Wow! Spring was short, it's almost summer.....

Last I noticed it was cold and rainy. Now it's getting into hot season again. I can't win. It seems that all I do is complain about the weather..no that's not true, we've had some real beauties, even this year. Today was one of them. Following a few real hot days(almost 100F on Friday) this morning was relatively cool, sunny, and not humid. Stephen and I went to Ames Nowell State Park first thing to (again)do our part along the trail. Just walking, this time. Malcolm, Dane, the Outreach guy from REI, and the new park super, John Singleton, were there to direct the group and get us pumped to get it done. Dane gave out some sweet new 'get dirty' T's and other schwag, and provided us with jo and donuts......
Stephen being the 8yo that he is brought his pondnet and critter-catching box(I did happen to mention to him that the park we were going to had a pond--one sure way to get him out of the house in a hurry..) So in between frog/turtle/snake/gosling sightings, we did manage to get some face-slappers trimmed back, some trash off the trail, and we pulled a perfectly good umbrella stroller out of the pond.
And it was a great morning to be ouside, even though S2 had to miss church, Mountain Bike Church was in session. Even without our bikes.

Back on Trail

Well after all that riding last week, I took acoupla days off to concentrate on yard work, laundry, bike maintenance(of course)....
Then the rain came back.
Determined to getta ride in between the raindrops, and because I already had the morning pass, I got to Wompy about 8, and met a friend for a ride. It hadn't really rained all night, but the place was WET. I forgot how much precipitation we have gotten lately......there were BIG puddles in places there that are NEVER wet......
Lots of deadfall needing to be chainsawed outta the way, LOTS of 'derailleur-breakers' (magnetic 1-2 foot sticks that seem to aim for that precious gizmo)lying on the trail......
But of course, it was a great morning for a 2-hour ride. The rest of the day, however, I spent lying around miserably complainiing of sinusitis and actually felt feverish and went to bed early. 'Allergies' everyone says..........I suppose I mainlined more than my share of pollen j.ust r.iding a.long......
The SUN just came out. thinking of a ride, but my day's toast. Gotta go sort laundry......(and wash my bike!)

OK it WAS a long winter now it's over

I can't believe it's been so long since my last post......you can't either. Anyways, the Blue Hills opened two weeks ago, the sun's been out for over a week now, the early-season aches and pains are gone, I replaced that ugly big red tire on my front wheel with my (current)favorite, the Hutchinson Scorpion Tubeless 2.3UST. I just happened to have 2 of them, so I replaced my (former) favorite rear tire the Michy XCR AT 2.0 UST with the newer of the two. I'm likin' it! fairly low psi, @ 25-30 haven't exactly dialed it yet. But the bike is right where I want it this year. Really don't need to upgrade or replace any parts except the front derailleur which all the pivots are rattlin' but it still works. 'nuff said.
Now being the end of April, Blue Hills Mountain Bike Day is right upon us, in three weeks! Winter was long! I gotta get in shape! I spent almost 4 months of my life either not exercising at all, or very little.
My excuses as follows:
December: Holidays!
January and February: my littlest toe hurts when I ride in temps less than 40F
March: I had full-blown pneumonia and high fever that left me in bed for a week. My son had the same as soon as I was up again, my daughter had strep, and wife had sinus infections...
This week, however I got four days of riding in a row, and am feeling pretty good about that. No, I didn't forget how to ride a bike. But in the thick of it all, I really thought I might. Winter WAS depressing, but now it's over. Time to RIDE!

Nice day for a ride, eh?

January has been a rollercoaster month, temperature-wise.....Right now, it's 3 degrees above zero F. And yes, back in the day, maybe even last year, and maybe even again this year, I've been known to ride at similar temps. But today, I'll be happy just to warm my toes by the fire, until I'm good and ready to (maybe) workout on my trainer in the (chilly but not frigid) basement, or more likely, go to the Y on my trial one-month membership, and do the treadmill and some stretching....
I did manage to get one good twice-around the Creek on Monday, when it was 22 degrees warmer. Felt great to be outside breathing, the only buzzkill was when I was heading back onto the trail from 3A at the Creek crossing, I'm blinded by the lily-white ass of some geezer bent over right next to the trail pinching a loaf. I just had to laugh out loud as I churned by. That's not someone I want to stop to chat with....
I wish I had my digital camera, I woulda popped one and left it right here for you'all to admire. He woulda flipped, as I think he's a regular Quincy polititian or wannabee. But I don't need to be causin any feeble-assed heartattacks . Like I said, he was a geezer...
Either way, the fire's over there, and my toes arent getting any warmer under the desk.

brrrrr.....

Well 14 days since my last post praising the sixTY degree weather, and now it's sixTEEN degrees and in no way inspiring me to ride outside but I did manage to walk a mile up through the park and back. It's always cool to see the trails we ride OFF the bike. We hear and see things we normally wouldn't. We bust out muscles that we should use once in awhile. We see the trail from a different angle, other trail users look at us and respond differently(some just ignore), and I actually get lost easier, missing that last turn that I would've made on my bike. I guess that's because I'm not constantly scanning far ahead as when I'm at cruising speed. I can get a downright saunter going and just enjoy the quiet non-mechanical time outside.
During the cold months of January and February, my nice carbon-fiber road bike sets upon the windtrainer calling my name. It's a good way to keep up (and actually improve after the holiday feeding frenzy) fitness so I'm feeling good about myself and ready to impress my friends in the spring as I drag them up Wolcott path for a warmup, and do Buck Hill repeats.........
Once on the trainer( it takes some motivation to actually get on it), I generally do 50 minutes, with gearing and rpm intervals every 5 minutes, and the time goes by quickly. I turn on the tv crank up some tunes anything to keep motivated and forgett about the monotony of going nowhere. I use a hrm to keep track of my heart's highs and lows. My theory also is to keep the heart rate changing, within the zones of course. Just like any other muscle, it needs diversity, cross-training, if you will.....
Enough talk anout it, now it's time to go do it.

My friend and I meet again....

Well it's the 4th of January and 60 degrees. I opt for a ride at Wompatuck, since I've been on the trainer a couple times this week, and the weather seems to just get better every day.....
I did my regular eclectic tour of the park, and thought I'd keep an eye out for my grouse friend. In the exact place we last met(last blog entry)she was nowhere to be found. As I continued on, down a paved section, then back onto a trail(about 5oo feet later), I hear something out of the corner of my eye(is that possible?).....a rustling of leaves....mind you I'm super-receptive at this point, since I'm still thinking I may see her again.....and there she is, CHASING me down the trail. I stop and put the bike down, she chirps, looks right at me, as if she's a cat wanting to play, or to eat.....
Then she jumps on my bike, and follows every move I make as I rummage through my camelbak looking for some dried cranberries even though I know I finished the trail mix last time, on the way home....
So I talk, she chirps, I talk......this goes on for a few minutes.,....I found the camera that I made sure to pack, discovering that I DID have another camera that was in there last time...no big deal, anyways.... So I just started shooting, getting all the angles......
Knowing that I couldn't be there all day, I hopped back on the bike, and she started chasing me again!! And closely, to the point that I had to make sure not to hit her with a pedalstroke, or with my rear tire....She chased for about 100 feet, and when I got up some speed she lost interest and stopped.
Just another day in the woods.....

probably my last day of fall this year at Wompatuck

While riding yesterday on a piney section of trail I noticed a small partridge-like bird just walking around. I stopped to let it pass, and it came right up to me and chirped softly at me, as if it were hungry for food or affection(just like my cat). I had some trail mix in my pack, and it seemed really hungry, as it wasnt going away in a hurry.....It didnt seem to like the soy nuts as it cracked them open with it's beak and dropped them like hot potatoes....so I picked out a dried cranberry and it practically ate it out of my hand!!
This was a very beautiful bird and a special moment for me, as I sat down in the middle of the trail wishing I had a camera......I felt I could have picked it up and held it(just like my cat).....
It had exactly the same colors as the forest floor, reddish, light and dark browns, black, white...I looked it up and I'm pretty sure it was a Spruce Grouse female.....the pic I have in the Audobon field guide is a male, and it doesnt look anything like that....wasnt a pheasant, as it had a short tail....My Peterson's Bird book had a sketch that looked alot like it.......most references I could find italicized very tame in describing the Spruce Grouse.
The pic above is from Wikipedia.