I Think its Tueday

748am

Just a couple of things today. I think I will use bullets if you don't mind.

Sad ski trail. Waiting.

• My HP visits are way too short of late. The last week or so Im always running late to something. Work, store or whatever. Gatta slow down soon.....
• I actually rode my bike(s) three out of the last four days. Like it!
• Just bought "My Chemical Romance's" new CD out just last Thursday. Like it!

Todays HP visit includes a bit of a walk thru on the impending ski trails. Signage is up and they are ready to go. As am I as the trail groomer is prepped!
Thinking how sad they looked today.
I feel their pain. Hope snow is on the way soon.

Tonite is another edition of the TNR (Tuesday nite ride) and Im gearing up to go. Last week I let a bad day get the best of me and skipped it. Conditions are no way as good tonite but I will strap on my lites with a smile on my face weather I want to or not. Superfly is still muddy from last weeks rides so that means its prepped. Lites have been on charge for two weeks so that means their prepped.

No excuses.

At least none that I can think of right now.

DLD

Update

914am and moving.

Its been awhile. Well, awhile for me anyway. T-day went well. Nice MTB ride in the morn. 2 hours in the woods at 38 degrees and muddy. Then instead of the full blown 30 count family get together it was just us and the kids and grandkids. Very nice. And simple.

Black Friday went well. Doubled last years so I'm happy. For the most part, December dictates how a bike store handles Jan and Feb. So far so good. Need snow.

Saturdays breakfast ride was a short one for me as I had to work the store at 10am with all others out of town for the holidays. So it was only an hour and a half for me but had some of the best beach riding to date. I cant remember the last time the beach was this ride friendly this early.

Meeting at store at 8am

Hope this means winter is coming soon. I'm running to my bedroom window every morning like 10 year old kid wishing for snow. 19 degrees at ride time this morn kept the clothing choice a no brainer. Full on winter. I just got a new pair of PI Amfib tights to replace my 6 year old ones and I really like them. You can feel the improvements. Very warm and highly recommend them for all you winter riders.

And once again the weather dudes are calling for warmer temps for the next few days. Looks like Sunday just might be a cross bike ride. 

Maybe some miles involved with that one. We'll see.

DLD

Miss n Out

I hate when this happens. I was in a bad mood after racing 80 mph home last nite and my stubbornness only hurt myself.
I made it back from Milwaukee about an hour before ride time was just too stressed out and crabby and bailed.

Bad decision by me as I already got the email that it was a epic ride with frozen beach and moonlite. The kind of conditions you get maybe every other year.

This working in Milwaukee is cramping my style. If I rode last nite I would not have gotten home till 9pm, in bed an hour later and up and out the house before light. I have not been in the store in three days. I am suffering here.
Alas I am reprieved Thursday and Friday and will spend the time riding and working the store. Bike ride Thurs, then black Friday in the store. Sellin'

Once again this turn of events at my day job has me pondering going full time at the store but the timing would be very bad. The Xmas season will come and go and the store will be in hibernation mode for two months. I could find something else to do to fill the gap those two months. Its not impossible.

I will give this two weeks to see how it plays out. Then have a long conversation with my employer. And make a decision based on what they see my role here will be ongoing. While I do like my day job if push came to shove and could not do both job and store the decision would not be hard to make. I like my store and have a lot of money invested in it.

Hope everyone has a great Holiday and Im sure I will be posting thruout. Get out and ride.

DLD

Late Post Tuesday

723am

Sorry for the late posts. Im commutin' back and forth to Milwaukee everyday for my day job. For about 3 weeks. Its not the best of situation for me. But whatever.

Todays brief HP stop was on my way to said office and will be that way for awhile.

Was 18 degrees when this pic was taken and you can see that cold temps makes the water look funny. No waves but really bumpy. Looks weird.

Tonites TNR will be a good one I think. Cold temps and two days of rain\mist might have the beach in prime condition. Nite rides on the beach are the coolest. And a almost full moon might add to the ambiance. Superfly is ready and lites are charged!

DLD

Another Early Beach Ride

Once again temps plummeted and we had another early beach ride. Really, this is the second time we rode the sand and we usually are not able to do so until some time in December but the 24 degrees at ride time Saturday had us dressing in full winter mode and made it easy for me to decided what to wear. I nailed it.

However it was not going to be a normal ride for me today. I was battling some kind of stomach flu and really could not keep much down for several days. I almost decided to bail but thought a crappy, slow, getting dropped ride is better than none.

And thats really what it was for me.

I skipped the laps in the woods and headed right to the beach with a few buds riding with me. With the wind at our backs we had no problem maintaining an easy 15mph and I thought maybe I could do the entire ride.

But when we decided to wait for the rest to emerge from the woods I did flip it and I headed home solo. And as I rode back the beach got softer pretty fast. Check the tire marks in the first pic, I took that one heading back. Compared to the second, with the guys. That one was going out. In just 30 minutes the beach was losing its freeze.

Unless its below zero you can never be guaranteed the sand is frozen. There are many factors in play here. Of course temp is a big deal. But Saturday it was getting soft at 26 degrees. The amount of moisture is also a big factor. Right now there is not a lot. The sun also can thaw out the sand on a cold day.

I still managed almost two hours and that was a bonus based on how I felt.

Spent the rest of the day in the store getting ready for black Friday and hanging Xmas stuff. Its that time of year.

Still under the weather on Sunday had me on the couch most of the day. I stepped outside once. Of course watched a lot of football.

I'm glad I did lay low cuz it was crappy out anyway. And I feel better this morn(I think).

I hear snow may be on the way......

DLD

Friday w\Gloom

File photo from last winter...

Its getting to the point where I'm ready to ditch the bike for awhile and pick up them ski's. Since its all gloomy and looks like it can snow any minute.
 This morn on my HP visit one of the Park Rangers stopped me and asked if I was willing to groom the trails again.


Are you kidding? I would love to. And they asked if I was up to adding a little more trail to the system.

Are you kidding? I would love to. So now I'm all like in the woods and scouting another loop. Totally cool.

Now all its gatta do is snow. I remember the last two years we were skiing by the first week of December. That could happen....


Tomorrows Saturday morning group ride will be starting in the mid 20's for a temp. That means the beach most likely will be frozen. I still don't have a winter bike but need to get on that quickly. I most likely will just take all the cool carbon stuff off the cross bike and toss an old wheelset on and go. Most bikes I ride I try to ride minimally cuz I gatta resell them but the cross bike is going on two years now and its pretty used. I guess I'll have to buy this one if I'm gonna ride it thru winter.

Cool, a bike that's actually mine.

Have a good weekend.

DLD

Big Ship with Weight Loss.

853am

Almost every HP visit now comes with a ship. This was again the second of two I watched float passed me this morn and I just relaxed and watched. And drank coffee. Deeming today's visit a good one.

Today my thoughts drifted toward my weight. I think about it a lot and almost never write about it. Considered a losing battle and sounding like a broken record keep me from complaining out loud.

But its on my mind pretty much everyday and I keep wondering how much my quality of life would increase with a loss.

When I think about it I have so much more to gain than a "regular" person. With all my outside activity's one would think that it would be a no brainer to really get serious. Just think of how much more enjoyment I would get out of riding and racing my bike.

And since thats such a big part of my life and work one would think I would be on that.

I had a taste of it back in 2008 when I separated from my wife and lost 40 plus pounds for reasons I cant explain. I didn't diet.

As much as I try there is no way I can replicate what happened to me that summer. I remember I rode a bike a ton. I ate simple. I didn't sleep much. While I wish I could lose weigh there's no way I could do it that way again. It could have killed me.

Another awesome reason to lose weight is that fact that I have to sleep with a CPAP machine. Its a machine with a small mask you put on at nite that forces air so you breath easier. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea in 1998 and have had one ever since. However, after my loss hit the 30+ pounds mark in 2008 I no longer needed it and slept well without. That lasted about 6 months. It was a very sad day for me to realize I gained enough weight back to warrant its use again. I didn't talk to anyone for two days.

Racing is another reason. I love to race bikes. Its a blast. And I do not need to win. But its almost a necessity for me to at least be in the game. I need to be able to at least mix it up so I can tell a story about it.

My thought now are since I just turned 50 there is a better opportunity to hit up a Masters cat. And not 1\2 Masters.... the 4\5 Masters. Track and Cross would be awesome and would be my focus. Of course MTB. But right now I could not even ride at that level with all this weight.

Do I have goals? You bet. Tons of them. Too many in fact. As time go's on I switch from goal to goal to fit my failure at the time.

I need one goal.

And since my motivation it tough to kick start its gatta be a fun goal. Not just numbers. That's boring.

Since its cross I wanna do how bout this...

High goal: Race Worlds Masters in Louisville and finish mid pack (50 percentile)

Medium goal: Race CrossVegas and finish midpack (dealer category)

Low goal: Race WCA Masters 4\5 and finish top 5 (or close)

Today even the low goal is well out of my reach. The others Im not even sure I can do even with weight loss. But throw in just a little organized training and ????

Anyway, this is the stuff I think about when Im at my HP or just in the store staring out into the floor.

This is the time of year we all think of this stuff and I'm not alone. On the group rides you hear a lot of talk like this with sentences ending with "but next year....". A lot of 2011 race plans being dreamed up nowadays.

You can never start too early I guess.

DLD

TNR

Last nites TNR was a good one. Nobody got lost or flatted. 11 bikes total for 2 hours.
Pace was moderate as I didn't get dropped too bad and at times was actually in the game.

Pretty sure I have more nite rides in the last two weeks than all of last year. And that's a good thing as I have a ton of catching up to do.

Last nite I was cleaning out my corner in the store office and I came upon my 2010 WORS plate. And thought how sad it was that I only got to do 3 races. This was the first series number I bought in 6 years, all the races since have been day numbers. I was pumped to plan on at least 6 this summer, most likely more.

By my third (and last) race in Wausau I was feeling good on the bike and knew my fitness was on the upside. Even tho I outweighed most of the Clydes chose I ran my age group and finished 7th out of 17. I was very happy. It was my first race on a 29er. Then a few days later I got into a skirmish with a car and that was that. About a month off the bike to heal and I never got back in sync with my fitness. I chased it for two months and then just gave up.

Last nites ride would have a piece of cake in the past but the effort I had to put in was painful. Especially this morn. Everything hurt.  Its weird how hard it is to come back from a thing like that. I thought I would just hop on the bike and go. How wrong I was. It really affected my entire summer of riding. I wasn't ready for any of the fall century's. The biggest ride I got in this year was the day long cross ride up north in July. 

That one hurt too if I remember correctly.

So now the store has slowed and I am getting some good bike rides in.

Better late than never.

DLD

Tuesday Report

825am

Its a good day when I see something different during the mornings HP visit. In the winter months (I guess that's what it is now) you see a ton of the big ships cruising the length of Lake Michigan. They run closer to shore thru out the colder season. You can see some pretty big ones. I saw one way bigger than this one just a half hour before....

I guess I already blew the three post week out of the water. I accually like posting almost everyday. It something I do in the store early when its quiet. It kinda relaxes me. And it go's well with my coffee.

I just wanted to go to the 3 post week cuz there is not a lot of people who post almost everyday and I didn't want people to think I was weird for doing so. But it just so happens I have the time most mornings. So there.

Tonite is another instalment of the TNR (Tuesday nite ride) and its gonna be one of those rides again where I just don't know what to wear. I am terrible on figuring out how many layers to wear. Last Tuesday was not enouph, then Thursday nite was way too much. I really only have two levels of clothes. One for the "cooler" rides that pretty much is just arm and knee warmers, and the other is full blown winter with PI Amfibs and long sleeve thermal layers on top. 

Tonite will be another ride that I need to be in between. And I will suffer. I just need to decide which way to suffer.

Like that really matters.....

DLD

Weekend.

Store is on corner by cars. LeAnn is in theater.

  My store is located just a few doors down from the Sheboygan Theater which is now called the Weill Center. I remember my parents taking me to movies here. Thru the 80's and 90's it mostly sat abandoned but some local historic society raised about a zillion dollars and had it all fixed up.

 Its a really neet place inside and brings back a ton of childhood memories when I'm in it. Nowadays it sees some fairly famous and some has beens. Davey Jones was there last week and Friday nite had LeAnn Rimes singin' just four doors down from the store. I don't listen to her at all or own any of her music but that gal sure can sing. I waited a long time outside to get a glimpse of her to no avail. Denied. I waited until the store closed and even kept it open an extra hour cuz I had a dream a week earlier that she stopped in the store. Again denied. Her bus was in our ally behind the store and security was tight. Its kinda cool to have this right next to the store. Even if Danny Gokey is there next Friday. Moving on with bike stuff....

Saturday had most of us thinking the group ride was going to get rained out but you would have lost that bet. We rolled the entire 3 hours only to get sprinkled on during the last 5 miles and that was fine by me as I thought I had a tire going down and split from the group and TT'd it a bit until I realized I was going to make it back to the store. Flatting with tubulars is a fear that I have nightmares about. I do carry a small tube of Tufo sealer but who knows if that stuff really works? Turns out it was a problem with my valve extender. A shot of CO2 and I was back on. The closer to the store the heavier the rain.  With steady rain hitting not long after we got back.

Perfect timing.

Rest of the day was back in the store's office checking in our ski shipment. As I mentioned before I am always torn between thoughts this time of year. Do I pray to keep the trails open to ride the Superfly or do I pray for snow so I can get out on the ski's? I do try to hang on to the bike but when I'm ready for snow the feeling hits me like a two ton heavy thing. And it just hit. I want snow. Soon and a lot.

Bring it on. I'm ready.

Sunday was a another slow day. Worked the store a little. Nice and quiet has me way more productive in the office. Spent some time at the H.P. Spent some time on the couch watching football. Went out for a burger and then to bed. 
Going to start the Monday-Wednesday-Friday post schedule this week and see how that go's. I would imagine the posts will be a bit longer and thats not a good thing. Blog reading has an attention span of about a minute and a half. Any content longer than that most of the time is a waste of words.  This is trial basis only.


DLD

Another TNR.

Comparing lites. Brightest lite is the Alpha male.

This time its a Thursday nite ride. Not to be confused with a Tuesday nite ride. This time of year ya gatta hit it hard as the clock is ticking, the weather could turn any day now. Like today. Cold and drizzle. Cold and drizzle thru the weekend. Bummer.

But last nite was a very entertaining ride in the kettles of Greenbush. 50 degrees with the stars out made it a fun ride. At one point we heard two coyotes packs howling and yipping at each other. Totally cool as one pack seemed less than 100 yards away. At that point no one wants to be the last in line in the singletrack as we all know they go after the weakest. After that it was carb loading in the ski warming chalet. Weird that I hope to skiing here in a month.

The weekend is up for grabs as the weather dudes say cold and rain. I can ride in the rain. I can ride in the cold. But I do not ride in a cold rain. So I will prep for the Saturday morn group ride and look outside when I roll out of bed in the norm. Decision made at game time.

I guess Sunday will be the same procedure.

Have a good weekend. Make the best of it.

DLD

3 Post Week?

821am

Its been a busy few days for my day job and today was the first time I got the chance to tour the HP this morn. Was very pleasant.

I also have not been to the store since last Friday and hate to see the pile on my desk. Will get that privilege in a few hours. We got a boat load of ski's that needs to be checked in.

That, along with all my good intentions of riding a bike around noon today. SS Pinkie. Then tonite is another nite ride out in the northern kettles of Greenbush. I will like that. The weather is about to turn towards winter so the window of opportunity is today.

I have been thinking of constraining myself to posting on Mon-Wed-Fri. But I actually like to post so its not that Im losing interest, its just getting harder to find the time. 

It seems that the blogs I read have been dropping like flies. Its getting tough to list blogs that are current. Especially the girls. I have a hard time finding girls that post regular. Maybe this blog phenomenon has ran its course. I guess I will keep it up as long as I enjoy it. Back in spring I did end it, only to miss it and start again. 

Busy times like that last few days always make me think of ditching it again.

No rash decisions.

DLD

Tuesday Nite Ride.

Another TNR in the books. We do this ride until the snow gets too deep in the woods. And then we try to hit the beach for a few yet. The ride seems to hang on until the cross country skiing gets good. Thats always a love\hate relationship with me. As much as I want to hang on the the ride as long as I can, I do want to get out on the trails to ski a few laps too. Would be cool to be able to do both. Perfect world.

Last nite's ride had a few issues. We all had this happen once or twice on group rides. We had a good group of about 10 or so but one guy kept falling back. This guy is way faster than I am but he has his SS geared way to low and was spun out on all the fast sections. So he was having a spot of difficulty keeping up. 

Several times a couple bikes waited. We regrouped several times. However, blasting thru the woods on what was the second of three laps we noticed he was gone. Most of the riders, including him did not have an idea where the trails go in these woods. Turns out the guy just flipped it and left. Telling no one. I have done this on road rides but in this situation we thought the guy was lost and spent the better part of an hour back tracking and tracing. Again, not knocking the rider for struggling, but bailing without calling it out left us scrambling for quite a while. 

So the ride was a bit different but I always say a bad ride is better than a good anything else.

And it really was not a bad ride. 2 hours of peddling.

DLD

SS Pinkie

By now you have all heard of the bike I call pinkie. Im sure everyone here has a bike like this. One that you just will never get ride of. Pinkie and I have been together thru thick and thin. Ive raced her, rode her on the frozen beach, and she toured Wisconsin with me in 08'.

Here's just some of the configurations she has seen....

Here in full tour mode. Just add a Burley Nomad trailer and off I went. 15 days in Aug. of 08.

900 solo miles of not knowing where I was going to end up at the end of the day. Wind direction pretty much dictated where I went. 

As I left DANOville I was a little scared but when I got back I cried a little cuz it was over. I for sure want to do this again.

Here we are in full race mode for the cross season fall of 08.

Raced her about 8 times. Has fun 7 times.

Wait..... no.... fun all 8 times.

Here we have full on winter mode. Fendered for all the shush and sandy beachy winter rides.

She has done well for me thru 2 full winters.

 

But.... I have retired her for all cold weather riding and now is living the life of a roadie.

This is pretty close to what she looks like today. A single speed roadie. However, I have since added a pink seat, seatpost and a few more small trinkets. Also, today she has a full FSA carbon crank that I took off my track bike that I never rode. Over the winter I will put that one back and get her a new one of her own.

She will stay in this mode until the day we part. Which will be the day I die.

This bike has seen me thru my best days and my worst. The memories tied to this bike are unmeasurable. In my new world of bike store owner I go thru bikes like crazy. New Madones, Top Fuels and Superflys abound.

But none match the feeling I get when I ride pinkie. Seems all the new bikes just feel like one nite stands, but with pinkie its a long term relationship that no 6.9 Madone could replace.

Today, the bike sits behind the counter of the store. 

Stop in and visit her anytime.

If your nice to me, I might even let you take her for a spin around the block.

DLD

Chicago Revisited

This morn I made the unpleasant trek to Chicago for two days of bike riding and some work for my day job.

The weekend was acceptable. The Saturday morning group ride was fun with a start temp of 28 degrees. We actually put a few miles in on the frozen beach. This was the earliest we have ever rode the frozen sand. It was only for a few miles as most of us had our good bikes and didn't want to sand up the driveline. I  rode the beach even tho I was rockin' the tubular Eastons and more. 

The temps rose quickly and soon we were back on the road after a brief stint in the woods. 80 pounds of pressure in the Tufo's had me kickin ass on the pavement. 

Sunday had me and Steve D. MTBing in the rolling kettles of Greenbush. Pretty big crowd there as it was a beautiful day. We took our time and took in the scenery as this place looks entirely different with all the leaves down. You can see all the bluffs and kettles that you cannot in the summer. Looks and feels like a completely different trails system. I love riding the Superfly this time of year and will try for a lot of MTBing before the snow flies. At that point we still ride but the good iron (or should I say carbon) gets hung up in lieu of the winter bikes.


Those are the bikes we ride in the slush and sand. As of today I do not have one. In the past I have used my old cross bike but now that bike is in SS road configuration and that's how I will leave it. I do still have my 2001 Fuel but the fork needs rebuilding. I also have my first MTB. Thats a 1991 Trek 7000. You never forget your first one. I'll use that one only as a last resort.


I have some time to get a beater together. Looks like the weather will hold for a few weeks yet.


But the clock is ticking...... ride now.


DLD

Movie Date

Crappy pic  825am this morn

Last nite me and my lovely wife attended the "Race across the sky" 2010. As I sat in the HP this morn I was thinking that it was watchable but not as good as last year. Which is strange cuz it was almost exactly like last year with a different winner. We'll call this on the "Levi" edition.

First off, you can skip the crappy panel discussion. Nobody talked about their race. It was mostly praise about the race, praise about the organizer's and praise about the finishers. Almost sounded scripted.

Don't get me wrong, all those things are awesome but its just overkill here. Every time a guest on the panel spoke it was the same thing over and over. 
Also, it seems that its gone a bit commercial as one of the race's sponsor, some fitness club thingie, had its owner on the panel. So.."I give you a ton of money if I can be on the movie" situation looked pretty obvious. Other than that you could not tell if it was this years or last years. They looked the same.

15 people in the theater with us. I knew everybody.

This weekend looks good as temps will be on the way up. Sunday in the 60's. It will be the Saturday morning group ride for me. Cross bike is prepped.
Sunday looks like a MTB ride with wifey. Superfly is prepped.

Have a good weekend and good luck to all at Iceman.

DLD

Nite Ride

File foto

Last nite was the first Tuesday nite ride of 2010. We usually wait till daylites savings but thought we would start one week early.

I grabbed the Superfly and it worked to perfection. Again, I cant say enough on how those 29 inch hoops help me. Momentum is my friend.

We headed south from the store with 9 bikes, picked up two more on the way to the woods. These are the same woods we ride on the Saturday ride. Two laps and then its a ride thru the park past my HP. Over two hours of ride time.

The best thing is that it happens during a time that I'm mostly sitting on the couch and watching TV. Ive said this a million times but I need a lot more of this. I peddled hard. My legs were so sore that I could not get to sleep. It felt good. Cant wait till next Tuesday!

The store has officially launched its website so the blog that I had for the store is dead. While I always try to keep this blog personal, you might get a bike store rant or rave here from time to time. I'll try to keep the sales down to a minimum. At best I'll praise a new product that I have tried.

Like the Cygolite Mitycross 400 .

Last nite was my first ride with a really good lite and it was awesome. When your riding with a bunch of Cat 1 riders a brighter lite keeps you in the game. It helped me keep my fat ass in the peloton all nite.

Other than that, my good buddy Floyd Landis can no longer show his face in France or he will go to jail. He's running out of country's to race in. Apparently they still let him race in New Zealand. Go figure. He's hiding out somewhere in Middle Earth.

Should send Dog after him.

DLD

Weekend

Nice quiet time. Relax.

Still kinda pumped up about the eagles yesterday. But moving on. Sunday had be over to the City park (not to be confused with the State Park with my HP) scouting out ideas for the cross course next year. With the iPod blasting Pixies, then Kings of Leon, it took me no longer that 15 minutes to lay it out. For real. Preliminary talks with the WCA on Saturday had us thinking of a early December date. At first I didn't like it. I was already thinking on the drive home from Milwaukee that I should go stand alone early in the season. Who wants to try and pound stakes in frozen ground? Really, at that point in the year I would rather be grooming ski trail that setting up a cross race.

But then after I thought more, those are obstacles that can be over come. If Team Sports can put on a national championship in early Jan in Madison, then I can surely do my race in early December in DANOville.

Game on. More on this as it unfolds.

Saturday nite after I got back from Halloween Cross I hit up the State Park to see the festivities. Every year the campers put on quite a show and its just another reason why I love that place.  

The park was packed and we walked thru two times to make sure we saw everything.

I usually am pretty busy with Halloween but this year that was it.

Strangely, I didn't seem to mind.

Guess which bike is mine.

Then of course Saturday morn had me on another Breakfast Ride.
This time of year lets me ride the cross and that keeps me in the game. I even podiumed when we arrive that the restaurant. Bronze medal.
Really, its the bike thats keeping me alive here. Lots of carbon and tubular Easton wheels up against old steel MTB's. 
I do suffer in the woods a bit running rigid. And the 80 pounds of air does not help me there either.
But once we hit the road its all me.

This will end once the beach freezes and we are able to skip the road altogether. Not sure what I will do then. Last year I used Pinkie but that bike is now a SS roadie, my choices are my XO1 or my 9 year old Fuel that needs a ton of repair. Most likely I will use the cross bike and put old wheels on it.

Tonite is the first Tuesday Nite ride. I will be on my Superfly. Report tomorrow.

DLD

Happy Day!

30 yards from bottom of tree! 835am

Today I had planned on telling you all about my weekend. My bike rides and Halloween stuff. But that all went out the window this morn when I saw the eagles at my happy place for the first time since May!!!

Its times like this that I pee my pants and forget who I am for awhile.



Welcome back!

After staring at the lake for a few minutes I walked back to the car, got in and was going to drive away when they flew past along the lake. And once again they stopped at the same tree that I saw them in for the first time in 2008. I got to walk within 30 yards of the tree before the took off.


And just as fast as they appeared they followed the lake south.....  Looking forward to seeing them during our winter rides!

Biking and Halloween will now be tomorrow..... 

You could not slap the smile off my face today!

DLD