so starts "the waste land" by t.s. eliot. and so started april, only not nearly warm enough to rain!
i saw a tweet back in march that linked me to 30 days of riding and a pledge to ride everyday in april. despite the likelihood of some fairly sketchy weather--as likely winter or mud season, as spring--in april here in the north country, i was all in and pledged immediately. #30daysofriding offered up a way to share the love, and i committed to document the days.
d1: sure enough the first day of april was cold. but i figured i wouldn't freeze on my commute. i didn't, but i definitely dressed for it.
d2: the next day was a tad warmer at least commuting home. when i left in the morning it was in the low teens but the sun got it up into the high thirties, maybe even 40~ish when i headed home. i took a long way and went up over talbot hill, down codfish hill. the gravel section was definitely muddy.
d3: was windy and cool, but nice enough to ride out around the goose ponds. i caught a trio of bufflehead ducks in the river between big and little goose, but they swam off before i had the camera ready--you can barely see them.
d4: sunny again and i went by the goose ponds again via a new route, with more hills this time. stopped at both to get a picture of ice coverage. i managed to get out onto big goose ice at one point, testing its solidity with my dryness--i threw a big rock first, listening for the sound, like primitive radar.
d5: a friday, the day i visit my favorite bike shop--drummonds custom cycles--and sweep. on the way over i stopped to grab a picture of the tree in the boat on mascoma lake. i had skated by it a couple times over the winter and thought it made a pretty cool 'statue'.
d6: first day cold, off to the library. saw the "giant's toothbrush", but no camera.
d7: warm~ish, off with skip first to take a few runs over to the skiway, and then riding around mascoma lake and about the town of enfield. stopped and chatted with my ol' teaching buddy john, out raking his yard. both adventures were sans veste!
d9: was more wintry mix, though mostly snow this time, but i opted to go back up in bob's workshop. i figured one more day wouldn't hurt...
d10: snow again, only when it stopped in the morning, it also warmed some and began to melt off the paved roads by afternoon--in time for me to ride before dark. making tracks out of the drive was fun and made for an interesting picture.
d11: almost got warm, and in the sun, felt pretty good. i rode to the library again and since it was cold, i took the camera, in case the "toothbrush" was in condition again. it was but this time it had bristles on both ends!
d12: got cold again over night, well down in the teens, and when i rode over to drummonds cc, the open edges of crystal lake were frozen over. it almost felt like winter again.
d13: i went over to drummonds to meet cory for a 'live weird' groupo ride. we got into some muddy gravel up west farms road and down wolfboro to big goose. no camera on the bike, but i stopped and got a picture of the fog on my way home from the shop. it was the proverbial 'thick as pea soup' at the bridge over the mascoma.
d15: cold~ish and very wet--as you can see over my shoulder in the well puddled drive. i got lucky and missed the really hard rain.
ps--by the way, that is a smile! (i was feeling the whole halfway to may vibe!)
d16: rain and wind to beat the band all night. the photography gods stopped it by morning and on my way into work i stopped on the rt 4 bridge over the indian river at goose pond road. i believe one could call it well above flood stage even though it wasn't over the road yet.
all things considered, the first half of #30daysofriding, though plenty cold and wet, was a grand time to "go outside and play!" i didn't freeze or melt--yet...
i saw a tweet back in march that linked me to 30 days of riding and a pledge to ride everyday in april. despite the likelihood of some fairly sketchy weather--as likely winter or mud season, as spring--in april here in the north country, i was all in and pledged immediately. #30daysofriding offered up a way to share the love, and i committed to document the days.
d1: sure enough the first day of april was cold. but i figured i wouldn't freeze on my commute. i didn't, but i definitely dressed for it.
d2: the next day was a tad warmer at least commuting home. when i left in the morning it was in the low teens but the sun got it up into the high thirties, maybe even 40~ish when i headed home. i took a long way and went up over talbot hill, down codfish hill. the gravel section was definitely muddy.
d3: was windy and cool, but nice enough to ride out around the goose ponds. i caught a trio of bufflehead ducks in the river between big and little goose, but they swam off before i had the camera ready--you can barely see them.
d4: sunny again and i went by the goose ponds again via a new route, with more hills this time. stopped at both to get a picture of ice coverage. i managed to get out onto big goose ice at one point, testing its solidity with my dryness--i threw a big rock first, listening for the sound, like primitive radar.
d5: a friday, the day i visit my favorite bike shop--drummonds custom cycles--and sweep. on the way over i stopped to grab a picture of the tree in the boat on mascoma lake. i had skated by it a couple times over the winter and thought it made a pretty cool 'statue'.
d6: first day cold, off to the library. saw the "giant's toothbrush", but no camera.
d7: warm~ish, off with skip first to take a few runs over to the skiway, and then riding around mascoma lake and about the town of enfield. stopped and chatted with my ol' teaching buddy john, out raking his yard. both adventures were sans veste!
d9: was more wintry mix, though mostly snow this time, but i opted to go back up in bob's workshop. i figured one more day wouldn't hurt...
d10: snow again, only when it stopped in the morning, it also warmed some and began to melt off the paved roads by afternoon--in time for me to ride before dark. making tracks out of the drive was fun and made for an interesting picture.
d11: almost got warm, and in the sun, felt pretty good. i rode to the library again and since it was cold, i took the camera, in case the "toothbrush" was in condition again. it was but this time it had bristles on both ends!
d12: got cold again over night, well down in the teens, and when i rode over to drummonds cc, the open edges of crystal lake were frozen over. it almost felt like winter again.
d13: i went over to drummonds to meet cory for a 'live weird' groupo ride. we got into some muddy gravel up west farms road and down wolfboro to big goose. no camera on the bike, but i stopped and got a picture of the fog on my way home from the shop. it was the proverbial 'thick as pea soup' at the bridge over the mascoma.
d15: cold~ish and very wet--as you can see over my shoulder in the well puddled drive. i got lucky and missed the really hard rain.
ps--by the way, that is a smile! (i was feeling the whole halfway to may vibe!)
d16: rain and wind to beat the band all night. the photography gods stopped it by morning and on my way into work i stopped on the rt 4 bridge over the indian river at goose pond road. i believe one could call it well above flood stage even though it wasn't over the road yet.
all things considered, the first half of #30daysofriding, though plenty cold and wet, was a grand time to "go outside and play!" i didn't freeze or melt--yet...
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