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judifilksign ([personal profile] judifilksign) wrote2011-09-11 04:42 pm
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Ride 61: Back in the Saddle Again

Well, it seemed cool and breezy standing still, but in my red T-shirt and jeans, it seemed quite hot!  And as I rode, moisture condensed on my arms like little rain drops.  I kept looking up into the azure blue sky with puffy white clouds to see whether it was raining, because the drops felt exactly like getting hit by rain.  It was very strange, seeing and feeling the bits of dew appear on the hairs of my arms.

Today was an insect day, it being mid-afternoon.  I saw many butterflies, and was paced by a monarch on my way uphill toward the first road.  There were mainly little yellow and little white butterflies spiraling up in pairs and packs.  Flocks?  What is a group of butterflies?  Surely not a swarm?  Actually, yes, a swarm, or a rabble of butterflies.

There were hundreds of grasshoppers, little ones, on the trail, and they'd jump out of the brown leaves scattering the path to fly with yellow wings off to the side.

The trail had dry brown leaves spinning down the entire length of my run, and my tires crunched through them on the path.  There are still a couple of rubber "spikes" on the newish tires on my bike, and they would spear the leaves, which would go round and round the tire as I pedaled.  One leaf caught in the bars for the front brakes, and brrrrrrrrrr'd charmingly as I rode.

The melon rind at the second road is still there, shriveled.  No bugs on it any more, no smells, just a brown-black husk.  I wonder whether any of the seeds survived to germinate there next year.  The pumpkins along the side of the path are sending vines up the side of the hill, and there are leaves and bright orange flowers right at the edge, shadowing the trail.  The pumpkins are getting bigger and bigger, and starting to turn from green to yellow, with blushes of orange already.

On the way back, I was startled to see I'd missed my turn-off, and ended up doing that zig-zag across the rail road tracks, turning right, going back over the rail road tracks, and turning left down the long hill home.  I was really in the zone or something.  Or, at least really zoned.

There was a glitter of blue-green iridescence in the road ahead, in a patch of sunlight.  Passing it, I realized it was something  lying in the road covered with hundreds and hundreds of shining flies.  There were so many, I could not actually tell what was in the road, animal or vegetable.  They did not lift off the thing as I flew past, either.  I'd've been grossed out, except the color was so pretty, and they blocked out any nastiness they were actually on.
It being a lovely day, cool and breezy, I took the opportunity to ride on out on the boys' yellow bike, Sparkle being more interested in the swings outside and LEGO Star Wars inside.



I'm a bit achy in my calves.  It's been too long between my last few rides.  Still, all the same, I was able to go to the second road and back pretty easily.

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