June 23 - misc stuff

Obviously I'm at a loss for a title if I call this misc stuff.

It's still early in the day. I've installed the new stem on my randonneuring bike, reducing the length by 1cm and switching to a stem with four face bolts. That should stop it from rotating on me.

I also unpacked and sorted through my biking stuff. I have two bags of biking stuff and 1 bag for regular travel -- surprised ? I have not unpacked the regular bag yet ... should do that now.

I'm definitely going to go for a ride. It's beautiful out. I'm going to ride the lightweight bike for a change -- should be great.

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What a beautiful day for a ride ... except for the fog that is. Fog ? On a beautiful sunny day ? Yes, but this was more a choking fog - not water based, this is a fog from pine pollen. Seeing was actually not a problem, but breathing was. All along 522 there was fog in the distance. Fog, not haze. Yucch ... I had thought that the peak pine pollen season was earlier in June and that being away we had missed it. Nope. Scum on the water; fog in the air; a gust of wind shakes the pollen from the pine trees. Is this healthy breathing so much of this stuff ?

Having said that, it was a great day for a ride. Very light winds, warm to hot -- my kind of weather. In this kind of weather there's usually a sheen of sweat over my arms and legs and salt stains on my shorts. Yesterday was different. My arms and legs were dry and yellow. Yellow was in the creases of my shorts. In the parking lot I needed to use the windshield wipers to remove the layer of pollen.

the 522 wildlife report ... no black flies; no mosquitoes; just horse flies. Keep riding, but the horse flies are at least as fast as I am. Keep riding and they won't light. I saw a bear along 522 -- full grown, crossing in front of me. There weren't any turtles today, but then it was earlier than the trip along 522 yesterday where we saw 7 or 8 turtles crossing the road "to get to the other side".

Sandy got home just before me and soon we were in the gazebo. The table is yellow. The floor is yellow. The chairs are covered in yellow dust. Bonnie dropped over, bringing a few bottles of Sandy's white Rhone that she'd picked up at the LCBO, anticipating today's strike that I see has been delayed at this point.

We had pickerel for dinner which was tasty, along with tasteless green beans and white rice. The green beans mostly looked ok, but they were a disappointment. Shortly we'll be able to get local produce at the Independent stores in Sudbury and the vegetable situation will improve.

Speaking of local produce -- I'll go into town today and pickup the mail and some minnows. I need to catch some of my own local produce !

It was nice to ride the lightweight bike yesterday, but it did feel strange. I'm so used to the heavy bike at this point ... my Hummer. The strangest part is the empty front end -- empty where there are lights etc. on the other bike. I have some derailleur tuning to do on both bikes so I'd better get to that today, since I'll ride one of them tomorrow. I should also swap saddles with the yellow bike, since it has the identical saddle to the Hummer, only not worn.

Today is mow-the-lawn-day. I hate that chore. I hate it for a few reasons -- 1) it stirs up the bugs; 2) due to the bugs I must wear long pants and bug jacket; 3) due to the full gear ... and even without the full gear ... it's a dirty job with sweat and dust; 4) it's work. I guess that doing almost anything that you don't want to do is work, but this is also a workout with the hills in our yard. You might think that a self-propelled lawn mower would make it easier ... nooooo. After the mowing part, I have to use the weed eater on the hill that I cannot get the lawn mower up. It's steep; it's slippery; it's even more work. Oh well ...

Whoops -- it's after 6am and I have not fed Abby.

Onward !