Birds of Prey
i was back on the LHT this morning, as that setup is my ride of choice. it's nice having that generator light on there. no refuel hassles. i'm going to get a standard wheel built at some point as an extra to save weight if need be. in fact, last night i was looking at some large saddlebags from Rivendell to think abt even further lighten the load. there is something intruiguing abt jettisoning the rack and going saddlebag only. the a.m. ride was the 6m direct. the only "fun" was hitting yet another hole and waiting for the inevitable pinch flat. didn't happen, but sure worried me. I think the LHT has more weight on the back vs. a road back, which is more distibuted, so when i hit hole with my big ass, it's like "WHAM!".
i rode home in the p.m with 'Sheryl' for part of it (3m). She's sporting a nice, new Nashbar safety headlight, on of those AA LED jobs. fact is Sheryl doesn't aspire to ride megemorning mileage (how's that for alliteration), so it's good enough for her. after dropping her off, i picked it up on Lexington heading towards the park, putting in a steady 18mph with a few at 20. frankly, it made me breath a little hard. I maintained the pace up golf course hill in Seneca, overtaking a female roadie who was taking it easy. actually i felt like a kind of schlep, busting ass and sucking wind like i'm some kind of wanna' be overtaking the chick on the hill. oh well, i was just doing it for some speedwork. around the loop and up hard on Hogan's Fnt. i cut over to Spring when i felt the back tire go a little soft. i was worried that the pinch flat was catching up to me. instead of going through Seneca Gd, i headed straight across to Kroger/whatever street behind whatev old school. the highlight of the day, by far, was the interesting sight of nature taking its glorious course on Lakeside. I was cutting up the "path" from the swim club when something practically knocked me in the nose. it then flew up in front of me in the form of a raptor of some sort with an unfortunate squirrel in his beak. i noticed that they landed in a tree not too far from me, so i slowed/stopped to get a glance. the bird was primarily grey, with some white and brown accents, and it wasn't much bigger than its prey. the initial experience told me that it was a red-tailed hawk, many of which are found in urban areas. upon observation, i'm more inclined to think that it was a peregrine falcon, as i know that they're small. i'm going to do a little research, but certainly it was a formidable site for a city boy like me, nature taking its course. excellent!
15 miles/6 a.m./9 p.m./13avg p.m., but squishy tire and 3m with 'Sheryl' certainly pulled it down.
i rode home in the p.m with 'Sheryl' for part of it (3m). She's sporting a nice, new Nashbar safety headlight, on of those AA LED jobs. fact is Sheryl doesn't aspire to ride megemorning mileage (how's that for alliteration), so it's good enough for her. after dropping her off, i picked it up on Lexington heading towards the park, putting in a steady 18mph with a few at 20. frankly, it made me breath a little hard. I maintained the pace up golf course hill in Seneca, overtaking a female roadie who was taking it easy. actually i felt like a kind of schlep, busting ass and sucking wind like i'm some kind of wanna' be overtaking the chick on the hill. oh well, i was just doing it for some speedwork. around the loop and up hard on Hogan's Fnt. i cut over to Spring when i felt the back tire go a little soft. i was worried that the pinch flat was catching up to me. instead of going through Seneca Gd, i headed straight across to Kroger/whatever street behind whatev old school. the highlight of the day, by far, was the interesting sight of nature taking its glorious course on Lakeside. I was cutting up the "path" from the swim club when something practically knocked me in the nose. it then flew up in front of me in the form of a raptor of some sort with an unfortunate squirrel in his beak. i noticed that they landed in a tree not too far from me, so i slowed/stopped to get a glance. the bird was primarily grey, with some white and brown accents, and it wasn't much bigger than its prey. the initial experience told me that it was a red-tailed hawk, many of which are found in urban areas. upon observation, i'm more inclined to think that it was a peregrine falcon, as i know that they're small. i'm going to do a little research, but certainly it was a formidable site for a city boy like me, nature taking its course. excellent!
15 miles/6 a.m./9 p.m./13avg p.m., but squishy tire and 3m with 'Sheryl' certainly pulled it down.
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