The map shows where all but one of the images were taken. It was stiff southerly winds, overcast with scudding clouds and occasional breaks of sunlight. Warm enough but the storms are headed this way. I really didn’t need a long ride; I just wanted to test the new saddle. It actually made my butt feel better, so that part was a success.
I rode north on Midwest Boulevard and up to Wilshire Boulevard. Turing right it becomes a gravel road running east to the bank of the North Canadian River. The road is public and I am under the impression the county owns the little pocket at the end. Either way, it was all wide open and no signs or restrictions. The image to the upper right here shows some concrete block walls still standing, and it was visible on the satellite view if you zoom in really close, so I was curious.
Climbing over the construction rubble, I had a nice view of a tight bend in the river. The first shot here is viewing northward, which is downstream.
The second shot is southward, upstream. There really wasn’t a whole lot to see here aside from the ugly rubble, so I let some of it show in the frames. It’s present in massive quantities dumped in tall mounds for quite a ways up stream.
Behind me is the Canadian Valley Sod Farm. Would you believe nature seems to know when you have a camera and want nice landscape shots? My head is aimed around at random, but nature grabs my eyes and says, “Lookee here!” However, I can tell you my little camera loses just a little of the subtle nuances that cause the eyes to marvel. This is a sag that runs across the field just off the river; it was there before any farming activity. The original settlers didn’t bother with relocating natural drainage, but at some point during the previous century, when it became feasible and affordable, laws and regulations made it technically illegal without some serious hassles to gain a permit to change a natural water course. You can’t see this from across the field up on Midwest Boulevard.
On my way home was a stiff headwind. Now, Jeanette is different from the Edgewood. The latter was longer and heavier with less roll-resistance, and kept up a good momentum, making it faster on long rides. Jeanette is lighter and far more responsive, and encourages a more touristy, taking-it-easy kind of ride. So heading into the wind was only slightly slower because knobbies do offer just a little roll-resistance, but it was just a fun and patient pedaling while checking out the odd crap people lose that falls in the ditch. It ranges from mundane, to inexplicable, to sometimes actually still useful, and on rare occasions something even obscene. I’ve picked up some interesting tools lying at the edge of the roads, though. And frankly, I like the winds.
Anyway, I just kept rolling along until I got back to the river crossing where all the work has resumed. Not much had changed visually, but I noticed a previous view I shot with winter brown is now showing a spring dress rehearsal with some green.
And on a future exploration, I could find myself back in that foliage somewhere since the satellite images show a trail back there.
