Someone should tell them how late in the year it is.

Just Kidding

This photo is from early April of this year. But today's weather was a harsh reminder about what is on the way. Rain, sleet, dark, dark, dark. I share an office with another prof, who also bikes some. We're not usually there at the same time, but today was an exception. He rode this morning, in the cold and the rain. I did not. I did spend most of the day in my office -- it was test day for my students, and I spent most of my time getting caught up on grading and miscellaneous pencil pushing items. Next week is Thanksgiving, followed by two weeks of classes and a week of finals. The end is in sight.

Last Ride North

Tomorrow, as you may have gathered from earlier posts, is the first day of fire arm deer season in Michigan. So riding through unpopulated wooded areas and blueberry fields is over for the year. Usually winter has arrived before this happens, so it hasn't been much of an issue until now. This could yield some new photographic opportunities as I head south over the bridge. We'll see. Of course, it could snow tomorrow. In fact, some lake effect snow is in the forecast. Tracking snow, they call it in Cadillac. Anybody need a bus, cheap? (Me either.) I rode past it on my way north on Lakeshore this a.m.

TT -- yes, this is in a fairly sheltered location. I was standing underneath it this morning -- it is about 15 feet from the corner of my garage. And I would like to comment on some of the numbers from GZ's blog. He has ridden 160 times this year. The average length of each ride is in excess of 20 miles. Way in excess. By comparison, my average ride length is about 16 miles. Now we all know that without GZ, there is no biking. But these are really hard core results. Kudos.

Sunday

Here's a photo from Sunday afternoon with the SLO's. They helped rake up some leaves, then ... well, see for yourself. (No biking occurred here today, in spite of some pretty nice weather.)

Ventura Cemetery

It rained off and on this morning, but by 11:00 or so it had cleared. It was eventually, in fact, a beautiful day for a bike ride. I rode up Lakeshore for a while, stopping at Ventura Cemetery to take this photo. No guarantee that it is a veteran's grave, but the presence of the flag today makes it likely. Since this is Veterans Day, observed, I observed a moment before I rode on. Solemn. Gino commented yesterday that you don't get many days like this in November. You sure don't, I reply.

Here is about the prettiest thing I found today to post here. My favorite maple tree has been displayed here before. It is still hanging in there. Nice job, maple.

Winter Hours

I took a short ride this morning, about 12 miles. I took a few pictures. I thought it was still fall. Evidence that sometimes winter sneaks in.

I don't think the stairs are slippery at this point, in spite of what the sign says.

The tourist season is over, so no one is currently clearing away the sand that blows through the tunnel. That is Ruby parked on the other side of the sand pile. It was warm enough to ride today -- low 40's, but the dark and dank continues.

Cold and Dank

A short out and back ride today. Today is the anniversary of the 1975 sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald -- a Lake Superior event, to be sure. But one that our local news media reminds us of on an annual basis. There were no big storms in our forecast, but we had frost and fog to begin the day. It warmed up to about 40 by the time I got home, but still no sun. The SLO's are here to help relieve our suffering from the interminable peace and quiet we are forced to endure when they don't visit. The photo was taken at the State Park, looking back towards Lake Mac. I like the wind pattern in the sand.

A Bridge Too Far

I wanted to take one last ride up to Hemlock Crossing Park before weather, darkness, firearm deer season or end of season loss of fitness made it impossible. The last time I was there was early this fall, with Lynne, before the colors had made much progress. Apparently I waited too long. The trees are mostly bare and I felt a little disappointed at having missed the color show. I took a few pictures anyway.

It seemed like a longer ride than it really was, somehow. The WNW wind was mostly a cross-wind, but built a bit during the ride. I felt overdressed the first few miles, but what little sun there was disappeared and I felt a little chilled by the time I got home. My legs felt somewhat sluggish, as did Ruby. I even had some leg cramps on the return trip, something that hasn't happened since the dehydration rides of mid summer. But it is also satisfying to achieve an objective, even when the conditions don't quite cooperate. Today's ride put me at 100 miles for the first 9 days of November. More than the entire month of November in either 2003 or 2004. The most miles I have ever ridden in November was 190, in 2002. So I should just stop complaining, and ride when I can.

A Day at the Office

I stole some ideas from about four other people for this post. This is my office. Idea stolen from M&M. The table is where I prepare my lecture notes for my college type classes. From BB. I think the folder even says "Lecture Notes" on it. For Advanced accounting. The notes themselves talk about foreign currency issues, idea stolen from GZ. (And my syllabus.) Note calculator for scale. And authenticity.

There is a package of Steenstra cookies next to The Thinker. That is a hot button local politics issue. Idea stolen from TT. Apparently a school board candidate took a package of cookies with her to her polling place on Tuesday when she voted and left them there for the poll workers. She says she's done it for years and years. Her opponent (defeated) said she violated electioneering laws. I have no idea if she did or not. But they are fairly nice almond cookies, in traditional Dutch shapes. 70 calories each. Tasty.

And as we leave for home, stolen from an old bicycle calendar, are pictures of an old Tour de France. Because this is still a bicycling blog.

Why Blues are $5.99

I have achieved most of my biking objectives for the year, so any riding I do from here on is just for fun and exercise. And because I don't want to quit just yet. Riding in late fall/early winter requires some wardrobe adjustments. As TOPWLH noted as I got ready for a ride about noon today, "That's some serious layering going on there." It was 38 degrees at the time, about as warm as it was going to get. I needed every layer. I rode north through the blueberry fields first. It is apparent that there won't be any blueberries picked here for quite some time. The big fields of red bushes are quite striking, however. I continued on to the PSPS, violating my own declaration that I wouldn't be riding north of Riley until Spring.

My class was discussing this yesterday, as a way of postponing having to discuss advanced accounting topics. Their take was that firearm deer season doesn't start for another week or so, that any gunshots I heard were almost certainly target practice, that I was unlikely to get hit anyway, and that if I did -- well, there were worse ways for me to die than to be shot while riding a bicycle. They even suggested that if I did, I would become a legend. Perhaps they aren't as fond of me as I like to think. In any case, I postponed the end of biking season for at least one more day. 21 miles.

Forecasted Nastiness Arrives

Not really any snow -- a few flurries and some wind driven sleet. Sufficiently nasty for this first round of November storms. Cold, rain, sleet, work and dark guaranteed that biking is at least on hiatus, if not quite finished completely. A photo from a nicer day -- yesterday, in fact. The winds are dying down at this point, but the lake effect machine is still manufacturing rain. Could be worse, could be snow. And eventually it will be. It is enough to make these snow birds start looking at plans to head south --

November Lake Shore

TOPWLH suggested that it might be too cold and too windy to ride today. I disagreed. It was 47 with a SW wind about 15, so the forecasted nastiness had not yet kicked in when Ruby and I rode out about 8:45 this morning. The conditions changed while I was out, but it turned into a nice ride by November standards, and I'm glad I went. 17 miles put me past the 3,205 mile mark -- last year's total. Along the way I found a holdover from last week that seemed worthy of a photo. Taken along Lakeshore, north of James. It finally occurred to me that there is one road that runs north and south that is pretty well built up along its entire length, so my chance of being shot by hunters is slim. That would be Lakeshore, of course.

This old horse barn is also along Lakeshore. It's been abandoned for years, but someone was there today. There are still some leaves on the trees, but I don't expect them to last beyond today or tomorrow.

The turnaround spot was Camp Geneva, the church camp at Quincy. It seemed like a photo of the big lake was in order. The waves really weren't all that extreme as yet. The ride home was not bad -- a wind shift helped. So for at least one more day, this is still a bicycle blog.

Gunfire

I neglected to mention that I heard shots fired twice during yesterday's ride. Both times I was about 5 miles north of home, in blueberry field country. Firearm deer season doesn't start until mid month, so I'm not sure what the deal was. Not that it is all that unusual to hear random gunfire out there. But I have decided to curtail my rides to areas with houses instead of fields ... and that is harder than you might think. This barn, for example. I mentioned last week that I had ridden north to photograph an old barn, but got side tracked by young people posing on horses. I cannot get there without passing several fields and a few stretches of woods. So I won't be riding out that way again until spring.

As an example of the rural character of where I live, I took this picture during yesterday's ride. It's about 2 miles from my house. (Emily has a Super Target 2 miles from where she lives, I have sheep. Something doesn't seem quite right here.) So today's ride was a short one, mostly east and west, with all the north and south riding done through neighborhoods. It was 46 degrees when I left home -- it felt like a heat wave. We have lake effect snow showers forecast for every day this week, beginning late tomorrow. I'm hoping that they're wrong, but I'm not betting on it. Nancy used the treadmill today, I may find myself doing the same fairly soon. (I expect I'll probably try a little bit of sloth first, though.)

Late Sunrise

The sun came up here about 8:20 this morning, the latest sunrise of the year. Even the winter solstice has an earlier sunrise. So perhaps it isn't a bad thing that DST is ending, at least at this edge of the time zone. It was 34 degrees again, when Ruby and I left the house. And I would like to thank GZ and TT for their reactions to this level of insanity. Perhaps you are correct. It is very tiring to ride in temperatures that cold. But the roads were clear and dry and the wind was light. No frost this morning, either. It warmed up fast into the mid 40's by the time I got back to the house. (I rode early to have the afternoon free to hang out with the SLO's.) Emily suggested ridiculous road signs as a theme for today (or tomorrow). This may not seem like a loony sign, but listen to this. Of what use is it to know what the speed limit is not? I find it infinitely more useful to know what the speed limit is. There seem to be a number of these signs around here, and it has been bugging me for quite a while.

And, just to document the progress of fall, this is one of the prettier maple trees near here. It has been one of my favorites for years, and it never disappoints.

Frosty Start

It was 34 degrees or so when I rode out this morning. I took the beech woods loop first, to see if I was adequately dressed. (Mostly, I was.) And to confirm the mileage for my short winter rides -- it is a bit over 10 kilometers without any side loops. The sun was still very low in the sky, and the frost on the ground remained there through most of the ride. I rode north next, past the meditation area at the Church on James and 152nd. The frost looked almost like snow here, covering all the vegetation with a coating of white. Eventually I rode north for a few miles on 160th, through the tunnel of trees. A chance to enjoy the remaining fall colors. It is one of the few spots where the canopy is still intact, without a lot of disease or trimming back by the electric company trying to keep its lines clear. It was about 40 when I got back home. 15 miles in the cold felt a lot longer, but it was a very pretty ride. And I felt pretty hard core.

Blue Basket

The first of the month again, with another color as the theme. I have no problems finding photos of something blue -- so I chose this one, sort of randomly. It is a familiar spot, often photographed here. I do plan to accept Emily's invitation* to try to post a blog entry every day in November. There may be a few days when it will be a challenge, but I'm game to try it. Biking season is entering its end game -- there is a rain and snow mix forecast for Tuesday, for example. I'm not sufficiently masochistic to ride in that. I think. *(See Emily's Xanga blog.)