Ruby and Laura and Nate

Some of you -- okay, maybe one of you -- will know who I'm talking about here.  Ruby is my 2006 road bike, Laura is bike Laura of Cross Country Cycle and Nate (who was gone for 8 or 9 years) is the only bike mechanic I really trust, one who still remembers  when I bought Ruby.  Ruby has been gathering dust for a while -- after her shifters stopped shifting a year or so ago.  All both of them, as they say.  Even though I have a pretty, fancy new bicycle to ride, it seemed a shame to leave Ruby in such a sorry state.  I am recovering (I hope) from a cold and it's raining, but I felt good enough to pump Ruby's tires and throw her in the back of my SUV.  Laura and Nate were both on duty at the shop and had nothing pressing.  March, cold.  Raining. I turned Ruby over to Nate, wanting to know what it would cost to restore her to a fully functioning condition.  Here are my options.  Nate got the rear shifters to work, but not the front.  (10 speed double). He had me choose which ring I wanted to ride in, and I chose the small ring, since I cannot get up the Idlewood hill in the big ring.  It is uncertain that the fix will be permanent.  He thinks that this is the appropriate fix for a 12 year old bike with 17,000 miles on it.  Laura thinks I should replace the shifters, of course.  The replacements for 2006 Ultegra shifters on this 10 speed bike have Tiagra labels on them.  (I have enough residual bike geek in me for that to bother me.)  It's pricey, but not a deal breaker.

I brought Ruby home, and I plan to take a couple of rides on her when it's warmer and I feel better.  I will then decide if a 10 speed bike is good enough for a bike that won't get ridden all that often (probably).  Or if I want to go with Laura's option and accept Tiagra labels on the shifters of a formerly full Ultegra, carbon fiber bicycle. Nate locked out the front shifter,  and it will be interesting to see how that works out in real life.  Feel free to weigh in with an opinion.

Finally:

Here are a couple of photos from a walk the College Girl and I took last week along the back side of her campus.

Shifting Gears

We changed climates on Wednesday, getting on a plane on a summer day and getting off about 4 hours later into late winter.  I am slowly adjusting to the temperature difference, and as always, it is good to be home.  There was no green here for St. Patrick's Day, though.

I am also literally shifting gears again, having had little reason to shift my bicycle gears the whole time we were gone.  The new/old Florida bike worked out exceptionally well, but with a triple chain ring and a 9 speed cassette, it is vastly over-geared.  I don't recall getting out of the middle ring the whole 3 months we were there.  Michigan seems hilly by comparison, but the new bike knows how to climb, even though it's taken me a while to remember how it shifts. I'm two rides into the Michigan season, and looking forward to watching spring unfold here from the seat of my bicycle.  Good enough.

And The Village shrinks again.

North Country Woman returned to the north country yesterday, leaving just four of us here for now.  We think she enjoyed her visit, we certainly were glad to see her and sad to see her go.  Today got off to a slow start with rain moving in overnight last night and lingering into this morning.  I had a cup of coffee on the lanai so that I could watch the clouds move through.

The streets dried up quickly and I got in a quick bike ride late this morning while the college girl was slaving away over her senior project.  She's using the Peace River Wildlife Center in Punta Gorda as the theme for the project and we returned there this afternoon for her to get some additional photos.  Today she was looking primarily for background photos.  She used my camera and took about 195.  I think she has enough, at least for now.

Supper tonight was at Red Lobster, using up a gift card that OSLO had sent to her Dad for his birthday in January.  A good time was had by all.

The Grands and I took a quick stroll at sunset, with a circuit of Sunrise Park just a bit after the sun sank behind the mangroves.

Kiwanis Park

Today we spent some time at the mall, took a walk to Spring Lake Park, visited Kiwanis Park and had one of NCW's signature meals of baked chicken with asparagus and cheese bisquits -- followed by a short walk to Sunrise Park.  The Grands spent some time in the spa -- NCW and I felt we'd done enough by then and we're both sitting on comfy couches with computers in our laps.

A "cool" front has gone through, with highs in the 70's and lower humidity.  It's a really nice change of pace.  Another nice day in Southwest Florida.

The Village Grows

North Country Woman arrived on Thursday, and we had a couple of pretty mellow days.  Today the college students arrived to spend their Spring Break with us, and the average energy level here went way, way up.  It's all good though.  Here are a few photos.

Owls at Ollie's Pond.