Last ride of April '09

[Duck on Wheels]

I did my 20-mile loop again. Still have to stop once on that first big hill, but made all the others. A bit slower than last time, but still faster than last Fall. Most encouraging aspect of the ride in terms of training was that my neck and butt weren't sore afterwards. Lots of encouraging aspects of the ride in terms of the season: A warm föhn wind had temperatures up near 70; all kinds of birds singing out their territorial claims and reproductive urges; the white anemones franticly carpeting the forests hoping to be spotted by enough flying insects before the birches, larches, rohans etc. are fully leafed out and hide them; the smell of fresh manure spread on fields (cow -- ok, sheep -- nice, pig -- phew! but still a sign of Spring); and the sun not setting until I was home, had dinner, showered, and nipped across the street for an evening snack with the neighbors on their balcony at 10pm .

And now: Happy May 1, everybody. Here in Norway it's still Labour Day, in memory of a strike in Chicago for the 8-hour working day ages ago. The US shifted Labour Day away from that historic date since celebrating unions has never been quite the thing in the US, whereas here we think of unions as helping keep order and predictability at the workplace, also for employers.