Lilacs In May

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

National Bike Month: Day 22

It was only in the 40s when I got up this morning. After our warm spell it feels especially cold. I took a short sweet ride again today. Tomorrow I feel a long lilac-filled ride coming on...

Only 2 Miles today and no GPS.

Also, somewhere along the line my totals became wonky. Below are the corrected totals. (Happily the numbers went up!)

Miles Today: 2
Total Miles 2013: 391.34
Total Miles National Bike Month: 230.25
Total Miles for National Bike Challenge: 230.25
Days in a row: 52

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

National Bike Month: Day 21

Another day for a ride between raindrops. Actually, it was a ride through raindrops! In order to get credit for riding each day on the National Biking Challenge you have to ride at least one mile. So I. set off today with the goal of getting at least a mile in. In the end it I succeeded in 1.33 miles. Nothing much fun to write about, but enough to get my daily points. I fear that tomorrow will be a short ride too, but maybe on Thursday I will be able to get a nice long ride in.

1.33 Miles

Miles Today: 1.33

Total Miles 2013: 382.39

Total Miles National Bike Month: 225.2

Total Miles for National Bike Challenge: 225.2

Days in a row: 51

Monday, May 20, 2013

National Bike Month: Day 20

Nothing exciting about my ride today. It was hard to gauge the weather, but I was able to get in a short 2.97 miles between storms.

2.97 Miles

Miles Today: 2.97
Total Miles 2013: 381.06
Total Miles National Bike Month: 223.06
Total Miles for National Bike Challenge: 223.06
Days in a row: 50

Sunday, May 19, 2013

National Bike Month: Day 19

10/59 Miles

Miles Today: 10.59

Total Miles 2013: 378.09

Total Miles National Bike Month: 220.9

Total Miles for National Bike Challenge: 220.9

Days in a row: 49

National Bike Challenge Local Position: 17^th *(out of 499 riders.)

~ I am in 3^rd place for women riders in Minnesota!*~

National Bike Challenge National Position: 1071^th* (out of 20791 riders)

~I am in 136^th place for women Nationally.*~

*This number will change as people enter mileage. It is my position at the time I entered my miles for the day.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

National Bike Month: Day 18

It was a turtle-ishous sort of day! I was riding along the trail and I saw this little guy first:

He/she is a little Snapping Turtle. It was just bigger
than a quarter and a bit smaller than a fifty cent piece.

I picked him up with my jacket, I have no idea
if they bite at this size, and moved him off the trail.

Since he was right in the path for walking/biking I moved him off the trail and into the grass. I actually had to stand over him to keep him from getting hit by a second bicyclist. He was only about 4 feet from the creek when I set him down. Good deed done, I set off down the trail. A few blocks away I saw this:

A large mud turtle! I would say just smaller than a
manhole cover. 18 inches maybe?

I keep my distance from this turtle. I don't think it needed any help. Though, I also did not want to draw too much attention to it. I did not want it to get hurt. I think this the largest mud turtle that I have ever seen. (As a side note: the largest Snapper I have ever seen was about three feet across and I got out of its way!)

12.01 Miles

Miles Today: 12.01

Total Miles 2013: 367.5

Total Miles National Bike Month: 210.31

Total Miles for National Bike Challenge: 210.31

Days in a row: 48

Friday, May 17, 2013

Backyard Birds: Baltimore Orioles pay a visit!

I have a growing passion for feeding birds and bird watching in general. To that end I added a couple of bird feeders to our backyard. I also decided to put out some citrus hoping to attract Baltimore Orioles, and I did! In these pictures the male is eating the tangerine in the tree and the female is snacking on suet.

National Bike Month: Day 17

There is rain in the forecast for the next several days, but I was able to get out for my ride between rain showers. I saw a few interesting sights today: