May rides, may they all be wonderful

[emily_in_nc]

That sounds like my kind of ride, Crankin. I love trails like that, especially when they make for efficiencies in utilitarian rides. It will be lovely for you when they finish the connectors, etc.

Had an interesting ride to/from the vet yesterday. Of course I made the appointment on the one rotten day this week. Woke up to rain, which continued on up to one minute before we had to leave on the bikes. It had been a real gullywasher just 10 minutes before we had to leave, super dark out, before tapering off and finally stopping. There were huge puddles everywhere. I rode my cruiser bike because it has fenders, and the vet is only 1.5 miles each way. DH had Paisley in her basket, and he'd made a cardboard top for it to protect her from rain.

When we got to the vet, there was a HUGE puddle at the entrance, but we were able to lock the bikes up and get around the puddle on wet grass. While there, it started pouring again, so our bikes and DH's panniers got drenched. It was raining lightly when we left and stopped during our ride home. Of course the puddles were worse than on the way over, so we were quite wet (aside from the parts under rain jackets) when we got home. Paisley stayed pretty dry, though!

Quite an adventure for three miles, and one of the times being car-free is a challenge.

This morning is lovely, and we'll be heading out on our usual 35-miler in a little bit. It will be hot and humid but at least not raining!

[north woods gal]

Glad you stayed at least relatively dry on your adventure to the vet, Emily. Brings back a lot of memories of commuting in the rain. Oh, having a bike as your only means of transportation sounds romantic and all that, but that gets a old pretty quick when you have to ride in a downpour to get to work on time.

Speaking of rain, we had over an inch of much, much needed rain, yesterday afternoon. Started just as I was finish my afternoon trail riding. It was our first significant rain in over a month. Our woods were dangerously dry. Cooled things off, too. Checked my trails, this morning and they were still in good shape. That thirsty soil soaked the rain pretty quick.

Speaking of my trails, it's funny how the little things make a difference, as in the things you never really think about till you're there. One I noticed, recently, is all the shadows and reduced visibility on my trails, now that the leaves are all out on the trees. The trails are much easier to see in the winter, for sure. If I didn't know the trails so well, I could see how things could get a bit tricky in the shadows. As I've mentioned, before, prior knowledge of the trails you're riding is a huge plus.

[emily_in_nc]

Glad you stayed at least relatively dry on your adventure to the vet, Emily. Brings back a lot of memories of commuting in the rain. Oh, having a bike as your only means of transportation sounds romantic and all that, but that gets a old pretty quick when you have to ride in a downpour to get to work on time.

Agreed! We were never car-free when working, and for the most part, lived too far from work to even consider bike commuting. I sweat too much anyway, and am not an early morning person so wouldn't have been able to manage it. The last year I worked, we lived on a bus line, though, and I took the bus to work most days. I really enjoyed not having to drive. I could actually read on my way to and from work, and the short walk to the bus stop at each end was almost always a nice way to start or end the workday (heavy rain excepted!)

Glad you got some rain, nwg. We are still all puddled up here in Florida but got in our usual 35 miles yesterday morning before afternoon storms. Today looks good too, and less chance (40%) of afternoon storms. High of 91, but we'll be back long before it gets that hot.

[north woods gal]

Whoa! June 1st, today. Looks like time to start a new thread for June. Have to say, though, this May has been a very interesting month for me and my riding. On to summer.