Beating the Heat?

 No...  It didn't happen...  I was up early, hurried through some chores, loaded Breezy & was leaving the trail-head by 10 a.m.  I'd only managed one ride last week & was anxious to get back out.  

Where the trail meets the road, Silver City~

With the day & the week both scheduled to heat up to the mid-90's, I decided to try an earlier morning ride.  What I hadn't figured in, was the increased humidity.  Breezy was as good as her name & provided me the only breeze of the ride.  The trees along the trail provide shade, but they also hold in the humidity.

Mulberries!

Not far from town, I recognized the first sign of the summer season!  Mulberries littering the trail! I stopped to pick a few from the lower branches.  So very good & sweet too!

Ripe & yet to ripen~

I only saw one couple on the trail, coming from Malvern.  We met at the trestle.  They were complaining about the "blackberry" on the trail & what a mess it was making of their legs.  I didn't bother to correct them, as to the type of fruit, or mention fenders might alleviate the problem?  I'm still surprised fenders have evidentially gone out of vogue.  Just from a safety perspective, I'm happy to have them every time I hear a branch or rock hit.

Under Hwy 34~

This was actually the coolest spot on the trail today.  I stopped long enough for a drink.  The flies were out in force.  Even sprayed from top to bottom, they would land, but not bite.  I couldn't help but remember the rides where Farah & I were attacked non-stop.  At least Breezy doesn't draw them to us :-)

I made it to Agriland in under an hour, which surprised me.  I've given up Gabapentin as of today.  I'd cut the dose in half for the last four-days.  Today, is the first day in over nine-months I haven't taken one.  We'll see if I make it without any withdrawal side effects.  My thought was, drink lots of water & sweat a lot!  Both those were accomplished on this ride!   How do I know how the nerves in my leg are healing, if I'm still on a drug?  I'm going to find out.

Leaving Butch's shop at Agriland~

It was a relief to pull into the shade of the shop!  Butch had another surprise waiting for me - a Mexican Coke - over ice!  I'm really spoiled now!  I stayed in front of the fan for the 30-min. I was there.  My shirt was still soaked when I left.

Full on Lush~

Friday, the Malvern area received .25 of rain while Glenwood only had .08.  It was enough to soften the trail surface & came with a BIG wind.  The wind knocked down trees for miles on the trail, so my anticipated cool ride, didn't happen.  Over the weekend, the trail volunteers were out in force, clearing the mess.

Breezy enjoys the shade on the Trestle~

We were about 3-miles from Silver City when I saw Mari Jo riding toward me.  She'd had morning errands to run.  Still hoping to catch me, our timing was off today.  The heat was getting more intense by the minute & the flies were awful.  We cut our conversation short.

Tree on it's way down~

I'd ducked under this big tree on my way south.  It's an impressive example of how strong Friday's wind gusts were.  They didn't last long thankfully, but it's so sad to see such a big, otherwise healthy tree toppled.  It will have to drop lower before the volunteers & their chainsaws can get it cut.

17 hot miles to add to my tally.  Once home, Breezy got a shower to remove all the purple, squished berries!  The cold spray felt Grand!