You may recall some photos I took one day in the Wheeler District, a new bike-friendly neighborhood built atop the defunct Downtown Airpark of yore. It’s also the site of the big ferris wheel the city bought from Santa Monica Pier. Added to the multi-colored housing fronts is some new construction that is already four stories high, and quite massive in ground space off to the left. I took this from across a nearby field for the sake of perspective.
The upper dam on the OK River Recreation Area is being refurbished. Four gates have been removed, I assume because they were too far gone and needed major work. The other two have workmen scraping and cleaning them on the side you can’t see. It’s lots of grinder whine and patch welding work. Naturally, I would expect the same kind of maintenance on the two dams below this eventually, but before the competition rowing season this summer.
Right now the redbud trees are in full blossom here. I couldn’t ignore the striking color. It didn’t hurt that there were a couple of Canada Geese in the shot. They live here most of the year under strong protections, and the population is growing fast, so that we can expect the bike trail to be decorated with ever more of their fertilizer.
The above shots were taken Saturday, March 29. It was the last training ride of the season on the BMX knobbies. I had used them all winter for obvious reasons, and apparently my system for tire maintenance is working — no flats all winter long. The knobbies are softer and easier to take care of, but they also offer noticeable roll resistance — a good training effect. It’s time now to start running the smoother treads so I can make longer distances with less effort. For now, I’ve elected to put the original tires back on because they have sufficient tread still (before and after shot here). They run at higher pressures, which makes them a little more finicky to maintain, and more catastrophic when they start to leak. Hopefully the new thorn straps and the injection of slime in the tubes will reduce the likelihood of pin holes. If this set up works well enough, it will make it a lot easier to ride cross country on Oklahoma roads.
Good job on the tires!
“so that we can expect the bike trail to be decorated with ever more of their fertilizer.”
Heh. The high school track near here has had a big geese problem in the off season (summer). It’s open to the public when the school isn’t using it, and it gets some decent traffic, but with the poop everywhere you kinda end up dancing forward more than run or walk. The past few years, the school has put dummy coyote statues out on the field inside the track to ward off geese and their incessant poop. I haven’t been there in a while but I believe the idea mostly works. Maybe I’ll pay a visit this weekend.