3.31.2011 Ride: Short but Wet

Rain looked imminent, with the radar map showing a large of patch of green off to the west.  There was the opportunity to ride in the morning before the rains came but Carol was heading off to Manitoba for a business plan competition with one of her student teams and I wanted to be here so see her off.  The rain was supposed to stop later in the day but, then, Rachel had a soccer game.  Sure enough, when I did get out, within a few minutes it began to rain.  That was fine as I was geared up in rain pants and rain coat and riding on the mountain bike for stability. 
Getting some good pictures felt as if it would be a real challenge as I've been riding the neighborhood quite a bit lately.  I decided to take the Big Hill down and see if there might be something special there.  I passed some large scat on the road at first thinking it might be a bear's but on closer inspection I think it was just a large coyote's (not that I planned to take a picture of the scat, even if it was a bear's).  The chairs were still there and continue to bring a smile to my face every time I pass them. 

I thought it would be interesting to take a picture of the chairs at least once a month to document any changes that occur around them.

Heading down to the bottom of the road to the right, I stopped to capture a view through this log.  It was traipsing through the brush to get this picture that led me to the more interesting pictures of the day.  I mildly cursed the thorns that were grabbing at my rain pants when I realized I had my next subject.

Rachel and I have discussed why blackberry canes would have thorns in the first place since it seems as if a plant would want to make it easy for its fruit to be had.  I was thinking today that maybe the canes themselves were a tasty treat to some animals.

Riding in the rain felt nice and I was staying warm except for my hands.  The gloves I had on were windproof but not waterproof and they were getting soaked.  Also, it felt as if it was getting colder.  When I got back home, I saw that it had indeed dropped from 46 degrees when I left to 41 degrees.  And, it's not getting any warmer.  As I write this at 2:30 PM, it is down to 39.
But, cold hands and all, I had to stop and take a picture of this bag that has been caught on the barbed wire for some time now.  Today, however, it seemed to have straightened out so that the lettering could be easily read and provided what I thought was a bit more irony in litter.  I had already picked up my litter for today and decided to leave this one for a day or two more.

"SMART"

I'm looking forward to the next couple of days when the temperatures are supposed to be close to 70.

Today's Ride:  63mins.  7.85 miles.  46-41 degrees.  Steady light rain.  Miles YTD:  1,611.86