31 July 2011 Ride: 7 Full Months

We leave the month of July as being one of the hottest Julys on record.  Every day was in the 90s and the last two weeks seemed to be in the mid to upper 90s.  Thank goodness for the coolness of the morning though it was rather humid this morning.

I like how the early morning light gives this ordinary culvert a very different look. It almost looks as if it could be moth with camouflage coloration. 

I didn’t think about it being the end of July on today’s ride as I did think of it being the end of week for my logging purposes and wanting to get in 24 miles to hit 150 miles for the past seven days.  Not until I started working on the post did I realize today is a small milestone on the daily ride journey.  

For the ride this morning, I headed east on Hwy 45 a favorite for Sunday morning since there is very little traffic.  A few miles past Goshen, I came to a road on the left which I thought would connect me with another road, CORD 303, which I could then use to loop back to Hwy 45.  Starting off labeled as CORD 368 and turning into 372, this county road had that "ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK" feel: extremely quiet and remote with dogs just lying in wait.  

Very quickly, I did come across a house with three dogs but they stopped at the fence line when I talked to them.  They seemed harmless and probably friendly.  About a half mile further, I could tell by the way the road was winding, that this was not going to take me to 303. And, at halfway down the hill I was about to descend, there were four dogs barking and galloping my way.  If I knew I was going to ride through, I would have kept riding.  But feeling that I was headed in the wrong direction, I stopped to turn around. 

Two of the dogs came closer and I tried to call them over.  Off to my left, I heard another dog barking.  I had to smile when I saw that it was a Rottweiler; some of you may recall my visions of going down another road with the image of a Rottweiler waiting to devour me. Fortunately, he stayed put while the other two dogs kept barking away with two other dogs barking from down the hill.   My talking never quieted the dogs but they all kept their distance and I never really felt threatened.  Though, it is an odd sensation to have so many dogs barking at one time from so many different directions.

Today's Ride:  2hrs 13mins.  25.13 miles.  78 degrees.  Miles YTD:  4,920.70

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30 July 2011 Ride: Bicyclists...or Subversives

In the neighborhood that I lived in back in the Fifties when I was four or five, there was a family just up the street that my parents talked about rather scandalously; it turned out that the ENTIRE family rode bikes, including the parents.  Riding bikes was considered a child's activity so the fact that there were adults in the family who also rode was fodder for talk.  I remember driving by the house a couple of times hoping to catch sight of the family, especially the adults, wondering what they looked like.  It was as if we had Communists living in the neighborhood.  I have a vague memory, even though I found it incredulous that the parents also rode, that I also found it rather cool that this whole family were bicyclists.  Not knowing anything else about the family, I had the sense that it was a very close knit unit.  Who knows.

 

A family of bicyclists...or subversives?

Leading the pack is the youngest party member who is actually riding, of all things, a recumbent.

The above photo is the only one for today.  Actually, there were several attempts at trying to capture shots of dragon flies in  mid-air but they were all for naught.  I looked around for things to photograph but I was more or less on automatic as I pushed through the ride.  It seemed that something more is needed than a day of biking and chainsawing as I awoke at 3:20.  Seeing no hope of going back to sleep, I got up at 3:40, cleaned the kitchen and drove over to the Botanical Garden around 6:00 for the morning ride.  

It is a curious thing what compels a person forward.  My bench mark for each day is 60 minutes but today I was determined to do 50 miles.  The 50 miler today seemed a much more Herculean effort than the 100 miler last week.  (And, typing this up is no easy feat with typos almost every other word.)  Perhaps I'm staying in training for that day when all the cars are immobilized and an alert goes out looking for someone who can make an emergency 100 mile bike ride for a much needed blood supply to save thousands from dying.  Who knows.  Maybe it's some sort of Communist plot.

Today's Ride:  4hrs. 24mins.  50.08 miles.  78-88 degrees.  Miles YTD:  4,895.57

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29 July 2011 Ride: Getting a Bit More Buzz

I guess it takes a bike ride and some lumberjacking to finally get a good night sleep.  A short ride this morning as I was eager to get back to cutting up the tree that was felled the other day. 

 

Today's Ride: 61mins.  10.9 miles.  77 Degrees.  Miles YTD:  4,845.49

28 July 2011 Ride: Eclipsed Again!

The 4:15 wake up call was not appreciated this morning.  Nothing to rush off to and no reason to wake up that early other than my body saying, "time to wake up."

I moved slowly and sluggishly, taking a good hour to get ready before I drove down to Habberton Rd.  Another beautiful morning with a slightly thinner crescent moon hanging above the eastern horizon.  Yes, I took a picture of it yesterday morning, but this time I steadied the camera on the roof of the truck instead of the bike seat and was able to get a clearer image.  Amazing, two eclipses two mornings in a row.

What is there about getting on a bike that excite the senses so instantaneously?  I lingered for a moment looking at the moon and the landscape before mounting my bike and then once on the same views took on a heightened exhilaration.  I think it may be that cycling takes one as close to flying a person can get without leaving the ground.

An image I had this morning as I rode with the sky transforming from twilight to dawn was of the universe going through a rebirth with every sunrise.  All knowledge, all creation seals itself away during the night and then with sunrise, like a flower unfolding, our Earth goes through all that it has learned and experienced and grown up until the day before.  With the rising of the sun, we are ready to add to that past knowledge.  This, of course, happens so quickly that we are totally unaware of it.

 I don't often pass other cyclists on my rides in the morning.  Today, besides the two above, I also passed another lone cyclist.  He came up quickly behind me and with his long legs that seemed manufactured precisely for biking, he zipped right by me.  Whereas with the couple above, I was able to keep pace with them for a short bit. 

I had no trouble keeping up with this car.  

 It's not too early to think about getting ready for winter.  And, I figure cutting wood when it's 96 out is perfect for getting ready for the 24 hour ride. 

Today's Ride:  1hr. 48mins.  21.13 miles.  77 degrees.  Miles YTD:  4,834.59

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27 July 2011 Ride: Moonlight Sonata

With a busy day ahead that would be starting early in the morning, I guess my body decided that I needed to ride in the cool of the morning more than I needed another hour of sleep.  So up at 4:40 it was and on the bike by 5:15.

Having just enough time to squeeze in an hour ride, I didn't expect to stop for pictures.  But the crescent moon with the optical illusion of looking as if its shadow was an orb in the process of an eclipse was too much to pass up.

It was a rather cosmic ride and I strongly experienced the sensation of being on spaceship Earth as it moved through space on its orbit around the sun.  Biking, the seasons are as much a place I'm traveling through just as if I had biked from the cold mountain passes of Nepal and now down through the Sahara Dessert.  It's a curious perspective because I view where I am as if I'm on a train looking out the window rather than being a person standing on the ground watching the train pass. 

The sunrise came and went very quickly.  A volcanic burst of lava that illuminated the skies.

At Community Meals where I proved my lunacy to Laura by suggesting and then making banana splits; a job that took all morning...but was well worth it!  And, on the right, Happy Birthday, Emily!!!

Today's Ride:  64mins.  13.12 miles.  76 degrees.  Miles YTD:  4,813.46

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26 July 2011 Ride: Pulse of the Nation?

I often wonder if I get a small glimpse of the mood of the nation (or at least the northwest corner of Arkansas) when I’m on my bike by how much room drivers give me when they pass.  I distinctly remember after Obama was elected in 2008, for several months, the window of respect seemed to shrink dramatically.  This surprised me because even though it was a close election, I thought there was a general overall positive feeling that ran through the country.  Ever since I placed a small American flag in my Camelbak a couple of years ago, the wider berth most cars gave me was very striking.  That berth has ebbed and flowed during the past two years.   

I set out at 6:00AM this morning, heading into town to pick up a credit card to be able to do some shopping for a special meal at Community Meals tomorrow.  Still being early, I had no qualms of going straight down Hwy 45 instead of detouring off onto side roads.  Normally, when I ride on 45 at dawn, 99% of the cars will give me an incredibly wide berth, with most going all the way over into the other lane.  This morning seemed to be the opposite as I felt some drivers were going out of their way to hold their ground and two pickup trucks seemed intent on getting as close to me as possible. 

 I thought about the President’s speech last night followed by Boehner’s.  I think everyone keeps expecting that Congress will pull through and forge a compromise to avoid the default.  But after watching the speeches last night, I had a terrible sickening feeling.  Great empires inevitably see their end at some point, but, was this how the United States going to meet theirs?  At their own hands?

The irony of having so many cars drive so close this morning was that I was on a mission of mercy of sorts, riding in to help with the Community Meals.

My morning did brighten as I reached the Mission and Crossover intersection.  A bike rider came up behind me and commented on the hills in Fayetteville.  It turned out that Rich was visiting on business from just outside Kansas City.  And, it turned out, he had gotten off the bike trail and wasn’t sure how to get back.  I gladly rode with him back the four or so miles to the trail. 

I do want to add that there were still many respectful drivers out there this morning.  However, when the percentage of those who don’t care rises just slightly, it really stands out.

Today's Ride:  1hr 46mins.  20.56 miles 76 degrees.  Miles YTD:  4,800.34

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25 July 2011 Ride: Shades of Brown and White

A terrible night sleep translated into a bare bone minimum ride this morning.  I thought the same would be true for taking pictures but I found myself stopping and wanting to take lots of photographs.  Maybe it was the lighting, maybe I unknowingly changed the setting on my camera or maybe it’s my own tiredness but many of the pictures did not come out well having a slightly out-of-focus look to them.  I love this little camera but it is an element of the device which continues to confound me as I’m not sure how to rectify poor shots because I don’t know what button I accidently pushed.  Here are a few that avoided the cutting room floor.

 I really like this one of a dried lily pad that looks similar to a sting ray floating in the air.

Today's Ride: 62mins.  11.08 miles.  77 degrees.  Miles YTD:  4,779.78

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