In Which a Tough New Wheel Arrives

Oct. 8--Sunday image of MMU campus seen from bike trail by Plaster Athletic Complex. Not many sunny days this week!

Fall rides on the Fancy Beast: For the past week or so, partly due to damp conditions for which I would normally use the bike anyway, but mostly due to a broken spoke, I’ve been riding the Raleigh mountain bike I named “Fancy Beast.”

It’s been a fine bike to ride, although on the most recent newspaper Sunday, I actually rode Argent, my road bike, and took the trail near MMU by Regis to see how far south it goes. It was a fine, sunny day, although damp from the previous day’s rain, but blue skies on the kind of warm fall day we’ve had many of this year.

It was pleasant to roll through the new MMU Plaster Complex, but then come to the sudden end of the trail. I’m looking forward to when this stub of a trail actually goes somewhere—I think the eventual plan is for it to end at the Cedar River Trail on the south, while on the east and north end, it should tie into the Boyson Trail complex in Marion.

That will be years away, and I’ll be lucky to still be commuting to MMU when that happens.

Although we still have plenty of bugs—no hard freeze, yet—fall is definitely in the air. Our mini-drought is finally being replaced with welcome rain, and my rides this week were a bit grey. Still, as you can see, even gray fall days have their beauty. I do wish I could send some of this rain west to California! May the winds and fires there die down soon.

Cloudy afternoon, two views of Cedar Lake (above and below). I'm riding the Fancy Beast and heading home, but taking the trail route. Despite the clouds, the lake has some fall beauty.

Closer to home, and later, after sunset. Rockwell-Collins pond on C Avenue.

Anyway, Clarence is back from the shop! Cranky in Marion got a heavy duty rear wheel for me from Fuji. That thing looks serious—thick, heavy gauge spokes that should bear even my weight for the long haul. And he didn’t charge me for the wheel, either, since the bike is only about a year old.

I can’t beat that deal! I have grandkids this weekend—with Francis back, maybe we can get some use out of the Tag-A-Long. It was wet today when I picked up the bike--but tomorrow should be a sunny, although cool, day.

We’ll see!