Over and Done With

We did have below freezing temperatures last night, as predicted. It tied the previous low for the date in Holland of 27. I forgot to check today on the rhododendrons on yesterday's post, but will do so the next time I'm out. These wildflowers in the woods along Pigeon Creek seemed to survive just fine. They carpet the floor of the woods for as far as you can see. Lynne calls them buttercups -- I think. The trees look a little bare in this spot -- not representative of the state of our trees in general. Many trees closer to home are sporting the smallish, yellow green leaves of spring. The last ride of April, today. Sunny, but still a chilly couple of hours. April turned out to be my best month of the year so far, barely edging out February for total miles ridden. No new records were set, though. It's the 3rd most miles for April in the 7 years I've been keeping track, so better than average I guess. (Okay, I crunched the numbers.) I rode 21 times, with an average ride length of 15.6 miles -- probably the best stat of the bunch. (January was 12.4 miles per ride, and both February and March were a bit over 13.) Longer rides equate with a higher fitness level, in my mind at least. Speaking of numbers, tomorrow is the first of the month and another theme day for the daily photo blogger community. The theme is numbers. A picture of numbers......

Mini Ice Age

Probably not, but it feels like it. TOPWLH has a few theories on the subject, which he would be willing to share. This is my blog, however, so I'm just going to complain about the weather. It is too dang cold. Frost and freeze warnings for tonight, which -- according to the woman who cuts my hair -- will kill back the early varieties of rhododendrons, which have just begun to bloom. I saw several of them on my (short) bike ride today. It actually got colder while I was out -- 43 when I left, 41 when I returned. Even in pretty much full winter gear, it just seemed like hard work to ride. I got in enough miles today to meet my base goals for the month, but not enough to improve my overall fitness level. And the sun was out. May is just around the corner.

Small Chainring

Sometimes a bike ride is just a bike ride. I spent this morning in the office, handing over the reins of my Advanced Accounting class to the new prof. (Yay.) It was too cold to ride this morning anyway, but the sun stayed out longer than expected and at least the frost on the grass melted. While rain was on its way, the leading edge didn't appear to be making much progress. So after lunch I headed out, assuming a two hour window. It clouded up fairly quickly, but I got in a nice enough ride. North into the wind, then south feeling sorta strong. I have spent more time in the small chain ring this spring than ever before, I think. Without the extreme wind that has been plaguing us, today I got back into the big ring, and my average speed edged up a bit. I am still slower than ... well, let's say... molasses, I hasten to add. On the return leg I passed by the fairgrounds, where it appears that the Carney people are in town. Yesterday was a 'Blessing of the Bikes' motorcycle event there, so that may be why they're here. Or they may be here early for Tulip Time. Either way, it gave me something besides forsythia to put on my blog.

Thunder

Today was my first ride out of Idlewood. Lynne had hoped to ride, but it didn't work out. The window of opportunity was small, as a line of thunderstorms was in Milwaukee, about to cross the lake. With SW winds at 17, gusting to 24, I headed out. I stayed close enough to home to make it back if I heard thunder. I got in only about an hour of riding before the weather deteriorated, and I headed back up the hill for home. I did get back dry, but only just.
A little more forsythia -- this is along the fence near the garage at the beach, looking west.

A few tulips casting a shadow on yesterday's ride. Winds were about 17 when I left yesterday, but picked up as I rode. It got to be just too hard to ride against the wind, and when I got home the weather channel said gusts were at 33. So two days of poor riding conditions. Always frustrating as the end of the month rolls around and I'm trying to meet my goals for April. Next Monday and Tuesday have snow in the forecast, and our local TV weather guy says one computer model predicts 11 inches of snow early next week.

That would not be good for these flowering shrubs. The common name is tulip trees because the blossoms look like ... well, tulips. Taken yesterday. (NEFB left a message for Kelsey on yesterday's post, welcoming her home. As do we all.)

Favorable Wind

The wind was right for an out and back to the PSPS, so I spent about 2 hours turning the wheels on my bike doing just that. My biking is totally recreational, so I can't claim to be saving gas -- There is a clerk at the PSPS who greets everyone with "it's a grand and glorious day." She was exceedingly pleased to see me -- I've been there a number of times this spring, but this was the first time she'd been there when I was. She said she'd been thinking about me, wondering if and when I would return. She indicated that it meant that spring was really here. (Of course, for some reason she thought my name was Delores. Now I ask you, do I look like a Delores?) ***
Closed circuit to NEFB and the Centers of the Universe. Kelsey is home -- she got back late last night. Yay!

Signs of Spring

TT wondered -- in a comment to yesterday's post -- how far along the 'budding out' process is here. There is dredging going on behind our house, and you can see that the maple tree next to the dock has started to bud out. I rode into town, as we had another day with a gusty wind from the south. I found a few tulips on 8th street that have started to flower, though most are still in the budding out stage.

The forsythia in the photo below (the yellow bush) is in full bloom. The tree behind it is starting to leaf out a little. Obviously taken on campus -- we had another fairly warm day today. I rode in short sleeves and shorts for the first time since Florida. It was 72 when I left home, 70 when I returned.

Rain is trying to push across the Lake, so most of today has been cloudy. Still, as annoying as these strong southerlies are, I'm happy to put up with them as long as they keep pushing in the warm air. A short, slow ride. About an hour.

Two Water Bottle Ride

There is a ride that works best with a wind from either the NE or the NW that I had not taken yet this year. I rode it with a wind from the SE at about 13 today. I am thinking of calling it the RATHER ride. (Ride Around the River) The first leg of the ride is mostly north (hence the desire for a northish wind), passing the Centennial Farm and Hemlock Crossing Park. This is a little different view of the bridge there, upstream from where I usually photograph it. I cross the Pigeon River just north of the park -- this is the easternmost point of the ride. At the PPS I turned west for 3 miles or so along the north side of the Pigeon River. A pretty good tailwind so far -- and I'm hoping that as I get closer to the big lake, a lake breeze will kick in and cancel out the SE wind, making the return trip a bit easier. (It didn't happen.)

This ride hits Lakeshore just north of the power plant, at the top of "Hill". It's a downhill coast from there most of the way to Pigeon Lake -- just where the river flows into it. It is spitting distance to Lake Michigan there, the westernmost part of the ride. The last landmark of note is the PSPS, where I stop for a bit. I've ridden for an hour and half, and am still an hour from home. Rehydration is necessary -- it helps avoid leg cramps. The last 9 miles or so are not as hard as I'd expected -- my west wind off the lake didn't materialize, but the SE wind has shifted ESE. For riding south, that isn't bad. I crossed a major mileage mark for the year on the ride, but can't give you the percentage .... as I don't have a firm goal for the year. Gino is still ahead of me in miles since I returned from Florida, and will eat into those base miles as well, I expect. (Hey, it's not a competition.) Nice ride. It was a bit of a stretch, but not too bad.

Cooler Near the Lake

NEFB and I took the Centers of the Universe out to the beach house today to get started on the opening up process. We did some clean up work, then went down the stairs. The bench has re-appeared, and I used the self timer on my camera for this shot. The old dune grass is pretty matted down from the snow. The new shoots are visible here. It is best to wear shoes down there at this time of year, as those spears are very, very sharp.

It was fun to sit on the sand for a while, but even a light breeze off the water was cold. Mid 40's there, about 10 to 15 degrees cooler than inland locations. A nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. Not this time of year, anyway.

EARTHQUAKE!!!!

(The original title was "Toast". Late edit per Gino's comment.) Toast? The reference is to how my legs felt today after yesterday's series of misjudgements. I considered taking a rest day, but it was just too nice a day. Instead I opted for a recovery ride -- and the Elite is back from the shop, sporting brand new tires. After my experience in Florida with a newly installed tire exploding off the rear rim about 6 miles into the first ride, I thought it might be a good idea to take it for a test ride before anyone rode it too far away from home. I rode about an hour -- and the tires seem to be doing well. My 'old' saddle is now on the Elite -- it is the saddle that came with the Ruby. It is much more comfortable than the one that was on it -- original equipment on the Elite. Every time I ride that bike I am struck by what a nice bike it is. Our next door neighbors left us this vase of daffodils today, cut from the blooms in their yard. Nice people. Behind it is yet another Lillie's Red Devil's Food Cake. We will be going to Grand Haven tonight for the weekly Friday pizza night, and I am bringing dessert. There are often as many as 10 people there, so much of it will probably be gone tonight. I am using up the cocoa that TT and I bought in Florida when we made the cake there. (Lynne brought it back with her -- they drove back to MI.) It is a tasty recipe. On another note -- I was lying in bed at about 5:40 this morning, trying to decide if I should get up or not. The mirror on my dresser started to rattle, and the bed started to shake. It stopped after a short time, then did it again. Earthquakes are rare in Michigan, but something happened. We are a long way from the epicenter, but we definitely felt the Illinois earthquake. Very odd.

Karma

I should have known better than to claim 'no whimpering' on yesterday's post. Today's ride -- well, the last half of today's ride -- was ugly. My list of mistakes. I didn't believe the Weather Channel's report of wind speed. I headed out with a tail wind. I thought the wind would die down. I expected the wind to shift from SW to W. I got too close to the lake and got chilled. I under dressed. I rode too far and had to slog it out on the way home. Into the wind. I took this picture before things went south. (Literally, as it turns out.) For some reason we've been having warnings about fire danger because of the low humidity. Hard to burn this, I would think. Near the Port Sheldon fire station. About two hours. Whimper.

Check

The wind was from the south at 20 to 23, gusting to 27 to 30. It is quite possible to ride any direction but south in those conditions, in fact riding north is a lot of fun. It was also sunny and 56 when I left, 63 when I returned. There was no lying along side the road whimpering here today. WooHoo.

East takes me towards town, and I stopped at the LBS for a time. I bought a new saddle for Ruby, and had them transfer my old saddle to the Elite. (The Elite is in the shop getting new tires, brake pads, chain and a used saddle so that #1 daughter can ride it this summer.) This photo was taken at Dunton Park on the north side of Lake Mac. These are wild violets, I think.


I continued on across the River Avenue bridge and through the Window on the Waterfront Park and out to Windmill Island to check on the progress of the tulips. The mass plantings in the park and on the island have broken through the ground, but the leaves are only a few inches tall. The only flowers were a few daffodils here and there. The road in and out of the island runs north and south, so I felt really strong going out to the island and had a tough headwind coming back. That stretch was the only really difficult bit. I must say that the crosswinds nearly blew me off the bike a time or two, but I (oddly, perhaps) consider that to be kind of fun. Auckland rule.

Yellow

It is April 15th, thus I had the same check list as GZ -- not such a pleasant morning. Eventually we got to the 2 hour bike ride part, so TOPWLH took a nap, and I headed out. It is still below the average temperature for the date, but it was 50 when I left and with the sky clear, the sun was warm. A very nice ride, in spite of the wind. Today is 'breezy' and tomorrow will be 'windy' -- for today I chose to ignore the wind direction (SW) and rode north and west -- not quite 2 hours, but close. I was looking for daffodils, and found several clumps of them blooming -- all of them near Lake Mac. Mine haven't blossomed yet, but there is no sun where they are planted. I think the tulips are going to be late this year -- it is probably about time to head across the bridge and see how they are progressing. I'll put it on my check list.

Trim

This is the current state of blueberry farming. The bushes are trimmed back every year. I don't know why. I am in something of a rut. Shorter rides seem to have become the norm. Weather has been one factor -- yesterday and today it was still a bit chilly, though the sun was out today. I rode both days, but yesterday I had company, and today I had a lunch thing with Lynne, to talk about possibly teaching -- again -- in the fall. The season is still young, even if I'm not.

Spooky Weather

Today was the first day in a long time that I've ridden in 60+ degree weather. Long sleeve jersey and a vest, tights, but no helmet cover. Light gloves. The wind was brisk from the south, with thunderstorms forecast, but not evident. The sun was out and had dried up most of the roads from yesterday's rain. Not wanting to get too far from shelter, I set out for the beach. It's about a half hour out there, via the scenic route along Lake Mac. There were two wind gust lines that blew through during that half hour. Spooky. At the beach, it was obvious that both the ice and the snow fences are gone. The graders have been in and smoothed the sand. (The year we bought the beach house -- 11 years ago -- there was still ice in the water on April 15, so this is not our coldest spring ever.)

The sky didn't look all that threatening. There's a 'pop-up' theory of severe weather, apparently. There was a severe thunderstorm warning in effect when I got home, but the storm was east of here. Popped up out of nowhere.

I included this to show why the graders come in and move the sand around. Unless they dig out this tree it will likely die, suffocated by the sand. I only rode about an hour -- dark clouds were starting to roll in from the south, and it looked like rain on the south side of Lake Mac. 60's are really nice, but I spent most of my time with an eye to the sky. 40's and snow showers over the weekend -- it has been a very odd spring.

Pigeon Lake

Pigeon Lake makes its first appearance of the year. I can't get motivated to stretch my rides out beyond about 2 hours, at least until it warms up a bit. 40 degrees when I left home, about the same when I returned. Cloudy, fairly brisk NW wind. Both the river and the small lake seem to be free of ice, so that's progress. There were several other people outside exercising on a cold April day. I met three women runners along the stretch between the PSPS and the bridge at Pigeon Lake as I was heading north. All three were chatting as they jogged along. On my return I met them again -- they must have turned around at the PSPS. Two of them were still chatting. The third could barely gasp 'hi' in response to my greeting. I think she had entered her cave of pain. That's a place I rarely visit on my bike --

I met a biker about here, near the expensive gasoline sign. He was wearing a parka, jeans and ski goggles. Odd looking bike gear, but probably effective. I had opted for my heavier gloves and balaclava -- so probably looked fairly odd myself. Still, the first visit to Pigeon Lake is a bit of a milestone.

Going to the Dogs

In my capacity as official photographer, I took this. Leaving on a dog 'cart' ride. (Dog sled rides available when there's snow.)

And returning to the Back Forty. Even the dogs looked like they were having fun.

No helmets required. That's my 'ride report' for the day. Coolish, but the forecast of rain did not materialize. (Late edit -- I exchanged the first photo for one I liked better.)

Horsing Around

A different kind of 'ride report' for today. Upper 50's, some wind, but the horses didn't seem to mind. Spring break.

Teenager Alert

Can you believe that the girl center of the universe is a teenager? It seems like it was just yesterday ....... Her other, funnier grandmother got her a spare brain. As you can see, it cracked her up. (In bicycle related blogging, I did ride today. It was 45 degrees, cloudy, with a wind from the north at about 15. None of the 3 photos I took of the alpaca turned out to be blog-worthy. Otherwise an uneventful ride. ) Happy birthday, granddaughter.

Normal

It felt warm today, with the high forecast to be about normal for the date. A guy standing at his mailbox yelled 'Michigan's warm' at me as I rode by. 52 degrees on the return trip, with more wind than yesterday, but still a nice change from where it has been. I stretched out yesterday's ride some, heading north to Blair Street which runs parallel to the Pigeon River, though never quite close enough to see it. The new bike path along Blair from the grade school to the PSPS is finished, with some long bridges over swampy ground. Much of the path is still snow covered. Blair doesn't have much traffic on it, but it is probably a good idea to get the school kids off of it.

My first sighting of crocuses took place along the same stretch of road. The first spring flowers I've seen. Not quite 2 hours of riding, but some new territory for the year.

Update on Sap

We seem to be done with the wind and rain for the time being -- it was 39 degrees when I headed out, with a light SW wind. Just about the 40 degrees that I often claim is the minimum temperature for riding. And I know you've all been waiting for an update on the blue bags full of sap on the maple trees along Ransom. I was a little surprised to see that the blue bags are no longer hanging from the trees. This maple still had a streak of sap flowing down its trunk from the collection hole. (I don't know much about this whole process, obviously.) It was a nice ride on a sunny day. I'm hoping that the biking season is back underway again.

Artistic Water Fountain

The high wind advisory went from 2 am to 5 pm today. I did not invoke the Auckland rule. I did go to an art show in Grand Haven, though. I know one of the blue ribbon winning artists personally. This as the award winning artwork. Nice, huh? I've never gotten a blue ribbon in art, myself. I still wanted to find something themish for today's 'water' theme, and while I was at the Community Center -- sorry, art gallery -- I saw what seemed to me to be a very arty set of water fountains.

Congratulations to the youngest center of the universe. Way to go, TJ. Nice work.