Ride 50: Halfway to My Goal of 100 Rides!
Aug. 1st, 2011 08:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
judifilksign Swam with pondside again today. J was feeling stiff from an abrupt trip and face-plant on the floor over the weekend, but loosened up a bit during the course of our swim. We didn't move as fast, but we did move for the full usual duration.
Since J is going back points west this weekend, she and D took me out to eat at a Japanese Steakhouse. The food was delicious. I ate one of J's scallops, and found it pretty nummy. The cook made the steak at the perfect medium rare, tender and pink, but brown and braised all over. The shrimp was something I never get at home, either, since my husband does not cook seafood of any kind other than Sparkle's fish sticks.
It rained while we were in the restaurant. The roads at home were quite wet, but I was determined to get on for my 50th ride.
I tried to ride on the road in the places where cars had dried the pavement with their tires, but backsplash from the rear tire still made the seat of my pants wet in a strip.
I passed my next door neighbor, and saw that they now have not one, but two new horses. The new horse is brown, with white splashes, in contrast to the white horse with brown splashes. They go well together. Everywhere the first horse went, the newer horse stuck to him like glue. (We are HERD animals!)
The Alsatian dogs on the corner decided that today was a fine day to bark at me, for the first time since June. I think it was that I turned left instead of right. I was not following my routine, and this was WRONG! They must ALERT me to this TERRIBLE MISTAKE!
Since J is going back points west this weekend, she and D took me out to eat at a Japanese Steakhouse. The food was delicious. I ate one of J's scallops, and found it pretty nummy. The cook made the steak at the perfect medium rare, tender and pink, but brown and braised all over. The shrimp was something I never get at home, either, since my husband does not cook seafood of any kind other than Sparkle's fish sticks.
It rained while we were in the restaurant. The roads at home were quite wet, but I was determined to get on for my 50th ride.
I tried to ride on the road in the places where cars had dried the pavement with their tires, but backsplash from the rear tire still made the seat of my pants wet in a strip.
I passed my next door neighbor, and saw that they now have not one, but two new horses. The new horse is brown, with white splashes, in contrast to the white horse with brown splashes. They go well together. Everywhere the first horse went, the newer horse stuck to him like glue. (We are HERD animals!)
The Alsatian dogs on the corner decided that today was a fine day to bark at me, for the first time since June. I think it was that I turned left instead of right. I was not following my routine, and this was WRONG! They must ALERT me to this TERRIBLE MISTAKE!
This was going to be a quick ride, so I was doing the loop of the townlet. I would never go in this direction with Sparkle behind me, because cars take the curves going around the town fast, and an unexpected balance shift could spell disaster. I rode on the part of the road between the edge line and the grass.
The park has prairie fields to the left, and I was struck at just how high grass grows when left unattended. It was higher than my height riding the bicycle. I could see red winged blackbirds and swallows (those are the birds with the forked tails, right?) swooping amongst the grass and wild flowers.
I turned at the last street, heading towards the trail. The trail was completely wet and puddled, and I decided I was not going to get any wetter, and the skies were not looking promising, either. I turned back along my usual heading towards home leg, and whizzed down the hill toward home. The area under the trees at the curve had clouds of gnats and mosquitoes (spit, cough), but fireflies, too. I think it is funny that everywhere else was quite bright, but the leaves made it dark enough for the fireflies to light. Or, do fireflies light up all of the time, but we only notice them when it's dark?
Getting into the home driveway, I had a horsefly land on me and sting me, and I skidded in the gravel and came to a stop, thinking unkind thoughts in my head involving words I do not use in print. Ah, the drawbacks of living next door to horses.
But I am halfway to my goal, and I feel happy!
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Half way there!
Date: 2011-08-02 01:43 am (UTC)Re: Half way there!
Date: 2011-08-02 03:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-02 02:17 am (UTC)Congrats on being half way to your goal.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-02 03:00 pm (UTC)I am not angry at my neighbors for the appearance of the bloodsuckers; I am sympathetic that the horses must put up with them.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-02 11:39 pm (UTC)They are awful things, aren't they? I don't know which is worse, those or deerflies.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-03 01:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-02 02:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-02 03:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-02 03:28 am (UTC)I'll miss you very very much.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-02 03:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-02 01:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-02 03:04 pm (UTC)There is another horse at the far end of town (four blocks)that can be smellt from our end. The new horse and the horse on the far side would spend hours whinnying at one another.
Now that the brown-and-white horse has joined white-and-brown, they appear happy together, and don't make as much noise.
It was so funny when the dogs, who have totally been ignoring me erupted and raced around the fence. I'm absolutely certain that was what was in their minds!