• bicycling,  fall season,  leaves

    Sunday Turkey Trot

    November 3, 2024
    Fallen leaves at the CSU Oval

    My ride to coffee this morning was an enjoyable 10.1 mile round trip. It was 38 degrees by the time I headed out the door, at 6:40 am. I’m enjoying riding enough that the cold has not deterred me from getting out there. Bundling up along with the exercise are a couple of good things for my health. Colors are still vivid in many places which brings on a smile. As leaves were falling like gold and yellow snowflakes it reminded me that it won’t be long and white snowflakes will replace them.

    Mallards on Spring Creek

    I stopped to spend some time at the small concrete dam and gate area along Spring Creek. The water was smooth, blues skies reflected in the water and I had the time to stop. Three mallards felt the need to get in the image so I let them.

    Sunday Turkey Trot on Spring Creek Trail

    Most Sunday mornings I will encounter walkers, their dogs and bicyclists, all using these wonderful hard surface trails. This morning I needed to stop because a bunch of turkeys were taking their time as they trotted cross the bike trail. They seemed to think it was all theirs. So I let all 13 in the group have the right of way. About 1:00 pm they wandered across my front yard, which is about 2 miles from where I took this image. I’ve never seen them this far in town. Do you suppose they are looking for a place to hide? Hope you had a good Sunday!

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  • bicycling,  clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  poems,  reflections

    Love and Respect

    October 27, 2024

    How beautiful our mother, the earth
    And how worthy of our love and respect.

    Steven Charleston, Spirit Wheel

    I took a pleasant bicycle ride yesterday along Spring Creek Trail and the Poudre Trail. It was 31 degrees when I got up but we reached a lovely 70 degrees by mid-afternoon. Blue skies and a spattering of clouds brought a smile. I was not the only one out riding and walking. Just to my left was a women with a painting easel, sitting on a stool and an umbrella to keep the sun off while painting this very scene at the Cattail Chorus Natural Area. I agree with Charleston’s poem, we do have a beautiful Mother Earth and my prayer is we all learn to love and respect her. ❤️

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  • bicycling,  quotes,  trees

    Cluelessness

    October 26, 2024

    When it comes to learning something new, cluelessness turns out to be the perfect and only place to start.

    Margaret D. McGee

    One of the gifts with bicycling along the hard surface trails in Fort Collins has been the connection to nature. The trails separate me from the city noise but within the city. Unless I told you there were homes a short distance from this scene you wouldn’t know it, you’d be clueless! A brisk 31 degrees this morning but clear blue skies and sunshine now. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

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  • bicycling,  fall season,  leaves,  quotes,  seasons

    Nature’s Tapestry

    October 16, 2024

    In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks.

    John Muir

    I can just as easily replace the word walk in this quote with bicycle ride. As I rode through this one area I noticed a scene that I noticed a scene I wanted to photograph. I took several images but was not satisfied with any of them. I turned to get back on the bike and noticed this scene. It is a busy image but the colors, eclectic shapes and patterns caused me to squat down beside the water and accept the image. Because I took the time to stop and squat a woman walking by also stopped to see what I was seeing. She thanked me and we both smiled as we received nature’s tapestry. Taken on my bicycle ride yesterday along Spring Creek Trail.

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  • bicycle rides,  nature

    A gift I did not expect

    October 1, 2024
    Spring Creek Trail

    A gift I did not expect when I bought this e-bike is being able to hear more of the natural world. Her voice has always been there, hidden in the bustle of the city, drowned out by the sound of man’s machines. My ebike has a small and almost silent motor, so I feel its assist more than hear it.

    I like riding on the city’s hard surface trails where I am no longer in the midst of traffic but become more immersed in nature. Now the sounds of the natural world begin to dominate when I ride alongside the river on the Poudre Trail or follow the creek along Spring Creek Trail. In some areas I am surrounded by a canopy of trees and shrubbery, which are wonderful sound barriers to the pollution of traffic noise. This allows me to hear the water sing it’s melody on its journey; hear songbirds as I tootle along; hear squirrels barking and squeaking as they hide atop the trees; hear the alert prairie dogs barking warnings; hear the caw of a crow soaring above; hear the wind rustling cottonwood leaves along the trail; and every once in a while hearing the song of a bird I’m not familiar with. And one sound that strikes a note in my soul is the almost complete moments of silence found on these trails. I love the gift of this language of the natural world.

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  • bicycling,  Pedaling on,  Plants

    Now Popping Open

    September 30, 2024
    Common Milkweed

    I noticed on my bicycle ride yesterday evening how many milkweed pods are now popping open. It is that time of the year. There are about 110 species that occur in the Americas. These plants can grow to about 5 feet tall, usually occurring in clusters and forming colonies. They are perennial plants, which means an individual plant lives for more than one year, growing each spring from rootstock and seeds rather than seeds alone. Over 450 insects are known to feed on some portion of the plant. Milkweeds are the required host plants for caterpillars of the monarch butterfly and thus play a critical role in the monarch’s life cycle. Their beauty is on display all along Spring Creek Trail and the Natural Areas.

    This past Thursday I went over 400 miles on the bicycle’s odometer. Which means in 49 days I have averaged a little over 8 miles a day. This includes 5 days of not riding due to rain, my dental surgery and a couple days of logging over 20 miles. I’m finding the 35 mile range on the battery to be accurate. If I ride 8-10 miles a day I need to recharge about every three days. It takes about 2.5 hours to recharge my battery when it’s at 50% or 4-5 hours to fully charge. When using the assist levels I ride almost exclusively in the lowest assist level (it has three levels). I have only used the highest assist level once to make sure it worked. I only use assist level two on one hill that kicks my butt. 😂 There are places where the trails and bicycle paths are flat enough I ride with the assist off. Riding has increased my heart rate and my active zone minutes on my Fitbit. Pedaling on…

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