aug. 7-9

I was too busy to blog the last few days. The theme of this post is that the internet is a biker's good friend. Being able to check that radar map is great. On Friday, I checked the weather before leaving, and saw rain a comin' so packed rain pants and gear. The temperature was 69 F when I left at 7:55 am, winds 5 mph from the south. I forgot to take a picture at the beginning of the bike path but here's the bridge over Starkweather Creek behind Olbrich Gardens:

looking southeast:

and northeast.

It rained for my return trip, but I was fine with my rain gear. I was loaded up with groceries but have these cool bike bags that are water proof. I should take a picture of my rain gear. It's just cheap rain pants I got in Scotland (yep, I forgot to bring rain pants to Scotland), and a big rain jacket. I put my hood on under my helmet which keeps my head and glasses dry. I have a pair of water-proof slip-on shoes.

Yesterday I had to go to a meeting on the near-west side of town. I was looking forward to a long scenic ride along Lake Mendota past campus. But I looked at the radar and it looked very very bad. So I drove. We had a torrential downpour with lots of lightning. I think I made the right decision. If I had ridden my bike, I think that would have been the 3rd time in my life I wish I hadn't ridden (the first was when I broke my kneecap on some railroad tracks, and the second was on this day).

We finally got hit with hot and humid weather yesterday. Today it was 83 F at 9:40 am, winds 7 mph and variable in direction. The dewpoint was 73 F, so humidity 72%. It was actually quite nice for me in shorts and tanktop. Here's a picture at Atwood gardens. I have been forgetting to snap at the start of the ride.

On the way home, it was cloudy which was probably good, kept the temperature down to 84 F, winds 7 mph from the WSW. Then we had rain in the afternoon. The warm weather and rain should be great for the garden!