Morning ride

I got out this morning and decided to replicate a ride I did a little over seven years ago.  I got on the Steed and headed south and east out to Temple Israel.

The Temple has some fine raised beds where they are growing onions.

On the way out I went through Millwood, a golfing community.  On the way back I tackled FR 186 and its infamous valley.

I barely made half the speed limit going downhill!

Coming back into town I went by the community garden that was built by Schweitzer Methodist Church.

Arrived home with 20+ miles, and that not on the road bike!

Finally, I put up a new clothes line for us to use this summer.  Already, my goal is to not drop a second [!] clothes pin.  The past has come to haunt me!

Stay happy,

 

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Here and there, this and that

Just a few photos of recent events.

In my last post I mentioned I had one more bike lock/cable to get open.  I found the one pictured below on the streets of Springfield, locked.  It is reprogrammable with any one of 10,000 possible combinations.  So I set to work trying to open it by starting with the first possible combination of 0-0-0-0 and going to 9-9-9-9.  No luck.  So I tried it again.  The same failure.  I went online and watched videos about how to lock pick.  I didn’t have the right tools….  I put it out in the garage and told Jan I would cut the lock off some day and at least get a good cable out of the deal.

A couple of weeks later I was working on the Christmas Luminaries that we put out Christmas Eve.  I took a glance at the lock and it was as you see below.  Open.  I thought for a second, “Did I get that open and not remember?”  No.  I failed.  Twice.  But there it was.  I removed the open lock from the cable.  I now had a usable cable!  The lock combination was at 0-0-0-0.  I said, “Hoover, you have nothing to loose” and locked it.  I pulled on it and it opened up!  I have no explanation.  Weeks before I had twice tried that combination to no avail.  Now, just hanging in the garage, set to 0-0-0-0, it fell open.  If the combination had been different, it would still be locked.  I reprogrammed it and it is now usable once more.

Please don’t ask as I have no idea what to say.

I mentioned the luminaries.  This is a project I look forward to each year.  I remelt wax and cast new votive candles.

Pieces of wax and melting pot on the left. Candle forms on the right

Jan and whoever of the family is present helps me set them out after sundown.  This year we were on our own.  Sarah and her boyfriend were in Ecuador for a few months.  Sam and Family stayed in Colorado Springs.  In fact, we left to visit them the morning of 26 December.

Representative of the Star of Bethlehem that gave guidance to the three wise men.

We arrived in the Springs the evening of the 26th.  Cora’s second birthday was the next day!  They now live in a house and I do not miss the 39 steps up [and down] to their old third floor condo anymore!!!

Jan with Cora, Max, and Evie.

Sam and Katie got a cat for the family while we were there.  I noticed this cat food while we were out getting supplies.

Feed your cat’s soul?? Really now, people! What happened to plain common sense? Really!

Stay happy,

Road Swag

Major success

This was the third bikelock/cable combination I have found this year.  Two of them have been solved.  One more to go.

Stay Happy,

Columbia Trails

Our daughter has moved to Columbia, Mo., and we went there last weekend to visit her and her man, Patrick, who owns Renew Missouri.  This company advocates for more clean energy in our state.

Saturday afternoon Jan attended a yoga workshop put on by Sarah while Patrick and I headed out to do some of Columbia’s famous trails.  I had brought the Steed along for this very purpose.

We got on the MKT Fitness Trail from a center city trailhead. This trail connects Columbia with the Missouri State Park KATY Trail.

This Fitness Trail is a rails to trails project.  I fell in love with it.  I don’t want to gush too much, but I applaud Columbia and their Parks Department for the work put into the trail system in the city.  It reminded me of Colorado Springs.

I guess one can find these all over.

We turned off a few times to explore a secondary spur, trail head, or city park.  One spur had a 100 foot climb that included a switchback.  I thought of Gerry!

Once outside the urban center of Columbia, the trail turns to packed limestone. We saw no evidence of rain washed damage, but then it has not rained here for quite a while.

Twin Lakes Recreation Area was our farthest point west.  It has a fenced in dog park that we walked through.  Before going in I asked Patrick if it was wise for cyclists to go through this area!  We thought about it and elected to walk.  No incident.

On the way back in we stopped at the Martin Luther King Memorial Garden. The granite pillars are inscribed with various quotes from the Reverend.

We stopped at the yoga studio and brought chocolate covered strawberries for everyone at the workshop.  They were happy.

Following that we went north to Patrick’s parent’s farm where we stayed for the night. They live about thirty minutes north of Columbia and west of Clark before one gets to Moberly.

Sunday morning breakfast included a quail egg omelet and homemade banana bread.

The neighbors across the road raise quail and supply Patrick’s parents with eggs. Tasted like regular chicken eggs.

On the return trip to Columbia that afternoon we stopped to enjoy Pinnacle Camp.  My phone camera would not cooperate so you will have to just trust me on this one.  The trees with their fall leaves were a beauty.

Possibly on our next visit Jan can bring her bike also and the four of us can do the trails.  I certainly plan to.

Stay happy,

Later

Moved into a new home.  That is what we found [and expected] when we visited Sam and Fam in Colorado Springs a while back.

It was interesting for me to note that the 6500′ elevation line went right through their back yard.

Perfect weather

We spent a day up at Rampart Reservoir

That was summer.  Now it is October.

Yes, you know what this is.

The last

Stay happy,

A few things

I know a lot of us have had nails or some type of spike through our tires.  I even save mine as some sort of trophy, “Look at what I survived!”  But this last week I had a close call and was not aware of it until one of the fellows I work with called it to my attention.

A nail through the inside edge of my right walking shoe.

As I said, I did not know it had happened.  The culprit now shares space with my other close calls.

This morning, Jan and I rode the Frisco Highline Trail, a well known rails to trails path in our neck of the woods.  We shared the path of other cyclists who participated in the Iron Horse Gravel Grinder.  Riding on gravel seems to have taken hold of a good size portion of the cycling population, but it will not get hold of me.

The section between Springfield and Willard is paved.

We found a few mulberry trees with ripening fruit, also too much poison ivy.

With a tip ‘o the chapeau to TP, this was the best photo I could get of a scissor-tailed flycatcher.

The state bird of Oklahoma.

We rode a bit over 25 kilometers and know that we have to improve as the year goes on.

Stay happy,

Holiday Ride

Jan and I finished our morning chores and headed out for lunch and a ride ’bout town.

Prior to checking on a friend’s home I became thankful I was wearing cycling gloves as I fell over at an intersection.  I could not get my foot out of the toe clip.

With this being Memorial Day weekend, most businesses are closed and traffic is sparse.

We picked up lunch at a sandwich shop and ate under the trees on the Drury University campus.

An empty campus with the Spring Term now ended.

Close by our lunch site were these flowers.

We picked mulberries as the raspberries are not out there yet.

The traffic will return tomorrow. Sigh.

Stay happy,