apr 30

Today it was raining during my ride.  It was bound to happen eventually.  Actually it was nice.  The temperature was 51 F at 6:53 am which is warm enough.  I never stay completely dry but as long as it's not too cold, it's okay.  Winds were 3.5 mph from the east, so light.  The start of the bike path:

Starkweather creek was pretty with the rain drops falling on it:

The worms were all out on the bike path (getting smashed, unfortunately):

On the way home at 9 am, temperature was 53 F, winds 7 mph from the NE.

I think everything is prettier in the rain.  The vegetation glistens and is more vibrant.  

The hill going up to my house.  The trees are starting to get their leaves:

A magnolia tree:

apr 29

Temperature was 45 F, winds ENE at 17 mph gusting to 24 at 7:53 am.   On the way home at 11 am, temperature was 52 F, winds 13 mph from the ENE, gusting to 20.  I still don't get why we get all the east winds in Spring.   It was cloudy but it's never a bad day to bike (except that one time when I broke my kneecap and that other time when there was too much snow).

apr 28

I forgot to put my data card into my camera again so no picture of the bike ride, though I did take one when I got home to update the side-bar at right with a "spring" picture.   

It was a nice ride to the gym with temperature 43 F, winds NE at 7 mph at 6:53 am.  On the way home at 9 am, temperature was 47 F, but winds picked up to 20 mph from the ENE, so I was chilly.  It felt cold all day. But the sun shone and it was still nice.  It was the usual nice ride...

apr. 27

It was a cloudy morning but at least it wasn't raining!  well, actually it was sprinkling, but at least it wasn't pouring!   We had downpours over the weekened, which is great because I was at a conference in a hotel the whole time.  Now hopefully we'll have a lovely week for biking.  It was 61 F at 7:53 am, winds 8 mph from the SSW.  On my return at 10:30 am, it was 63 F, winds WSW at 10 mph, a nice tailwind.  The lake was a little rough from the winds, and there were coots on it.  

apr 24

I'm writing this on Monday about my ride last Friday, so I've already forgotten.  Temperature was 49 F, winds SSE at 5 mph when I left at 6:53 am.   I do recall 3 bicyclists passing me when I stopped to take the picture.  A lot more people are riding in the spring weather.

Temperature was 55 F, winds south at 11 mph when I returned.  

apr. 23

Today the temperature got up to 66 F, but it felt chilly this morning.  It was 37 F at 6:53 am, with winds 10 mph from the SE.  The tailwind was nice because I was late for class.  Start of the bike path:

Then a little weather system moved in and it rained on us in our exercise class so we did jump rope instead of sprinting.   I'm lousy at jump rope so I guess it was good for me.  It was still sprinkling on the way home but it was peaceful and the winds didn't seem that strong even though the almanac says they were 9 mph from the SE.  

I thought the sparks from this guy's work on the railroad tracks were pretty, like fireworks.

apr. 22

I went two whole weekdays without biking.  But today I got to bike twice and made up for it a little bit.  My first trip was to yoga, after dropping my car off for an oil change.  I caught the bike path a few hundred yards ahead of my usual spot:

Temperature was 44 F, winds from the WNW at 8 mph, at 7:53 am, so a bit of a headwind but not bad.  On the return at 10:30, temperature was up to 51 F, winds 10 mph from the NW so a nice tailwind.

Then in the afternoon, I had an appointment to get to (okay, a massage.  I took a half day off).  At the bottom of the hill where I live, I heard an interesting bird call and thought, oh, that's a hawk (I've been listening to my bird call CD!).  And there it was flying overhead.  I wish I'd got a picture of it flying because it was more obvious it was a red-tailed hawk, but this picture of it in a tree turned out better than I was expecting from my little camera:

Here's the start of the bike path at 2:30 pm:

Now the temperature was 58 F, winds 11.5 mph from the NW, a nice day!  After my "appointment",  I went grocery shopping and headed home about 5:30 pm.  Temperature was 56 F, winds 10 mph from the NNW.   

I forgot how much fun it is to ride the bike path in the late afternoon.  There's so much activity!   Look at all these bikes:

Which looks more fun, riding the bike path (left) or driving in the traffic (right)?

There's lots of other activity too with people walking their dogs and babies.  It's fun.

apr. 19

Even though it was cold, cloudy and a bit windy at 8:30 am when I left for church, I thoroughly enjoyed the bike ride.  I just love riding my bike.  Temperature was 46 F (see how quickly we adjust to the season?  Now that feels cold!), winds 10 mph from the NE.    On the way home it was 50 F at noon, winds again 10 from the NE.  Rain waited until later in the afternoon.  

Sadly I don't think I'll be biking tomorrow or Tuesday.  Taking the car into the shop tomorrow, driving to Watertown Tuesday.  How sad!

I forgot to put my memory card back in my camera so no picture today.   Lots of birds on the bike path.  Someone told me they like the rain.  It rained some last night, so maybe that got them going.

apr. 17

no biking today!  took the day off, got in the deathmobile (Mike Barrett's term), and headed to devil's lake.  It was reaaaaaallly nice.

On Monday I'm taking my car in to the shop so will not be biking either.  I'll have to make up for it this weekend.  I get withdrawal if I don't get on the bike enough.

apr 16

The sun continues it's journey northward in the morning (compare to this one where the sun is to the right of the tree).

The grass is definitely getting greener now.

What a lovely day.  It was seasonably cool at 6:53 am, 31 degrees F with calm winds.  But I  dressed for the predicted warmer temperatures later on and it was kind of brisk but nice.  Sure enough, at 9 am when I returned, it was already up to 50 F, and winds still calm.   There are lots of cardinals around and they are so pretty against the blue sky. 

apr. 15

Today was a lovely spring day.  My mind was on work so I forgot to snap the picture at the beginning of the bike path.  This is about a mile later.  Temperature was already 49 degrees F when I left at 8:45.  No wonder I got hot.  Winds were NNE at 13 mph.   I went to campus today.  It's always enjoyable to ride to campus.  I go past the capital and down state street.  Then on the ride home I go by the lake.  On such a beautiful day, when I'm working all day, this is the time when I get to enjoy the lovely weather.  On the way home, temperature got up to 64 F, winds about 9 mph from the east.  What is with the east winds in the spring?  

apr. 14 ride

I forgot to snap the picture at the beginning of the bike path but this is only a few hundred yards later.  Temperature 38, winds 8 from the NNE at 6:53 am.  Temperature 42, winds 16 mph from the NNE at 9:30 am.  Is the grass getting greener yet?  I don't think so.  There are buds on the bushes now.

apr. 13 ride

Temperature was 38 F, winds 13 mph from the ENE at 6:53 am.  On the return trip at 10:30 am, temperature was 42, winds 21 mph from the East.    We get more east winds in the spring.  I'm not sure why.   It's associated with low-pressure systems and clouds.  Maybe we just get more low-pressure systems and clouds in the spring.  

apr 10

Today the temperature was 31 F at 6:53 am, winds 11.5 mph from the NE, and another sunny day.  The view from the bike path:

It's always fun to ride along with the trains...

I brought my binoculars to look for loons on Lake Monona on the way home.  Temperature was 44 F, winds 22 mph gusting to 26 from the NNE!   The water was rough in the usual duck hangouts, so I feared I wouldn't see any ducks.  But further along the way home I saw a whole bunch of ducks.  They turned out to be coots.   

Even though it wasn't loons, it was still fun to see coots.  We usually only see mallards.   Then further on I saw some birds close-up which I think were cedar waxwings.    For a novice, I'd say this was a successful bird watching day.  I'm going to start carrying my binoculars over my shoulders.  There are so many birds behind Olbrich gardens.  The only problem is I might have to leave earlier as the dawdling factor will increase.  Also my danger of crashing into a car will increase as I crank my head to look up in the trees.

apr 9

Another beautiful day and lovely ride.  Here's the start of the bike path:

This blog is going to get boring now that spring has hit.  Well, maybe we'll get a rainy day to spice it up.  It was 29 degrees F at 6:53 this morning when I left with calm winds.  It's spring break for the school kids so the roads and paths are much quieter, except for the birds.  Temp was up to 42 F on my way home with a nice 10 mph NW tailwind, yeah!  I rode by the lake again.  I like how the sunlight reflects off the water.    

I read in today's Isthmus that there are a bunch of loons on Lake Monona, maybe as many as 100.  This is unusual.  I will try to remember to bring my binoculars tomorrow.  It would be cool to see one.  As the article stated, it's rare for loons to hang out in cities, but the lakes north of us are still locked in ice.  Cool!

apr. 8 ride

Yea, I'm back!  Vacation was fun but there's no place like home.  And riding my bike is one of my favorite things to do.  Today was a beautiful day.  The temperature was 35 F at 7:53 am with calm winds.    

The bike path doesn't look much different from 2 weeks ago (well, maybe the grass is slightly greener), so spring didn't progress much while we were gone--I heard the weather was cold and they got snow.  

After my fabulous yoga class, I rode by the lake on the way home.  Ah, here's a difference from two weeks ago--no more ice on the lakes.

I picked up my winter bike from the bike shop today.  It's cleaned, tuned up and ready for next year.  I got new fenders and a new derailleur.  yea!   

This post shows a before-tuneup picture.

Now I'm thinking of getting this bike fixed up:  

This could be fun to ride around the neighborhood.