Stardate 2019.822

Brisk and Misty Morning

An invigorating morning walk along the South Platte River with an iPhone.




Today’s hot chocolate is going to be quite good!




I hope you enjoyed the pics.




Lizard: 15
Parkinson’s: 0

Adios!

Stardate 2019.814

On The Keyboard Again

Hmmm... I seem to have forgotten how to code. Nonetheless, we'll see if I can come up with something.




Fall has been warm, and we could use some precipitation, although it's been mountain bike heaven.






A change is in order; I wonder if these bighorn ewes could sense it?



Several days later, a handful of little Fahrenheits, sporting their finest smirks, set a new record low temperature of 8 degrees, beating the old record of 22 by 14 notches. Then, most leaves lost color and dropped.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...





That's it for now.

Adios

Stardate 2019.129

Is That Spring in the Air?
Not quite; albeit I was in shorts and long sleeves today. Not bad for February 13th. Our snowiest month, March, is still to come. We can get some cold temps, too. Nonetheless, a lot of melt was taking place. Locally, all but the northerly aspects are snow-free. The Denver Water access road up Waterton Canyon was mostly dry with a few icy and muddy spots.


Today may have been my best ride since being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease last August. I hate the word disease! Don't you? It is what it is. Better yet, I felt good and strong throughout the ride. Take that Parkinson's! Following are a few more pics from the ride. Enjoy!


Looking upstream at impounded water behind one of several diversions.



The diversion dam is downstream in the distance. Can you pick it out?



There is lots of shore ice.



Main channel ice development is ice buildup on large in-stream boulders.



That's it for now. Think spring!

Lizard: 6
Parkinson's: 0

Adios

Stardate 2019.093

Mary Carter Greenway and January's End
Hi all,

Our January ended with some snow. However, as the eastern half of country freezes to death, the west half has remained quite nice. Highs have been in the 40s along Colorado's Front Range. Nonetheless, following are pics from January 25th (ski track) and 28th.




The dying ski track was covered in new snow several days later.




Yes, many of our bike paths are plowed after a storm — we're spoiled.




The trees look to be huddled together for warmth.




That's it for now, short and sweet. Thanks for reading.

Lizard: 4
Parkinson's: 0

Adios

Stardate 2017.277

Lay It On The Line
Hi, people! Lay it on the line doesn't really have anything to do with the ride. I just had the old Triumph song from 1979 on my mind. You can listen to it here. On to business at hand. Ever so slowly we are getting our cycling legs in tune. This past weekend we did a half road and half mountain bike ride for about 40 miles. That's not far, but not too short either. The mountain bike was used for both legs of the trip. Moreover, I have spring fever something terrible. We've been able to get out quite a bit, and I pulled some older helmet cam videos for fun.


Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park (road bike)



Kokopelli Trail, Western Colorado (mountain bike)

Our ride was good, although my toosh was sore from the previous day's ride. We saw a lot of bighorn sheep (as usual) while in Waterton Canyon, with some good-size rams. On a side note, we're also playing with food. I can hardly get down and stomach an energy bar these days. Instead of high-dollar energy foods, we're drying our own fruit, thanks to Snowcatcher. The day's snack was apple and peach slices covered in cinnamon. The cinnamon dries into the fruit. MMMmmmmm...



I turned around at upper Lenny's Bench. It was down to the flats now. I don't write much here as I'm always writing about Waterton Canyon and surrounds. I'll talk about several things along the trail. The Chatfield area had a surprise or two.




This little character had some nice markings.




The last of the snow was going, going, soon to be gone!




This is a bull snake; rattlesnakes are on their menu. This particular specimen would stretch out to 4 or 5 feet.




That's it for now. Thanks for reading and viewing!

Adios

Stardate 2016.293

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
We're digging (and melting) out of the aftermath of a robust storm system that stalled over the four-corners region. When the low pressure stalls in that location, counter-clockwise flow of air siphons moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. The moisture continues its counter-clockwise trajectory around the low and slams into the Rocky Mountains and cooler air. The storm sits there for a day or two, and we get copious amounts of rain and snow.

Hence, there will be no mountain biking for a while. Everything is wet, wet, wet. I may take the road bike out if the roads aren't too swampy in melt water. Nonetheless, here are some pics from the snow event. It's a spring burrrrr...




Thankfully the hyacinths were at the end of their bloom cycle.




The moisture-laden snow settled as fast as it accumulated.




Hopefully the irises will ride it out.






Snow started accumulating close to dark. The correct scale is the right edge of the builders square.




Our front yard: Everything, including the iris received a blanket of snow.




When it was over, we averaged about 15 inches of super wet snow.




Several hours after shoveling came lots of settling and melting; I could see tips of iris poking through (upper right).




As I write this line, the sun is poking through the clouds. That's it for now.

Adios

Stardate 2016.277

Suburbia Mountain Bike Link-O-Link
Si Señoras y caballeros, yet another South Valley Park post. So I'll minimize today's text and get to the photos. Let's begin with an evening ride along Coyote Song Trail several days ago.









The following Saturday found us riding "dirt" service road to Deer Creek Canyon. Many moons ago, I had a soils professor who would dock you one letter grade for using the word dirt. It's soil, people; SOIL! (Or, as my wife says, it's CLAY, people, CLAY!!!)




After a bit of asphalt, we linked to the Kathy Johnson/Columbine Trails, followed by a northern link-up with the busy Coyote Song Trail.




Then we backtracked and closed a 27-mile loop.




Adios

Stardate 2016.077

January Wind Whispers

More delightful January weather recently graced the Front Range. It was time for a road ride south of the metro area in the vicinity of Chatfield Reservoir. Currently, the reservoir has open and iced over water. There were ice fishermen in areas; yet I'm not sure I'd trust the ice with all the freeze-thaw cycles we're getting from the ice gods.



This will be the scene, except when it snows, along the South Platte River for another 3 months. The year will be well into April before most deciduous trees dress in green.



The floodplain of the South Platte River is sprawling in places. Every time I ride through here I picture numerous smoking tepees – tops trailing smoke heavy in scent of hide and wood – of indigenous people telling ancient tales deep into the night. Then, as pre-dawn slowly approaches, they wrap up and sleep through the coldest part of day. I need to invent a time machine.




The long and winding road...




How about some gravel grinding to end the day? I love late-day sun-angles.




That's it for this set. Later gator...

Adios