Valparaiso or Bust

The wind

Is Stiff, it Cuts, it Bites, it Blows, it Humbles, it Drags, it Saps, it Rages, it's loud, it strains, it resists, it's the enemy

It's quiet, it pushes, it creates, it relieves, it refreshes, it rewards, its a friend.

In all the years I've lived here and ridden here, I've come to hate the wind and love it. Not always at the same time. When ever I see that a farmer or the Dept of roads or someone is tearing out wind break I wonder why? For safety? For a few extra feet of farming ground...Didn't we learn anything from the dust bowl. Maybe it's been too long and that lesson learned has to be re-learned by a new generation. One thing is for sure, it sure is nice when we have some wind block when out riding.

I missed my camera on Saturday. Did the D Street ride. I think there were 13 of us to start. The wind played havoc. We split into multiple groups as we meandered out to Raymond, then stair stepped via gravel to Valparaiso. Tough Ride and as many of you know the gravel in combination with stiff NW wind made for a tough ride. 60 miles

Today, I missed the ride and solo'd out Old Cheney West and Denton Road to Pleasant dale road. Had to divert around Conestoga Lake on the South Side. Wanted to cut through there on a service road double track, but there were hunters out, so ended up on Denton road.

Gravel affords one to relax...An occasional look over the shoulder to see if any one is coming...Not a soul passed me out Old Cheney or back on Pioneers. Gravel has set up so nice after the moisture a the little vehicular traffic that packs down the nice tire trough to ride on.

And can you get a better power workout?

This is Unmaintained Old Cheney looking East off of Pleasant dale HWY. I started back on it, but soon was packing up...I turned back rather than face the wrath of bottom mud pack. Didn't we learn that lesson last week? It got to 50 degrees today so the moisture was seeping up and the snow we had the other day was melting in the shadows...making things sticky.

What a beautiful road! There are some SWEET Unmaintained roads out West.



Took some time to snap a few shots today since I was going so slow out into the wind. On the way home though saw this sweet old Renault out on Pioneers. How sweet would this be to restore. James Bond-ish. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_Caravelle