last year i signed up to ride everyday in april and managed to keep a fairly good record on twitter @ #30daysofbiking. i assembled my tweets into two chapters for 2019's april 'go outside and play!' this year, i never saw an announcement for #30daysofbiking, but the weather was nice so i saddled up.
day one was actually march 31. sunny and warm~ish. as i went along, when i passed the second graveyard, i thought--there's a theme. i pedaled back and got a picture.
if there is such a thing, we live in a great spot to 'ride' out a pandemic. it's rural enough to have plenty of places to go out and play while maintaining a healthy social distance.
hopefully, the day's graveyard theme has no connection to the pandemic reference.
pam and i were going up over town hill and i thought, why not ride it for day two? going uphill will be well worth the downhill run i'll get!
at the snowy section i have been snapping pictures of pam on our hikes, she took a shot of me on the bike. for a lot of #30daysofbiking folks, snow on april fools' day is a joke. for me, that there is so little left, is the real farce.
day three was definitely freezing, not as cold as last year, but i grabbed the iconic thermometer picture for comparison and possibly start a tradition.
i really didn't have to plant the shovels, they were out and had been in use for an 8~ish inch storm the week before. that day, i had to put the bike up and get the skis out, but it was worth it.
where the day before had been cold, day four was nothing but wet. when the drops slimmed down into mist, i finally set out.
i pointed the mtn bike toward a trail that a few of us had worked on last year to open back up. it followed a long abandoned road loggers had used years ago and left in a rutted mess. removing the encroaching pines was tedious, but much easier than filling in deep ruts. going up, i pulled more pines, going down, i flew!
after a wet day, a just cloudy one was welcome. so much so, pam joined for day five. her first day out stuck to her old favorite, goose pond road to the boat launch and back. i snapped a picture with the clouds reflected off the pond behind her. she took a similar one at the dam on her way home.
i went up--and i do mean up, about a mile of 'su-stantial'* hill-- and ran along under the ridge of moose mtn. oh, and while pam found some bunnies, i passed by another graveyard. (* the local new hampshire pronunciation.)
saturday, i decided to head out around the old neighborhood and 'visit'--at a social distance--friends. i had no idea who would be out, but i figured i might see at least two or three.
after i found three folks out and about, i climbed up to the pendletons who came out before i even got off my bike. it was nice to see everybody and catch up a little before i rode off.
the next day out, was wicked sunny and warm~ish. on day five, pam and i had heard a few wood frogs--'quackers'. up by my first stop, where our old neighbors were siding their dormers, i heard dozens in a sunny tiny pond across the street. today, day seven i heard hundreds in nearly every wet spot i rode by. i even saw one dessicated unit and stopped to grab a picture.
pam tells me it's a bit morbid to take a photo of a dead frog, but in my memory, that just might be the only dead wood frog i have ever seen. in retrospect, i probably should have gotten off the bike and gotten down for a close up.
monday got even warmer~ish and i road home from work without my jacket. before leaving i took a picture looking out over the staff parking lot toward the sports fields.
normally, this is getting to the time where the baseball and softball teams are throwing and batting outside whenever they can, grounds keepers are starting to work on their fields, and the track team is staking out areas to do their various activities. a day this nice would have a lot of folks out enjoying it.
i usually try to avoid working too late in the day, but when i pedaled into the driveway, the light show that welcomed me home was so spectacular, that i forgot all about my 'heavy' commute.
pam and i walked down into the meadows just so we could be outside. it is a beautiful time of year, when the buds start to swell, before bugs are out.
well, most bugs. i think this was the second time i found a tick crawling on my neck when we came back in. it was one of the tiny deer ticks, the ones most likely to be carrying lyme disease.
the clouds coming in and helping to set up last night's light show, socked in completely and delivered nearly one and a half inches of rain throughout the next day. it seemed like there was a misty period at one point so i tried a ride.
going over the river, the waters were clearly rising. by the time i came back over, they were even higher. when i pedaled into the drive, i was fairly damp, but still smiling.
friday was still wet, only colder, so rain was now sleet. i headed out to connect three long wood roads. riding one and a half of them uphill, i could make a loop and get in two sweet downhill runs.
on my way i passed a large graveyard and remembered that someone mentioned a tiny family plot hidden in the woods on the first hill. i found 'john scofield 1715-1784' tucked way away on a side trail.
at the top, i rode over to the x-c trail and shot down. through the woods took me to town hill and up and down took me home--in a crazy blowing snow!
saturday was cold~ish so i opted for a long steady climb to warm up at the start and then finish coming down. it worked, mostly. i was never too cold except for riding directly into a really stiff wind in the first 5 miles.
once i got onto the back roads and out of the wind, it almost got comfortable. as i climbed out of enfield and into hanover, i caught site of a white capped cardigan mtn way off in the distance. it was a pretty site and made me just a little wistful to be up in the whites getting one last ski in. but with social distancing, a lot of terrain was closed--including tuckerman ravine.
easter sunday was still windy and cool but sunny~ish. pam said she would give it a go--only later after a couple three things she had to do, people she had to talk with, and lunch she had to eat. i was ready to get out so i rode up toward our old house to get a mile long hill in. i ended up going down the other side and coming back up, again.
when i got home, pam rode down to the rail trail with me and we turned toward mascoma lake. it wasn't crowded, but there were definitely more folks out now than i had passed earlier. granted there was no 'whopper' of a hill, let alone two. it was really cool to pose in front of the rushing water at the old baltic mill.
monday i was back commuting to work, which in another heavy day long rain, meant waiting for it to let up a bit and race down to school. i was thinking of trying to find the same 'window' to zip home. but, everytime i looked outside it seemed to be coming down harder.
finally, i just decided to go for it. over the years of getting drenched a good number of times, i'd never melted yet. plus from the high school it was only three miles by road--only uphill.
i figured it would be prudent to leave my laptop and a couple of books in the office so they wouldn't drown in my backpack. it wasn't all that bad, though i got a little heated on the last hill as i left my hat on so the rain wouldn't splash on my bald head.
tuesday dawned clear~ish. i rode in under the moon and some red tinged clouds. the old saying "red in the morning sailors take warning" had me a bit worried, but it wasn't supposed to precipitate until later in the week.
i got most everything done i needed to at work, and thought, it's not raining, i'm going to ride home the long way. ok, long is relative but an extra ten miles felt pretty good.
i didn't have too much to do at work so i was home early~ish and took the mtn bike up town hill for a bit of rock hoppin.
if you have seen 'ghost in the shell' you might recognize that i am wearing one of those see through suits that major wore in each of the versions. while she does it to fight crime, i do it to confuse hunters.
and speaking of which, the ruts in the road are new. somebody cut out the blow downs below that i had deliberately left to keep vehicles out.
oh well. it still was fun. in fact i think every one of the rides this year has put a smile on my face, even when it was wet. go outside and play!--it will make you happy.
(ps--stay tuned for the rest of april in part 2...)
day one was actually march 31. sunny and warm~ish. as i went along, when i passed the second graveyard, i thought--there's a theme. i pedaled back and got a picture.
if there is such a thing, we live in a great spot to 'ride' out a pandemic. it's rural enough to have plenty of places to go out and play while maintaining a healthy social distance.
hopefully, the day's graveyard theme has no connection to the pandemic reference.
pam and i were going up over town hill and i thought, why not ride it for day two? going uphill will be well worth the downhill run i'll get!
at the snowy section i have been snapping pictures of pam on our hikes, she took a shot of me on the bike. for a lot of #30daysofbiking folks, snow on april fools' day is a joke. for me, that there is so little left, is the real farce.
day three was definitely freezing, not as cold as last year, but i grabbed the iconic thermometer picture for comparison and possibly start a tradition.
i really didn't have to plant the shovels, they were out and had been in use for an 8~ish inch storm the week before. that day, i had to put the bike up and get the skis out, but it was worth it.
where the day before had been cold, day four was nothing but wet. when the drops slimmed down into mist, i finally set out.
i pointed the mtn bike toward a trail that a few of us had worked on last year to open back up. it followed a long abandoned road loggers had used years ago and left in a rutted mess. removing the encroaching pines was tedious, but much easier than filling in deep ruts. going up, i pulled more pines, going down, i flew!
after a wet day, a just cloudy one was welcome. so much so, pam joined for day five. her first day out stuck to her old favorite, goose pond road to the boat launch and back. i snapped a picture with the clouds reflected off the pond behind her. she took a similar one at the dam on her way home.
i went up--and i do mean up, about a mile of 'su-stantial'* hill-- and ran along under the ridge of moose mtn. oh, and while pam found some bunnies, i passed by another graveyard. (* the local new hampshire pronunciation.)
saturday, i decided to head out around the old neighborhood and 'visit'--at a social distance--friends. i had no idea who would be out, but i figured i might see at least two or three.
after i found three folks out and about, i climbed up to the pendletons who came out before i even got off my bike. it was nice to see everybody and catch up a little before i rode off.
the next day out, was wicked sunny and warm~ish. on day five, pam and i had heard a few wood frogs--'quackers'. up by my first stop, where our old neighbors were siding their dormers, i heard dozens in a sunny tiny pond across the street. today, day seven i heard hundreds in nearly every wet spot i rode by. i even saw one dessicated unit and stopped to grab a picture.
pam tells me it's a bit morbid to take a photo of a dead frog, but in my memory, that just might be the only dead wood frog i have ever seen. in retrospect, i probably should have gotten off the bike and gotten down for a close up.
monday got even warmer~ish and i road home from work without my jacket. before leaving i took a picture looking out over the staff parking lot toward the sports fields.
normally, this is getting to the time where the baseball and softball teams are throwing and batting outside whenever they can, grounds keepers are starting to work on their fields, and the track team is staking out areas to do their various activities. a day this nice would have a lot of folks out enjoying it.
i usually try to avoid working too late in the day, but when i pedaled into the driveway, the light show that welcomed me home was so spectacular, that i forgot all about my 'heavy' commute.
pam and i walked down into the meadows just so we could be outside. it is a beautiful time of year, when the buds start to swell, before bugs are out.
well, most bugs. i think this was the second time i found a tick crawling on my neck when we came back in. it was one of the tiny deer ticks, the ones most likely to be carrying lyme disease.
the clouds coming in and helping to set up last night's light show, socked in completely and delivered nearly one and a half inches of rain throughout the next day. it seemed like there was a misty period at one point so i tried a ride.
going over the river, the waters were clearly rising. by the time i came back over, they were even higher. when i pedaled into the drive, i was fairly damp, but still smiling.
friday was still wet, only colder, so rain was now sleet. i headed out to connect three long wood roads. riding one and a half of them uphill, i could make a loop and get in two sweet downhill runs.
on my way i passed a large graveyard and remembered that someone mentioned a tiny family plot hidden in the woods on the first hill. i found 'john scofield 1715-1784' tucked way away on a side trail.
at the top, i rode over to the x-c trail and shot down. through the woods took me to town hill and up and down took me home--in a crazy blowing snow!
saturday was cold~ish so i opted for a long steady climb to warm up at the start and then finish coming down. it worked, mostly. i was never too cold except for riding directly into a really stiff wind in the first 5 miles.
once i got onto the back roads and out of the wind, it almost got comfortable. as i climbed out of enfield and into hanover, i caught site of a white capped cardigan mtn way off in the distance. it was a pretty site and made me just a little wistful to be up in the whites getting one last ski in. but with social distancing, a lot of terrain was closed--including tuckerman ravine.
easter sunday was still windy and cool but sunny~ish. pam said she would give it a go--only later after a couple three things she had to do, people she had to talk with, and lunch she had to eat. i was ready to get out so i rode up toward our old house to get a mile long hill in. i ended up going down the other side and coming back up, again.
when i got home, pam rode down to the rail trail with me and we turned toward mascoma lake. it wasn't crowded, but there were definitely more folks out now than i had passed earlier. granted there was no 'whopper' of a hill, let alone two. it was really cool to pose in front of the rushing water at the old baltic mill.
monday i was back commuting to work, which in another heavy day long rain, meant waiting for it to let up a bit and race down to school. i was thinking of trying to find the same 'window' to zip home. but, everytime i looked outside it seemed to be coming down harder.
finally, i just decided to go for it. over the years of getting drenched a good number of times, i'd never melted yet. plus from the high school it was only three miles by road--only uphill.
i figured it would be prudent to leave my laptop and a couple of books in the office so they wouldn't drown in my backpack. it wasn't all that bad, though i got a little heated on the last hill as i left my hat on so the rain wouldn't splash on my bald head.
tuesday dawned clear~ish. i rode in under the moon and some red tinged clouds. the old saying "red in the morning sailors take warning" had me a bit worried, but it wasn't supposed to precipitate until later in the week.
i got most everything done i needed to at work, and thought, it's not raining, i'm going to ride home the long way. ok, long is relative but an extra ten miles felt pretty good.
i didn't have too much to do at work so i was home early~ish and took the mtn bike up town hill for a bit of rock hoppin.
if you have seen 'ghost in the shell' you might recognize that i am wearing one of those see through suits that major wore in each of the versions. while she does it to fight crime, i do it to confuse hunters.
and speaking of which, the ruts in the road are new. somebody cut out the blow downs below that i had deliberately left to keep vehicles out.
oh well. it still was fun. in fact i think every one of the rides this year has put a smile on my face, even when it was wet. go outside and play!--it will make you happy.
(ps--stay tuned for the rest of april in part 2...)
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