Thursday, March 31, 2011

Riding with an old friend...Mr. Derailluer

With the temperature around +50F on Wednesday, I figured it was a good day to get out on the bike.

A sure sign of spring in our area is when the local townships post wieght limits on the town roads.  They do this because when the frost comes out of the ground, the road base gets soft and they are vulnerable to damage.  The limits this year went in to effect March 14 at noon and usually come off about May 1st.


There is still some snow on the ATV/Snowmobile/Multiple use trails.


Nice quiet roads to ride...

And this is why.  I would guess that 80% of the driveways are not plowed meaning they are not being used.  I rode in the vincinity of 15 lakes yesterday.  A lot of these lakes have cabin/houses that belong to snowbirds and then there are others that just don't use them in the winter.  That is good for me.  I like that.  It doesn't bother me that they're not around.

It is election time for the townships around our area.  If any of you out there think national, or state elections for that matter, are down and dirty, you should witness the small town politics.  The national and state scene doesn't hold a candle to this town.  It is not always that way, but has been for the last few years.  This township covers 133sq miles and has an overall population of about 754.  The nearest building to these signs is probably over a mile away, but there are 5 campaign signs here.  Bill Moyers says “Intelligence has nothing to do with politics,” and I believe him.


Another quiet road

Stopped by the river and birds are plenty this time of year.  The Trumpeter Swans are year around residents, as are the Eagles because this section of the St. Croix River very seldom freezes completely over.

I sat here, ate my banana and watched the birds.

I chased up two Mallards when I walked down here and the geese are plentiful.

It was a great afternoon with about 25 miles of riding.  Just one of the good things was my steed had a derailluer.  I ride the fixed gear in the winter, but it was nice enough yesterday to get a road bike out and it was nice to be able to coast.

Get out and have some Fun ! ! 

3 comments:

  1. Looks like a beautiful ride. I would love to find some roads like those close to home.

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  2. I just love roads like that. Smooth, with beautiful scenery and low traffic. We've got a road very close to the home that meets the last two criteria, but is painfully bumpy.

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  3. Nice post & good looking ride here. Always nice on roads with a low traffic count.

    -Trevor

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