Engineer-Poet's Journal: At least it goes both ways

I went riding yesterday in the 90 degree heat and spent almost 2 hours pedalling. This morning I was down 3.2 pounds from Monday by the scale. It was a bit extreme pushing into the wind (I stopped a couple of times to check my map, guzzle water and just rest) but I think I did okay.

I always try to head out to windward so I'll have a tailwind home. This time the wind was out of the southwest, so I went to see different territory than I have before. It has a certain sameness, but there are also different things to see everywhere. One thing that strikes me is how much forested area there is. If people abandoned this land, it would be in scrub timber in a decade at most. There are empty houses which do not look to have been that way long, and trees grow right up to them. There are also ruins showing signs of careful gutting followed by fire.

I tested the "HALT!" spray on a yappy lapdog that chased me. Stopped it dead in its tracks. I'll have to see if it does the same on ones which are big enough to be dangerous.

The forecast is for rain through tomorrow, so I may not get another ride in before the weekend. I'm looking forward to it, though.

I gave my spare water-saver shower head to my neighbor. I'm becoming the local energy evangelist.