In Which Bugs and Thunderstorms Appear

Daffodils by the bike trail next to a big city parking garage in downtown Cedar Rapids.

Suddenly spring is getting busy. After a wet morning and cloudy early afternoon, it got sunny and warm late in the afternoon.

And bugs decided today was the day. I shot some images of early bees on my flowers before getting my bike out. Shortly after 4, I left home and rode down the Cedar River Trail. The sun looked nice, but clouds were also getting interesting.

The evolution of the sky--mostly sunny as I cross C Avenue (above). Sunshine at Cedar Lake (below). On the way back, sky getting cloudier on Cedar River.

As I rode under a bridge near the river, gnats were suddenly there. Not a heavy crowd—but, bugs in a cloud.

There were a fair number of bikers, walkers and joggers out. As I got down to Tait Cummins Park, the sky started to get a bit darker in the west.

Construction zone south of Cedar River.

When I got back to Cedar Lake, I noticed that the white pelicans had returned, so I made some images of them. But the sky was getting more and more dark, and about 3 miles from my house, it started to sprinkle.

Still, I got home fairly dry. And fairly happy. It was a longer ride than I had planned. My odometer said 16 miles, but it lies—the battery is not good and it kept blinking on and off throughout the ride. I suspect the ride was closer to 25 miles. And it was nice to be out there on two wheels during the first buggy day of spring.

Birds on Cedar Lake, seen on the way back north. Gull, above, pelicans, below.