Absolutely Exercise

Thursday ride : Sundown last night was a murky affair because of the smoke from the Bishop Fire more than 100 miles to the west, near Elgin, Nevada. A lurid, cherry-red sun sank ignominiously behind a bank of dark-grey smoke and the day ended with a whimper a couple of minutes before the advertised time. By sunup today there were still patches of smoke high up around the valley, although at ground level the air quality was better than in any city.

Wednesday ride : Those yellow flowers [ ? ] at sunup made my day. I was struggling this morning, but the sight of those petals as the sun came up over the escarpment lifted my spirits. My physical performance remained rubbish (the word can be used as a witheringly dismissive adjective in my ineradicable working-class dialect). I have never seen such blooms before, nor are they present anywhere else on my route. They just appeared today, all on their lonesomes.

Tuesday ride : There was a paucity of photo opportunities out in the countryside today. I rode back through the urban area and took some photos of those tipis. There is no good viewpoint and I decided on a warts 'n' all photorealism approach, just to get this subject over and done with once and for all.

Monday ride : I refer to miles that are not recorded on Strava by annotating the record as a  ' clementine ' ride, which is to say the miles are " lost and gone forever ". If it's not recorded with a GPS device then it never happened. That's the law. Protesting that one rode ten miles further than was recorded, like I just whinged, makes us sound like we have an OCD about our performances. Blush. Garmin users have been afflicted by clementines for several days, but through a service failure rather than any personality defects. Bear with me: help is at hand in an article by the redoubtable DC Rainmaker.

Sunday ride : The bicycle seemed to have a will of its own today. I was pedaling mindlessly and found myself over on the west side of town doing some unaccustomed hill-climbing at the end of my ride. A day when everything falls into place like the flick of a switch is a rare gift and a consummation devoutly to be wish'd, but in a good way. Long may it last.

Saturday ride : Everything was just right for an enjoyable summer-morning ride; the light was delightful; the temperature was just right in the light breeze: it was the kind of day when you forget your worldly woes and the pedaling comes relatively easily. I was expecting to see hordes of riders… well, a few anyway, but they were less in number than is usual even on a weekday. Perhaps there were other more exotic places to ride on this fine weekend.

Thursday ride : The weather forecast gave a 15% chance of rain, but the day seemed fresh because of lower than recent temperatures and despite higher humidity. Is this the monsoon? Everything you could possibly want to know about that is available from the NWSFO (National Weather Service Forecast Office) in Albuquerque, NM, in mind-numbing detail. A few desultory drops of rain are falling as I write. Perhaps dancing might serve as an encouragement.

Wednesday ride : There was a 75°/40% combination of temp/humidity this morning and for me at least that was more comfortable than the 79°/30% combination of yesterday. I seem to have acclimated recently and it has only taken me twenty years of suffering. There will be no local acclamation, however, for my paltry achievement. Someone is sure to observe, "It's dry heat".

Tuesday ride : It was muggy overnight, so beating the heat (which is to say that oppressive combination of temperature and humidity that may be a portent of the coming monsoon season) was not possible. I did manage to mostly dodge the rain, such as it was, except for a refreshing sprinkle just as I rode down the home straight.