Bike ride adventures

[CTRLZero]

14 minutes ago, 47of74 said:

Headed downtown today for my bike ride

What was the first music selection?  It’s so familiar, but my husband and I can’t remember.  Getting old, lol. 

[47of74]

7 hours ago, CTRLZero said:

What was the first music selection?  It’s so familiar, but my husband and I can’t remember.  Getting old, lol. 

Aren’t we all?  It’s Baker Street. 

Edited October 2, 2022 by 47of74

[47of74]

Today's bike ride.

I slept in a bit today and didn't go to church.  Rode up to Lake Harriet about 12pm since I wanted to go to the lakeside place - Bread and Pickle - before they close for the season on the 15th.  I also wanted more time than I would've had just going up there for lunch.  Just under 12 miles total today. 

[47of74]

Got a few days behind on the videos.  Here's the one I did Tuesday after work.

 

[47of74]

And the ride from yesterday.

 

[47of74]

Now I’m caught up with today’s lunch ride.  About 12 miles total and just over an hour  

It was in the low 50s with a brisk wind. Kind of chilly for riding. One of these days I want to get a reflective coat. I had one but it was ruined in my April accident. 

[47of74]

And this afternoon's ride through Minneapolis today.

 

Layered up a bit.  Upper 50s and low 60s today.

[47of74]

No bike ride today.  Just didn't feel like it and it was cold this morning.  I did order a heavier reflective coat to help out with riding over the next couple months.  I had the one but I threw it out after my April accident since it was soaked with blood.  Went the Amazon route since that was a bit cheaper. 

[47of74]

Nice and warm today with temps up in the mid 70s at lunchtime so I went riding then.

It was just over 10.5 miles total.  I went out to the Mississippi River and back - it took just over an hour.  Probably won't be too many more days when I'll just be able to go out in just a t-shirt for a bike ride like I did today and will have to start layering up. 

[CTRLZero]

The fall colors are just gorgeous in your new neighborhood.  🍁🍂🍃

[47of74]

21 hours ago, CTRLZero said:

The fall colors are just gorgeous in your new neighborhood.  🍁🍂🍃

Yes they are.  I think we're just about at the peak now. 

Did a quick ride over lunch today.

I went up to Lake Nokomis and back.  It's quite a bit cooler today, and also cloudy.  If it had been nicer I might have gone a bit further, but about halfway through I noticed it was starting to sprinkle so I decided to head back home.  It started coming down harder the closer I got to home so some of the distortions in the video are rain drops.

[47of74]

Got a nice long ride in yesterday.

About 22 miles total.  It was cloudy for most of the ride but otherwise it wasn't too bad out yesterday.  It started to clear up later on in the ride.  I took my good camera and got lots of good pictures with it too.  Especially downtown by the river.

Edited October 16, 2022 by 47of74

[Howl]

@47of74, I'm amazed by all the water in your photos!   I'm here in SW Colorado for another two weeks before heading back to Texas.  McElmo Creek drains the entire Montezuma Valley, a very large area, and it's basically a sleepy little slough with not much water, although part of the water is used for irrigation.  

I'm riding trails in the pinyon/juniper/sagebrush at a bit lower elevation (6,500') now that fall is arriving.  The Trust Loop-Hippie House Trail (part of the Phil's World complex of trails) is my current favorite.  So much fun variety, but nothing super technical. 

Pinyon/Juniper: 

Sagebrush (part of the same trail) with Sleeping Ute Mountain in the background. 

Edited October 16, 2022 by Howl

[47of74]

3 hours ago, Howl said:

@47of74, I'm amazed by all the water in your photos!   I'm here in SW Colorado for another two weeks before heading back to Texas.  McElmo Creek drains the entire Montezuma Valley, a very large area, and it's basically a sleepy little slough with not much water, although part of the water is used for irrigation. 

Thank you.  We're still affected up here in Minnesota with the Twin Cities area in a severe drought.  May not seem as obvious due to the sheer size of the Mississippi or the lakes around here.  The Minnehaha Falls dried up and Lake Nokomis is down about 20 inches from normal.  The Mississippi has been affected too - it's gotten low enough in spots to disrupt river traffic.  The river level is really important due to the amount of barge traffic going down the river.  It's how a lot of grain gets transported.

So I'm happy when we do get precipitation.  Especially if it comes during non-bike riding hours and the streets are dry enough to be passable.   

[47of74]

By the way, does anyone see any vans in this photo that was taken down by the river? (h/t Chris Farley)

 

[Howl]

On 10/16/2022 at 11:57 AM, 47of74 said:

We're still affected up here in Minnesota with the Twin Cities area in a severe drought. 

There are photos on main news sites of a very large rock formation in the river that is usually an island but the river is so low (essentially dried up) that people can walk across the bedrock to access it. 

[47of74]

7 minutes ago, Howl said:

There are photos on main news sites of a very large rock formation in the river that is usually an island but the river is so low (essentially dried up) that people can walk across the bedrock to access it. 

Yeah I heard about that too. 

Quote

As the water levels of the Mississippi River continued to fall due to a prolonged drought, visitors flocked to the river to see what the receding shoreline revealed.

On any other day before the water levels began to drop, Tower Rock would have been an island within the main channel, north of Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Now, however, a dry stretch of land allows visitors to walk to the once-isolated landmark.

Video of the parched river over the weekend showed people traversing the connecting piece of land that was once underwater. Kids ran around collecting rocks while other people snapped photos of the landscape or tried their hand at scaling Tower Rock.

Tower Rock, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970, can only be reached when the water level is below 1.5 feet at the Chester, Illinois, river gauge, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation. As of Monday, the water level at the gauge was 0.22 of a foot. It had consistently measured under the 1.5-foot threshold starting on the morning of Oct. 11 around midnight.

Another factor too is the Upper Mississippi has a series of locks and dams to help regulate water levels.  They start here in Minnesota and go down to St. Louis.  That’s part of the reason why the Lower Mississippi can have these issues. 

[CTRLZero]

I’m getting to be a fan of rainfall.  My sister was put on notice to evacuate due to the Nakia Creek fire (SW Washington state).  She ultimately didn’t have to, but her friends did, including transporting their horses to a county fairgrounds.  Scary.  Rain in abundance is forecast starting Friday, so I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed.

We’ve enjoyed the dry weather and outdoor activities, but have had too many days stuck indoors escaping forest fire smoke.

[47of74]

7 hours ago, CTRLZero said:

I’m getting to be a fan of rainfall.  My sister was put on notice to evacuate due to the Nakia Creek fire (SW Washington state).  She ultimately didn’t have to, but her friends did, including transporting their horses to a county fairgrounds.  Scary.  Rain in abundance is forecast starting Friday, so I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed.

We’ve enjoyed the dry weather and outdoor activities, but have had too many days stuck indoors escaping forest fire smoke.

I am too whenever we can get it.  As I said I prefer it to be all outside my bike riding times but would take the rain in any case because we really need it.

I had left the first non electric bike I got after my VSG surgery with my sister because I thought they'd make use of it.  They recently asked me if I wanted the bike or if they should just get rid of it.  I told them to take it up to mom and dad's so I could use it when I went back to Dubuque.  I wouldn't go bluff climbing but could do some more riding around Dubuque and not have to haul my main bike home. 

[47of74]

2023 RAGBRAI route was announced. 

I won’t be doing it myself but I gotta ask my friend if she’s gonna do it and get some parties shut down. 

[47of74]

Well I did my first bike ride of the season yesterday. 

First went over to the bike shop because I got it out and it was making some odd noises.  Come to find out the rear wheel had taken a hit sometime over the winter so I had to replace that and the rear tire.  Plus I had to get some new gloves because my hands were about to fall off.  So the bike shop is very happy when they see me these days.  Fornication.  They did say otherwise my bike is mostly ready for the season. 

Went up to downtown and back.  So it was a decent 20 miler to start off the season.  Most of the main roads were pretty dry yesterday.  Some icy patches but as long as you tried to avoid those it was a decent ride.

Doing some riding around Saint Paul today.  Again with it being in the upper 30s its not too bad so I might have a map and photos later.  I think my GoPro is down in Iowa right now so no time lapse videos for right now.  Unless I get another GoPro or similar camera.  Then the time lapse videos will commence.

[47of74]

Went for a four mile ride yesterday after church. It was a bit windy but otherwise not too bad. 

It’s nice enough out today so I did another ride over lunch. 

Supposed to rain tomorrow then be colder out for the rest of the week. 

[47of74]

Since it was in the upper 39s today I did a ride after work.

 

Bit windier on the ride back but otherwise not too bad. 

[47of74]

I think I'll do a ride sometime tomorrow and the next few days.  I got a different GoPro since I can't seem to find my old one.  I figure if and when the old one turns up I'll eBay it, otherwise it should be a while before I need a new GoPro again.  So once again the time lapse videos should be starting in due course.

[47of74]

Yep, went for a quick one over lunch today.  Just a bit over four miles total.  And of course complete with a GoPro time lapse video.

Might go out after work too for another ride since it's supposed to get up closer to 40 by then.