We did a mixed ride. Our ride today consisted of road riding on hills , and part of it on the bike trail. We headed into LeRoy, which is about 4 miles from us, and stopped by the bank, saving us a trip into town with the car, then headed for the bike trail. Rode past the usual dogs barking, of course Button had to growl at them, when he wasn't whining. He still carried with the whining for quite awhile before he settled down, in spite of the fact that he was so happy to see me get out his trike condo, and eager to go in it. Go figure. I will need to do some readjusting or tinkering with a way to keep the holder for his condo on tighter. I think the rope is stretching, as sometimes, the condo is really leaning to one side.
Rode past an amish farmer plowing . It looked cool to see him out in the field. He had 3 horses hooked up, instead of 2. Something, I haven't seen before. He was stopped by the fence, adjusting a harness or something. Wish I had a picture to post, it was a nice peaceful scene, especially for those that don't see many amish. We have quite a few families in this area, and are accustomed to seeing them out and about. The bank and the hardware store, both have hitching posts for the horses, and it's not uncommon to drive by and see a horse and buggy sitting there, empty, while the occupants are inside doing their business. The amish people are friendly, they usually have a wave when we ride past. They are pleasant people to have in a community. A reminder to all of a simpler way of life.
Since it was a weekday, not as many people were out on the trail, but we did pass a few walking, and one guy on a bike, of course Button had to bark at them Rode through Tustin, and on to where the bike trail goes under the expressway. That is where we turned around, since about a mile or so past there is where the bears have been known to hang out lately. I'm always hopeful that I'll spot a beaver by the beaver pond, today was a disappointment there. Oh well, it's still a pretty are to ride past. stopped there and had a snack, then headed back.
Saw 2 turtles sunning on a log, but they were to far from the trail to get a good picture. The trillium is still in bloom, so I took a picture of that. Michigan has what is known as Large Leafed Trillium. Picking the flowers of Trillium can seriously injure the plant. The three leaves below the flower, are the plants only food source and a picked trillium may die or take years to recover. For this reason , many places, including, British Columbia, Michigan, Oregon and Washington, have made it illegal to pick Trilliums. We used to have some that grew across the road from our house, but one year a large tree blew down on it, and it never came back.
On our way back through Tustin, we took a break, got some more water and a Mackinaw Island Fudge, ice cream cone. Had a nice visit with another triker we see when we are out riding sometimes. He is a paraplegic, and rides a hand powered trike, called a Wonder Trike. I looked for a link to post, but couldn't find one. When this fellow rides he is practically laying down, and he goes fast. It is quite a sight to see coming down the trail.
We got off the trail at 18 Mile Rd, and headed for home. Time for hills to enter the picture once again. no problem, we have our trusty "mountain drive" to get us over them. Tony is getting better and better at "kicking it in." To engage the mountain drive, he kicks a little peg on the right side of the trike, to disengage it, he kicks one on the left. We used to have to stop every time for him to "kick it.", and many times his foot would come unclipped from the pedal, when he did it. Today he kicked it several times when we were moving, and only came unclipped once. We still marveling at the difference it makes on the big hills. We had some courses that we used to avoid because the hills were so daunting. No more, now we fear no hill. Here's a link for anyone who wants to know what it looks like.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.pbwbikes.com/images/MD.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.pbwbikes.com/p
Had to stop and take a picture of an old barn that is still in use. I wanted to take a picture of the house near it too, as it is an idyllic country scene, but someone was in the front yard, sunning, so I decided not to. Maybe, next time.
After the thunderstorms we had Wednesday, everything is so green and lush.
More and more trees are leafing, and the apple trees are in bloom as well. I think they are a couple on our route home, that have died, They stand like gnarled centuries, along the road, but their years of producing apples are gone, they are done. Most likely they will be cut down and used for fragrant firewood. It's another one of those things that makes me sad, like seeing an old house. But across the road, a young apple tree was growing, perhaps it was planted there by a seed from the other tree. I felt better after seeing it, knowing that in the years to come it would have apples to offer to those who pass.
Tried to take a few pictures with the camera pointed behind me, or down towards the road. Mt attempts did not lead to very good results, but I'll post them anyway, so that perhaps later, you can see some that are an improvement over these.
Saw a snapping turtle crossing the road. He looked do prehistoric with his ridged tail and rough shell, that I couldn't resist a picture.
We were in our final mile to home, when I saw a worker doing something to a telephone pole, thought it might make an interesting pic, but wanted to get closer. Just then our mail carrier came by, stooped and told us she had something for us to sign for. I snapped a picture of the telephone guy, then unclipped and went over to the mail carriers car. Told her it was an unusual way to end a ride, and got permission to put her pic in the blog. Meet, Pam, our friendly mail carrier. Nice name too.
Our mileage this week is 84 miles, the best week we've had so far. Weather permitting, we hope to try a 40 mile ride sometime next week. We rode 30 miles today, and weren't nearly as tired as we were on our last ride.
No comments:
Post a Comment