daily slice-of-life photo blog of a Gen-X dad
I looked at my phone before I went out on my evening bicycle ride and it said “Rain in 56 minutes” so I figured I was safe. However, just a mile into it I started feeling sprinkles so I headed home. By the time I reached the house, it was coming down. It actually felt pretty good, but maybe my phone and camera didn’t enjoy it quite as much. 😅
Since I don’t go out socially during the COVID-19 pandemic, a typical Friday night is spent with a bicycle ride and a beer. Not at the same time, of course, but hmmm… maybe I could fill a water bottle with an adult beverage, or throw a bottle of wine in the pannier and head to the park? An idea worth pondering. 😀
I hope you had a nice end of the work-week!
If you are on Strava, let’s connect so that we can cheer each other on!
The northernmost boundary of my neighborhood butts up against a shopping/restaurant area, but there haven’t been an roads or trails that connect the two, even though they are a stone’s throw away. To get to the restaurants, you have to go a long way to the west or east, then north, then back east or west.
Tonight as I was riding around that boundary, I saw that there was a new neighborhood under construction, just a series of streets at the moment, being built in the no-man’s-land. The little bit of street connecting the neighborhoods had a temporary barricade, but plenty of room to walk or bike through, so I decided to check it out.
As hoped, I was able to get to the shopping area so I did a bit of exploring around that area, which included Torchy’s Tacos, Raising Cane’s and Dos Salsas. Traveling a little farther, I found my way to an older rural neighborhood that was populated with many deer. It was really cool to see them. In fact, a small group of them crossed the road in front of me, and I could hear their hooves clomping across the pavement. It was the first time I have heard that sound and it was really nice!
I also rode past a nursing home, some office parks, and a brand new apartment complex. And I came across a really old-looking abandoned building surrounded by all the new buildings. It looked really out of place, but super interesting. I wonder what the story is behind it?
It was super fun to explore these new parts of town, all thanks to finding the “Northwest Passage”. I hope they keep that passageway open to pedestrians and cyclists, but I think it might not be so great to open it up to cars since it would make that quiet neighborhood a busy shortcut for commuters.
Wow, what an active day that I had! The weather was fantastic in the morning, so I headed out for a short 2.5 mile run. I often run (and bicycle) to the elementary school that Bay and Koa attended, and it is always a mental pick-me-up as I remember the good times watching them grow up. It seems like just yesterday they were attending Cox Elementary!
As I ran by the front, I took a photo of this sign, which shows the first phase of the re-opening during the pandemic. I hope this the the only time they will have a sign like this on display.
In the evening, I had to go for a bicycle ride around the neighborhood, and that included both Cox Elementary again and the other elementary school on the other side of the neighborhood and the football stadium that is used by the district’s high schools. At that time I was treated to a nice sunset:
On my way home, I received a text message from Koa asking if I wanted to throw the baseball over at the school, so I headed over to Cox for the third time today! We threw the ball until it got dark (and my arm was tired) and then came home to my second shower of the day.
It was a lot of physical activity (running, cycling, baseball) but I feel great! Thankful for my relatively good health as I approach age 52. Whee!
My new bicycle rim arrived and I got to work replacing the old one, which entailed transferring the spokes over to the new rim and then truing the wheel to make sure it’s straight. I followed this video’s instructions, which proved invaluable.
I also followed the advice in this video to true the wheel, and got it in good shape. Next, I adjusted the rear brake and it was ready to try it out on the road!
I only intended to ride around the neighborhood to test it, but I wound up hitting the hike and bike trail and riding several miles. It was just so fun! It seemed like I was able to ride faster, accelerate quicker, and cruise at a higher speed with the new wheel. It might just be that I am getting in better shape, but I have heard that the bicycle upgrade that will make the biggest difference it to replace the wheels. Well, I’m not sure if my new $33 Sun Ringle rim is an upgrade or not, but the stock Mavic rims are generally regarded poorly. So I’m leaning towards the opinion that the new rim helps out a lot. 😀
Later in the evening, Mariko mentioned that the sunset was probably pretty nice so I hopped on my Kona again and headed down to the place where I like to take sunset photos. Turned out pretty good:
I’m so happy to have my bicycle back, and working better than ever!
またね～
