End of the Road

My bicycling goals for this month were modest. Reasonable comparisons right now seem to me to be last month and (maybe)  October of last year. I managed to match both of those numbers with today's ride, and I'm calling that good enough. At least for now. I was going to use this sign as a comment on the end of the bicycling season, but that was covered pretty well elsewhere on the internet.  Great minds, and all that.

The sun burned through the overcast at about the time I got to the old bridge over the Pigeon River. Once again I was too late for a pig at the PSPS, though.

A bit further down the road I found a barn that I have not previously photographed.  It is hidden behind a house, so it is hard to get a good shot of it.  But it is definitely a barn, and thus counts. Tomorrow is November 1, another shot at theme day for anyone who's interested.  The topic this month is fences.  Not as good as barns, but reasonable enough.

The Last Sunday in October

I don't have a leaf pile to photograph -- the Beaver Creek guys were here last week and carted them away. I did make good use of the time freed up by having someone else do my leaves, though. We were lucky enough to have the COTU hang out with us this weekend, and we got out for a couple of good walks while they were here. It was too dark for photographs on our walk after supper yesterday, but I managed to get a few this afternoon.

TJ thought that leaving the mountain shouldn't be necessary, and resisted going down the hill to Lakeshore. He's my grandson, you know, and is quite clear on the concept that if you go down that hill, eventually you're most likely going to have to work your way back up it. We did so rather quickly, taking the secret path up the hill from the parking lot at Tunnel Park to the "Parthenon". We disturbed a teenage couple who were apparently back in among the trees looking for some privacy, but we decided it was a public park, and just made a lot of noise as we advanced.

We descended the stairs to the beach -- it wasn't quite deserted.  We counted a handful of other late season beach fans, in spite of the dark and gloomy atmosphere.  (That's a stick he's pointing at the camera.)  Today may turn out to be the last time we walk home from Tunnel Park for the year. Knowing this,  Nikki wanted to walk back along the beach, while TJ and I opted to get out of the wind at the first opportunity, and went up the northernmost beach access point for our neighborhood.  He ran ahead in order to beat his sister back to the house.

She stopped along her way to the house, sitting and meditating by the water for a short time, so I also made it back before she did.  This is the latest in the year we've ever been at the beach full time, and it's been cool to watch the seasons change out here.  I have acquired a bowl full of Halloween candy in preparation for tomorrow night's trick or treaters.  The trick is to avoid eating any of it myself. (Our current temperature is 47, the wind is from the SSW at  14, gusting to 28.  JB has a new weather station.)

More Barns

I almost declared today to be too cold to ride. It was 41 when I left, but warmed up some while I was out. I didn't ride far.

I ran into a "road closed" sign, and cursed my luck. It added another mile to my planned ride, but it turned out to be worth it. Both of these barns are along Greenley, near the alpaca farm.

It was time well spent, and I was happy to be out on my bike.  It snowed some today, just north of here.  November looms.

Checking Off Some Bicycling Goals

The sign says this is a centennial farm, though the date on the barn is 1912.  I guess the farm has been in the family longer than the barn has been?

I forgot to bring along my water bottle, but fortunately the nature center at Hemlock Crossing Park was open, and I stopped in for a drink of water (or two.)

Which saved me from having to stop in here to get something to drink.  This place never gets any less sketchy.

The trip along the north side of the Pigeon River, from the WOOS to Hill was spectacular, even this late into fall.  And what the heck is an environmental enhancement park, anyway? 

I was hoping for a pig, but they were sold out by the time I got there.  It was 2:00 ish, so not exactly a surprise.  Peanut Butter Cups are not on my usual list of approved foods, but I was running on empty by the time I got there.  And I was cold... really, really cold.

A hot meal and a cup of tea have returned my core temperature to normal, more or less.  It was an excellent ride ... not exactly a perfect day for it, but we're running out of daylight here.  And by "daylight" I mean time to ride before the snow flies.

Cold Weather Gear

I took a walk after supper last night, and broke out my winter jacket for the first time this season.

I ran into my neighbors while I was out, and Marty -- who walks miles every day, and has for years -- was wearing what looked like a high tech jacket.  I may have to look into this.  On the other hand, I was plenty warm enough in what I had on.

After lunch today I geared up for a bike ride -- see above.  I took a lap around the neighborhood and came back home for an extra pair of wool socks and the helmet cover shown above.  While "pumpkin head" is not exactly a flattering look, it made a huge difference in how warm my head was.  The self portrait was taken at Kouw Park, a township park at the corner of Lakeshore and Van Buren.  It was a cold, cloudy 40 something when I left the house, and 40 something when I returned.  This is pretty close to my minimum temperature for riding.

My turn around spot was the old bridge over the Pigeon River.  One of my favorite pieces of cold weather gear is Ruby.

Walking in the Rain

Flood advisories, wind advisories, frost and freeze advisories -- the best bet is to just stay indoors, I think. 

It was about a 2 mile walk -- using bicycling benchmarks, as I still haven't replaced the battery on my pedometer.  I'm still figuring out the right gear to be comfortable outside in wet, windy, 40ish weather.  As you can see, I went with the umbrella, and though it made photography difficult, it was a good call.

A Cautionary Tale

A week ago Sunday I took this photo. Nothing spectacular, it never even made it to the blog, until now. To take it, I knelt on my left knee next to the edge of the dune to get the arty 'through the asparagus' effect. In the process, I (unknowingly) planted that knee on top of some poison ivy. Later, given the evidence, I apparently crossed my right leg over my left leg, transferring the poison ivy to the inside, bendy part of the back of my right knee.

I am, as you may know, allergic to poison ivy. I have an ugly blistery rash on both legs -- the one behind my right knee being the most annoying, as well as limiting. It is not fun to bend that knee much at all. (In a bit of an ironic twist, when I was describing my radiation burn to my surgeon, I described it as feeling like poison ivy on top of sunburn. Pretty accurate, as it turns out.) 

That's a long story to explain that today's outing was on foot. Plus winds are upwards of 25 mph, gusting around 35.  My pedometer battery died, so I don't know how far I walked, but I did take the back way to Tunnel Park as well as doing some wandering around my neighborhood.  The tunnel makes a good wind funnel -- I got sand blasted while taking the picture above.  Except for the wind, it's a pretty nice October day here.  (I accidentally checked Grand Rapids, MN's weather forecast, instead of Grand Rapids, MI.  I was horrified to see snow showers predicted.)

One of the things I like about walking is that I notice different things than what catch my attention on my bike.  The red berries, above, are along the hill that leads up into our neighborhood.  I did not put a knee down to take this photo, and no poison ivy was involved in the process.  GOINFS.

Five Days Later

On Sunday morning, my maple tree looked like this.  Today we had 30 plus mph winds, and by sunset most of the branches were bare.

October 14th.

Late edit:  Saturday morning,  Oct. 15th.  Wind speed at the moment this photo was taken, reported at the Holland State Park, 45 mph.  Doesn't look like biking will break out today, either.

Signs of the Season

After a dozen days of beautiful October weather the law of averages caught up with us today.  Cloudy, drizzle and dark.  So here are a few photos I took over the course of the last few days.  I took this one on an evening walk around the neighborhood a couple of days ago. Halloween must be right around the corner.

I took a couple of very short bike rides this week, as I am slowly recovering from my cold.  The blueberry fields are turning red -- they're pretty impressive for the short time until the leaves fall.  Eventually the stems turn red as well, which looks striking against the white snow.

I missed out on the October first theme day -- it was "mystery object."   Family bloggers have done a number of posts with a similar theme, usually in the form of "what's the deal with the (insert color, usually blue) thing?"  Here my late entry for theme day this month.  What's the deal with the red thing?

It also works for a sign of the season -- I assume that the red thing is there to help the snow plows and fire trucks find the fire hydrants during the snowy season.  (It's a bit puny for the job -- this photo was taken yesterday along 168th street.  The snow gets a lot deeper than that there, I believe.)   That makes 3 references to snow in this post --

October Beach

Here are a couple of photos from today -- these two and their Mother walked with me on the beach for a while this afternoon.

This might be -- probably is -- the last time this year that we dress this way to walk along the water.

Here's what my maple tree looked like this morning.  Proof that it really is October.

Just Riding Around

A natural consequence of overdoing it, I suppose. I didn't ride yesterday -- instead I used the day to get caught up on other things, and take a short walk. It thus came as a little bit of a surprise this morning to discover that my legs and my head were still kind of tired today. Some days I feel my age.

The State Park was an easy enough distance to ride, though. And it was quite full of people spending their lunch hour soaking up the sunshine and warm breezes at the beach.  No one manned the booth at the entrance, so it was free admission -- pretty typical for this time of year.   At least two sailboats headed out of the channel while I was there, and there were even a few jet skis buzzing the ends of the piers.

I did find enough energy to make a swing through Tunnel Park on my return trip, just to check on how the trees were doing with this whole changing color deal.  Three maple trees, three different opinions of what color was appropriate.  I love this time of year.

Overdoing It

The problem with feeling better is that it is tempting to push a little harder than is really wise. And so I did. *Sigh* -- as GZ would say.  The weather was very un-October-like, the sun was out and the wind was calm.  One of the nicest biking days of the entire year.

The photo above was taken along Idlewild Road on the way to the PSPS, where I stopped in for a Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper. It is close to the big lake, and thus barely 60 degrees, with most of the leaves still green. The one below was taken just a few miles further on, along a road where I seldom ride, near the Centennial farms where I rode on Monday. This road doesn't really go anywhere interesting, but it was worth riding today. Nice job, trees.  By then it was quite a bit warmer -- mid to upper 70's, I'd guess. (I had no cattle barn displays to go by.)

My own personal indicator that I've overdone it is a nagging pain between my shoulder blades. I was about a mile from home when it showed up today, so I didn't overdo it by all that much. My own opinion is that today was one of those days where everyone who is able to overdo it should get out there and overdo it.

Hallelujah

They should have been playing the Hallelujah Chorus instead of whatever nameless music was on this morning. In other words, I'm done.

Marie gave me this certificate and a hug.  Bob shook my hand and wished me well.  (My radiation technologists.)  It is time to take off the bracelets, team.  A thousand thanks.  The odds of recurrence have officially been lowered.  What next?  I took a bike ride.  No surprise there.

It was just a round trip to Quincy Park today -- note to self:  Just because the water fountain has not yet been wrapped in plastic garbage bags doesn't mean they haven't shut off the water.  Fall continues to add color to the landscape here, though the air at Quincy Park was warm.  Close to 70.  Cresting the Idlewood hill on the return trip I ran into a wall of fog, which is just now finally beginning to clear. 

Indian Summer?

I added up the odometers on Ruby and the Elite this past weekend.  I needed one pretty good ride to make the total miles that I have ridden those two bikes into a nice round number.  I haven't taken a ride longer than 1.5 hours for a number of weeks -- and many shorter than that, but decided to go for it anyway.  I rode north -- I haven't been past the Centennial farms up near the Pigeon River since early June, and the landscape looks completely different this time of year.

The trees are still predominantly green but fall is clearly underway.  It didn't ever get as warm as was predicted -- a lake breeze kicked in and kept the temperatures from rising above the low 60's where I was.  Still, it was a beautiful day to be out on a bike.  The leaves on the blueberry bushes are just beginning to make their turn towards red.

When I got home the odometer on the Ruby said 13,219 miles. The one on the Elite says 11,787 miles.  Together, that's 25,006 miles.  And we all know that I own more than two bikes.  I think that's worth a little Woo and a bit of Hoo, right?  And I am pleased to report that I am still capable of a two hour bike ride.