Outside, finally!
Aug. 15th, 2026 05:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
halfshellvenusI was able to bike out in the world yesterday for the first time in 3 weeks! Though it was a little rough, thanks to the multiple factors. The Zepbound is part of it— I went up to a new dose level a week ago, and that really affects my stamina (even when I'm biking in the garage). Plus, it was windy. Annnnd, now that I look back on the summer... I took the bike into the shop to get the handlebars raised at the beginning of July, and prior to yesterday I've only had 3 outside rides since then. So, I've probably lost some conditioning. :(
Still, it was good to be out, even though I ran over another snake. No excuse this time— I was thinking thoughts and didn't notice it until it was too late. :( I DID manage not to run over the juvenile squirrel I passed, thank goodness. It wasn't quite a baby, but its body was only 4 inches long, so clearly still very young.
Today's ride went a little better. It was also on the slow side, but I went downriver and did NOT have to make the extra stop that happened the last three times I did that route. Sad to say, that manure smell is still in that same spot as before. In fact, it looks like the construction crew has spread manure/compost over the ground under that over-crossing, maybe to encourage plants to come back there again. Either way, it's foul. At my turnaround point, the construction o' mystery has started up again. Today, a generator was running and someone was driving a bulldozer over by the railroad trestle. \o?
Lots of dragonflies both days, for some reason. Not pretty ones, unfortunately. I've seen rust-colored ones near our pool before, and there are tiny blue ones in the mountains here. But these? Brown. So, they're basically just really large bugs. Yick!
It looks like another heat wave is coming, though, so I may not be able to get out much over the next 10 days. I can manage when the highs become 90-92, assuming I don't have a meeting that keeps me from starting early enough. But 94 and up, no. Somehow, I didn't fully acclimate to the heat this summer, which has cost me a lot of outside riding time this year. :(
Still, it was good to be out, even though I ran over another snake. No excuse this time— I was thinking thoughts and didn't notice it until it was too late. :( I DID manage not to run over the juvenile squirrel I passed, thank goodness. It wasn't quite a baby, but its body was only 4 inches long, so clearly still very young.
Today's ride went a little better. It was also on the slow side, but I went downriver and did NOT have to make the extra stop that happened the last three times I did that route. Sad to say, that manure smell is still in that same spot as before. In fact, it looks like the construction crew has spread manure/compost over the ground under that over-crossing, maybe to encourage plants to come back there again. Either way, it's foul. At my turnaround point, the construction o' mystery has started up again. Today, a generator was running and someone was driving a bulldozer over by the railroad trestle. \o?
Lots of dragonflies both days, for some reason. Not pretty ones, unfortunately. I've seen rust-colored ones near our pool before, and there are tiny blue ones in the mountains here. But these? Brown. So, they're basically just really large bugs. Yick!
It looks like another heat wave is coming, though, so I may not be able to get out much over the next 10 days. I can manage when the highs become 90-92, assuming I don't have a meeting that keeps me from starting early enough. But 94 and up, no. Somehow, I didn't fully acclimate to the heat this summer, which has cost me a lot of outside riding time this year. :(
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Date: 2026-08-16 01:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-08-16 05:58 pm (UTC)