3.8.2011 Ride: Light Rain

Through a Polycarbonate (plastic bag) Filter

The weather seemed rather unpredictable this morning, with the chance of rain spiking up and down until noon when strong thunderstorms were then in the forecast for the rest of the day.  At 10:00 AM, I decided to head out on my mountain bike into the 15% chance rain that was falling. It was a nice light rain which I didn't mind riding in at all.  As I was titling today's post, I pictured "light rain" as in light = illumination and "light rain" took on a very different and very interesting new meaning.  Picture small beads of light emanating from the rain drops that fall.


I stayed in the neighborhood today and since I was on the mountain bike felt confident in venturing down the Big Wet Hill.  On a flat spur, off to the right, I saw that someone had dumped a couple of plastic white chairs and a black wooden chair.  I wasn't happy about someone dumping but I thought the chairs could make an interesting photo-op in the woods. I scampered down the bank and discovered that there four more wrought iron stools down there as well.  I spent several minutes setting up various arrangements but was never completely satisfied.  Riding back up the hill, I thought of other chair placements and knew that if I wanted to get some better shots I would have to spend a couple of hours down there. May have to try that one of these days.

The rain stopped after about twenty minutes but it was good having the fat tires on the wet road.

 I'm not sure why this pile of logs kept catching my eye as I rode by.  Perhaps the contrast of the light interior to the dark exterior as well as how they are piled together.  I also like the pink and purple hues. The interiors do seem as if they are blown up pictures of microscopic slides of cells.




Speaking of microscopic, catch a glimpse of the object in the road.  The first time I passed it, I thought it might be a small hairy caterpillar.  I doubled-back and saw that it was just a small wood fragment.  I rode off but quickly turned around to have another look.  Still nothing special.  But it was still calling me.  I pulled out the camera, set it on macro and laid flat on the ground, taking closer and closer images. 

This was taken just inches away from the wood fragment.  The wood piece is only an inch long.  Notice the meniscus of water that clings around the bottom. If you look closely, that can be spotted in the upper photo and it is what made me first think that the fragment was a caterpillar.  There are so many details of this photo that intrigue me: the road and the tiny fragments embedded in the wood fragment, to name two.

Today's Ride:  65 mins.  Miles: 11.2  50 degrees. 15mph wind. Light rain, part of ride.  Miles YTD: 1,217.11
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