On the Wabash ~

 After a gray & windy Sunday, Monday dawned beautiful!  Just a light breeze & temperatures climbing to the mid-60's.  I hadn't been on the trail south of Silver City for almost two-months.  Both Mari Jo & I were excited to get in a ride!

Bikes waiting for tires to be aired~

I'd tried to air my tires at home & managed to break Butch's pump :-(  That gave me the excuse to buy one of the nice new one's Mari Jo has in stock for the upcoming season.  I had a lesson on how to use it correctly, which I needed.

Fields~

This field, this season will be planted in soy beans, since last year it was corn.  With just a two crop rotation, it's easy to figure out what's going in.  It was a pleasure to be back out in the wide open spaces & quiet of the trail.

Two Beaver dams~

It's been such a dry winter, the Beavers are evidentally planning to retain what water they can.  It's the first time we've seen two dams here.

Another creek, another dam~

Crossing the bridge over the second creek, the dam here too had been modified & enlarged.  The greens are so slow to emerge this year.  

Last year this time, I was still riding Speedy & talking about getting a different bike.  Today, cruizing along on Smokey was great!  A much easier bike to ride than the Trek Verve I'd bought the end of May.  What a mistake that was.  I spent most of last year trying to convience myself it would work...  Getting the Verve sold & finding the Cannondale was a lucky break.

Silver Creek from the Trestle~

It's a relief to ride a bike that's comfortable - I'm enjoying the trail again.  As I told Mari Jo, I am spoiled though, by the hard surface trails of the Lake.  I'd forgotten the Limestone is more of a workout, plus dodging the fallen sticks & branches littering the trail.

Looking North from the center of the Trestle~

Since it's early in the season yet, we rode to the trestle, then turned back.  I'm not yet in shape yet for longer rides.  Hopefully that will come, along with more than one day in a row of good weather!  I think everyone has had enough of the wind!

Clear cut

It's not often I see a clear-cut here in Iowa!  But today I did.  Evidentally the power company had come through & cleared every tree & limb within a couple hundred feet of the high tension power lines running directly above where our bikes were parked.  They'd made a mess of the trail surface & we've lost another section of what had been welcome shade, in the summer months.

These nice days we've been seeing once or twice a week, are just teasers...  Soon, we keep saying, soon, the weather will warm & we'll have more warmer days to enjoy!  The color green would be a wonderful addition too!