Guest Rider

My summer wish list includes taking a bike ride with OSLO. We haven't ridden together since before her back surgery, exactly two years ago today. She's a busy woman, and summers are especially busy in her line of work, with kids out of school and all. Today, quite unexpectedly, the pieces all fell into place, and she and I were gearing up for a bike ride. I pumped the tires on the Bianchi hybrid for her, my bike with the most upright riding position. We had barely left the driveway when... POP ... her rear tire exploded.

Our time window for this ride wasn't very big -- she had kids to pick up after school about 2:30.  So we decided she should give the Elite a try -- her back surgeon said she could ride any bike as long as it fit her.  So we adjusted the seat to her leg length, and she rode it around in the driveway enough to decide that it was comfortable.  (I did have a stem extender put on that bike two years ago, and that definitely helped.)  We rode as far as Ransom Park, then stopped to take a photo to document the ride.  Yesterday's heat and humidity were gone, though it was still pretty breezy for biking.  She commented that 'it isn't even summer yet' and I've already checked something off of my wish list.  

Full Plate

Clouds rolled in, obscuring any chance to see the eclipse here on Sunday night.  I had just returned from my walk, when at the last possible minute the sky cleared and opened up a small window on the end of the eclipse. You can just see the shadow of the moon at the bottom of the sun.

Monday had way too many things going on.  There was a shortish bike ride in there somewhere. Also, we've been car shopping for the girl COTU for a while, and found two good possibilities this weekend.  We narrowed it down to one, and drove it north for the girl to look at.  She liked it. It took some negotiations, but yesterday we put a deposit down on it.

On another front, with the new landscaping at the beach,  there's a bunch of yard work related tasks going on.  The lawn sprinkler repair guy arrived before 8 yesterday morning, followed by Beaver Creek Dave, our landscaping guy.

The original bush that we'd agreed on for next to the front door at the beach house turned out to be unobtainable, so I scoured nursery websites for an alternative, and found this.  It's a black lace elderberry.  JB expressed disappointment over its size.  I assured him that its mature height is over 5 feet.  I like it.

Today was ride day again, but I needed to check on work being done at the Bay house -- so I rode there first, approved of everything that had been done, and rode out of there.  It was a nice enough ride -- nothing epic, just exercise.  Memorial Day weekend looks hot with  unsettled weather.  The unofficial start of summer.  It's all good.

First Day of Summer Arrives Early

Wow. I didn't expect summer to arrive so abruptly. I was just complaining about the cold water in the big lake, and today the kids were swimming in it.

Now this was the day I was dreaming about in February.

Missing Borculo

I know you've heard this before, but I'd rather bike than walk. Walking -- or any weight bearing exercise, but realistically, what else is there -- has been prescribed by professional medical types as seriously necessary for me.  It's not a "real" problem, but it does seem like a harsh choice to me, and I struggle with it.

The not quite retired Professor hauled me out on neighborhood walks on two evenings this week.  Nice of her.  While I don't mind biking alone, I get bored quickly when I walk by myself. 

On Tuesday evening's walk, we got in the full neighborhood circle, plus an extra spoke or two, before we decided not to push our luck any further and headed home before we got wet.  Last night my legs were semi cooked from a longish ride I took earlier in the day, but we managed about 40 minutes of walking.  That's two.  (Or 10, in binary.)

The plan, were I to follow one, is to walk three days a week and bike four.  I've been trying to push the ride length a bit to make up some for biking less often than in years past.  Yesterday I headed inland on my bike to escape the cold, cold air near the big lake, deciding somewhere along the way to make a visit to a little town called Borculo.  (Home of the famous Dandelion Festival.  Really.)  At one point, years ago,  I was into "bagging" the small towns near here, and I had ridden to Borculo and had some root beer.  Finding a route east of the highway that doesn't involve gravel roads isn't easy, but I was pretty sure that recent road projects had resulted in paved shoulders on the busier stretches of county roads that I'd have to ride if I wanted to stay on pavement all the way to Borculo.  The good news is that I was right about the paved shoulders.  The bad news is that somebody moved Borculo.  I could swear it was at the intersection of 120th and Port Sheldon.  When I arrived at that intersection, it wasn't there. On our walk last night, I talked to the not quite retired Professor about this, and she guessed that Borculo was at 120th and Port Sheldon, too.  What are the odds that we'd both be wrong?  As it turns out, 100%.  When I got home and checked a map, I discovered that  I missed it by 3 miles.  In my unsuccessful attempt to find it I had ridden 28+ miles, however, and an additional 6 miles (3 more out, 3 more back) just wasn't in the cards.  Or more accurately, in my legs.  Even with a headwind returning and more traffic than I would have liked on a couple of stretches, it was a pretty nice ride.

For Sale

Here's a link to the real estate listing.

How Much Is Enough?

It was a busy morning today. We gave away the two twin beds and related bedroom furniture from the bay house to some friends, and as a way of repaying the favor, they used their truck to swap the good queen size mattress set from the bay with the saggy queen size set that was at the beach. While I tried to help with that, my better half was meeting with a contractor about some fairly minor (I hope) repair work that needs to be done at the bay house. (The house officially goes on the market on Monday. Wish us luck.) So it was later than normal when I looked at the radar to see if I was clear for a ride. It showed "green" all over the area -- oddly, since it wasn't raining. Nor did it rain during the (fairly long) time that I was out riding. Useful.

I headed north, and ran into a few sprinkles now and then, but only a few. This box is nearly exactly 10 miles from my garage.  I assume it's a birdhouse of some sort?  It's right along side the bike trail -- an odd place for a bird house.  And the number on the side of it seems strange.  It's on land owned by the power company but maintained by the county and township.  Something to ponder. 

I continued on north for a couple more miles, across the railroad spur that feeds the power plant. This is my new favorite place to bike.  There are a few turkey farms up there, and the occasional eccentric religious sect, but it's mostly woods.  If it looks a little desolate, that's because it is.  I was gone for more than 2 hours on my little trek, most of it spent doing what my doctor would almost certainly call exercise.  When I (recently) saw her, she gave me a sheet of paper with written recommendations on it.  Here's what it said.  1. Work at losing 5 pounds.  2.  Exercise for 30 minutes most days.  3.  Increase dietary potassium and calcium.  Here's my take.  Really??????  30 minutes?  I guess I'd better cut back.

Not Many May Miles

I checked my bike log and I rode more miles in the first 10 days of February this year than I did in the first 10 days of May. Part of the reason is the persistent rain here, and an equally large part is that I have been spending hours and hours most days at the Bay house, cleaning and sorting through 29 years worth of accumulated treasures and trash.  Four piles.  Keep.  Give away.  Throw away.  Sell.  Yesterday we called "If It's Gotta Go, Maybe Joe" to come and haul away a trailer full of stuff.  The basement, furnace room, work room and garage are now all empty.  As are most closets and the entire kitchen.  Last night I sent an email to Lynne which included the phrase, "I am officially too tired to think."  (Though I could still count to 10, or two if you prefer, in binary.)  Oddly, too tired to think translated to too tired to sleep.  So after meeting with our realtor and signing the slew of necessary papers to get the sales process underway, I took the rest of today off and went for a bike ride.   (A different approach would have been to take a nap, I guess.)

My  bike knows the way north to the PSPS, over the Pigeon River at the lake, past the power plant, a little loop north (just because) and back south and east past the WOOS, with a rest stop at Hemlock Crossing Park on the return trip.  I love that ride. 26.5 slow miles.  My legs are a little tired, but my head feels clear and I just might sleep better tonight.

The Pigeon River is flowing a little wider and faster than usual, I assume because of all the rain.  The photo is from a ride earlier this week, taken at the old bridge.

Butterflies are everywhere this spring. Wildlife seems abundant -- our realtor (who is an Idlewood neighbor) said that he saw a group of 9 deer standing in front of a house three doors down from ours last night when he was returning home from work.  Munching on the landscaping. I wish they'd eat grass instead of hosta. That is all the news that's fit to print.

May the Fourth (be with you).

Things are progressing nicely at the Bay. Dave, the yard guy, got the outside of the house looking pretty good.  More accurately, he put his minions to work, and they got it done fairly quickly.

I'm going to have to tackle the basement soon, but the rest of the house has cleaned up nicely. We have a couple of maintenance tasks to do before it is ready to show, but the sense of being overwhelmed has retreated. Mostly.

Having some extra hands on deck to help with the cleaning has helped a lot. Today I felt comfortable enough with the state of things to take a bike ride. Nothing epic -- the loop around the Pigeon River, again. A nice and soothing ride. Stretch my legs, work on my fitness, maintain my sanity.

This last photo is from the last ride I took in April. I can finally look at Ruby's odometer again.

All Things Dutch

I don't ride into town very often. It's a slow ride, too much traffic, too many street crossings, and it doesn't help that I have to ride past the sewage treatment plant to get there. However, today is theme day, and I heard that the theme was bakeries.

This is the best place in town to get banket. (Almond paste in a flakey crust.) Most of you have had the local version of pigs, and I don't know for sure what balkenbrij is, though it may be related to haggis.  De Boer's Bakkerij (pronounced bakery) is right across the street from Captain Sundae's, which is right next door to Cross Country Cycle.  Location, location, location.

I do not know what the yellow, wooden shoe shaped things on the bottom shelf are.  It seems unlikely that they are actual wooden shoes, but I can't imagine any baked goods in that shape, either.  Lots and lots of cinnamon rolls for the tourists, and of course, plenty of banket. I was only a mile or so from the bridge into town at this point, and I haven't checked out the condition of the tulips downtown lately.  Tulip Time starts Saturday, and the tour buses have been rolling through town for a few weeks already. So I rode across the bridge, then under the bridge, then past the sewage plant, then through Window on the Waterfront Park, and found a few of the traditional blooms along 6th street, near the statues of the Dutch couple.

The tulips are definitely past their prime, but there are still a few nice patches of color.  It won't be a total stem festival.  In other news, we have a cleaning crew coming to the Bay house tomorrow and Thursday to get it ready for sale, so there won't be much riding or blogging going on here for a while.  See you on the other side.