Yay! Back out on the road at last. Today I headed for the botanical gardens. Didn't find the turnoff for them. Was too distracted by other pretty sights. I'll try again next week, which I've been advised to do anyway because then the roses might be in bloom.

I rode from home up Mineral Point and Whitney to Odana, then around and through the Arboretum, along Wingra Creek, around Monona Lake, stopped for lunch at the bike shop and checked out prices etc. again on the bike(s) I'm longing for*, then up Capitol Hill to catch the tail end of the Saturday Farm Market, across the isthmus and along the Mendota lake shore, then back up Highland to Regent Street and home, with a quick stop at the local bakery for a blended mocha and a cookie. It was a lovely jaunt. Not a lot of wildlife, but I did see some Canada geese with dozens of goslings. Also mallards with ducklings, some baby squirrels, the usual city birds, and heard a woodpecker but couldn't find it in all the foliage. Also saw two 20'-high welded iron peacocks ... . Really fun.

Aaaand ... I spun every dang hill except the last one, which was a detour anyway to get to the bakery. I'm still not exactly a hill-climber, my hr goes into overdrive for even a little hummock, but I stayed in the saddle in my middle chainring and made it up all but one. Yippee!

*) Now, about those bikes. They'll give me $150 trade in on my clunker and $50 off because I'll be moving and won't use the free tune-up. I'm thinking when the insurance guy calls Tuesday, I may find I can afford to get a bike I'd like to keep. I'm looking at road-end hybrids -- lighter and faster than what I have, but still the upright seating position I need. But which one? Trek 7.6 with compact double? 7.6 but have them put a triple on it? 7.5 which has the triple as standard, has lower gears but is a bit heavier? Or a 2005 7700 they have marked down to $1200 (would be $1000 with trade-in etc.), also with the triple as standard and somewhere in between on weight? Any suggestions?