Would this be the last day of summer.. . again?

Just a cool shot of the bridge I park under

Dbar? Maybe? I think that's her. She flew by too fast.

The curvy road that's so fun to ride

Now would this be the last day of summer... again? We've had the most awesome weather for a week now! The next few days we'll see rain coming in then the temps will go back to regular Arkie weather. 50's and 30's. Check out the bank time and temp at my starting point... 71 degrees!

Since the weather was so nice the afternoon riding was a game called "dodge the runners and other bikes". Yes, it was that busy, especially the bike bridge.

I got down to the river after church and lunch at Dixie Cafe (hey, just a salad!) and even wiped out the MP3 player and loaded in almost all new tunes. Still had a few favorites but added a bunch that I had no idea who or what kind of music. I loaded off some of Emmy's list. Good stuff! I rode a bit then climbed Ft Roots. I was really feeling stronger today then I'd felt in a month or so. Stayed in the big ring (yes, little gear of the big ring but still). I looped through then started heading down and such as the sun would rise, the fast girls slow guys group was heading up. I said howdy to many on the way down. Man, I wanted to turn around and ride but I had several things I wanted to do during this ride and I'd just see them for a few moments before I'd have to drop off. I wanted to do some hill work, which I did. I read the clubs website where they did some monster climbs today. They were all looking VERY strong as I spotted them several times throughout the afternoon.

Last week when Mark M. and I were riding I spotted a sign that I told myself I was going to get a photo of it. I thought this was a hoot! $5.00 per car but hey, if you can sqeeze 15 or more in, they have to charge you 10 bucks! Ya know those big ole SUV's can hold a lot of kiddos these days... I guess!

Anyway, I seemed to be riding almost the same route as the club but I was a tad bit head. Not faster, just ahead. I circled Burn's Park then came back around again to stop for some photos of the cover bridge and a shot of the curving road. One of the things I was hoping to do is get on the other side of the covered bridge and shoot as much as I could when they came by. They would be going through it but right past the entrance. If I was on the other side I could shoot through it and it would have the Tour de France sort of look to it. I waited a few minutes but no bikes. And as it always happens, just as I got back out on the road, here they all came. It would have been such a great shoot because it was a big peleton riding. I stopped on the side of the road and snapped a few. They are so-so shots but I posted anyway. I knew after they past they would be heading to the big hills and I'd not see them for awhile.

I headed on over the big bridge to the LR side and climbed River Mtn but I forgot to take photos. As I was heading back down I spotted on of the mountain goats (Patrick) climbing. I yelled at him that he was looking strong today and he was. Then I saw one of the best sights of all today! We have a new junior rider and her name's Lauren and she was learning the climb. It's a tough climb for a new rider but she was already half way up when I saw her. Her mom was climbing with her. I've never met Lauren but I realized who she was when saw Mom Jenny with her so I called out that she was doing awesome! I suspect there will be stories as spring comes around with her smoking the climbs.

Afterwards, I climbed Overlook for my 3rd climb of the day. The route is actually what we called Triple Bypass. The route the club was on was the Ironman or some variation of it. On the way back down I pulled over and snapped some shots from half way. You know the shots of the bridge and you can see those million dollars houses up on the ridge? Well, I was up on that ridge shooting off of it. By the way, I saw some very fine autos coming and going up there. Most waved even!

So it's really be the perfect weekend. Lots of family time. Oh yeah, Terri's folks arrived from FL late this afternoon so we had a packed house until just minutes ago. It will be packed several times this week.

Take care!