Memorial Day Ride

Reservoir No. 3 looking North from the Red Trail (on the dam).

Today (Memorial Day) I tried something a bit different in order to expand my bicycle riding: I used my new bike rack to take my bike to a nearby park (~7 miles). Now this is not entirely new to me but it is something that I have not done for years, so it was a step forward to regaining my cycling skills. Today's ride, while not long, also involved some "off-road" cycling (sort of).

I rode for about an hour. The weather was wonderful: sunny (as you can see from the above picture) and in the 80s, no breeze (headwinds). Total mileage was an unimpressive 9 miles but I was going for something new rather than distance. I don't remember when was the last time I rode at this park.

Arriving late morning meant the paths had a lot of walkers: singles and couples, families with strollers, scooters, a few other bikes. The paved paths have a marked bicycle lane at the right. Still need to watch out for children wandering into the lane as well as walkers with ear pods or headphones that detach them from the reality of the surroundings.

Turtle at the side of the Red Loop path (apparently
pondering if it was worth trying to cross).

I started out on the Red Loop (~3.4 miles posted). Bike lanes are marked so that travel is clockwise. From the parking lot start, therefore, the first half of the Red Loop is essentially uphill. There were a few challenging steep sections that my gear shifting did not meet well and I was left spinning the pedals furiously in order to inch up the incline. I think I did the Red Loop twice before daring the Yellow Loop (~2 miles posted).

My original plan was to do the Red Loop, then the Yellow, and back to the Red. I assumed the Yellow Loop also had a paved path but that was because I did not look at the map carefully. Although the map shows the Yellow Loop as an unpaved path, it really was generally hard gravel (but not all hard, there was enough loose gravel to make it interesting). 

Perhaps if I had studied the map more closely I might have realized that a substantial portion of the Yellow Loop was uphill. However, I kept pedaling and made it without stopping or getting off the bike. One walker, approaching me from the opposite direction, encouraged me to "keep going." That helped and I did. The climb seemed forever and I could barely breathe by the time I reached the top. I'm not half the man I used to be (but I'm working on improving). After the Yellow Loop, I was basically done for the day. 

Overall, it was a good time on the bike. I will go back so I can work on shifting gears and climbing. I may also do the Yellow Loop again. In looking at the map more closely, I noticed other paved roads that may be suitable for riding longer distances. Something to explore in the future.

----------------------------------

Written Tues 31 May 2022. 🌞

----------------------------------

Helmet hair.

Back to Biking

 

During the summer of 2020 I had resumed biking after years of being off. However, that effort ceased after a flat (rear) tire in early August (that was a tough month). With all the changes that occurred in my life after that, I did not have the oomph to get it fixed (nor did I have the tools to do it myself).

Last spring (2021), most of the bike stores were overwhelmed (and closed) because of COVID-19 restrictions. I called the shop where I originally purchased the bike. They promised to call back when they would be able to handle the repair but I never heard back from them (nor did I follow-up).

This year (2022), with the fading of COVID, things opened up more. I called the bike shop and they called back a few days later as promised. Today, I picked up my bike after it had undergone a tune-up, new (used) tires & tubes, new gear cassette, and new chain; I also purchased a rack to use on the car so it will be easier to transport the bike (otherwise, I would have to take off the front tire, fold down the back seat of the car, and squeeze the bike into the cargo compartment).

As can be seen from the picture above, my cycle is a mountain bike. When I first moved to Connecticut (over 30 years ago), the streets were so lousy that I bought a mountain bike in hopes that it would have the ability to endure the potholes and crap in the street. So now this is the only bike that I have. Alas, as mentioned above, the tires are not immune to glass (which, unfortunately, seems to be prolific on the nearby streets and sidewalks). While the bigger (i.e., wider) tires provide more cushion, they also generate more friction and, hence, slow the riding down. But that's okay for now since my goal is to get the muscles back in shape-I was never a racer.

------------------------
Written Tues 31 May 2022.🌞

------------------------

The Hubble Space Telescope Planetarium Show

 

Attendance was surprisingly good for this evening's planetarium show on the Hubble Space Telescope. At least 50 people were there including many families with small children, even some pre-schoolers. The beginning of the show was humorous with all the questions that young children ask. The presenter, Carol, did a fine job of responding as well as moving the show along.

After the usual introduction of the night sky, the position of the sun, lineup of planets (she had a great line about looking in the sky for planets and then looking down at your feet you can see another planet-Earth!).

The show mostly consisted of colorful images taken by the telescope. Carol admitted that she had a difficult time trying to weed down the number of images since so many were spectacular. After a while it was a bit tedious. I would've liked to learn more about the history of the mission and its objective at present. Mention was made about an early problem with the lens.

-----------------------
Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Space_Telescope
https://hubblesite.org
------------------------
Written F13May 2022. 🌞

Star Light, Star Bright

 Star light, star bright.
First star I see tonight.
I wish I may
I wish I might
Have the wish
I wish tonight.

Today's show, about stars, is the last afternoon show of the semester. Only about six people attended.

I can walk to the planetarium from my apartment (and I did) in about 15 minutes.

There was a lot to cover in this presentation, which went by in somewhat of a blur for me. One item that struck my curiosity was how colors became associated with temperature, especially the extremely hot ones (that are measured in Kelvin). Turns out it is a complicated subject. Even after a bit of research, I don't think I have the answer. Has to do with stellar classification.

------------------------
Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QStar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_classification
------------------------
Written F05/13/2022. 🌞