No, despite the picture at the top, this month’s challenge is not going to involve biking to, and climbing up, a huge snow-capped mountain. I just wanted to post a picture from this morning’s bike ride. I was not only excited about climbing one of MY Town’s highest peaks–G2–but also, I was excited about announcing … Continue reading "THE MARCH CHALLENGE(S)"
To the common observer, one icicle is like any other icicle. Professional Icicologists like me, however, know there are many different kinds of icicles. In Minnesota alone, there are more than 40 different species. I’d like to share some of the ones I identified on today’s bike ride. Some species of icicle are more common … Continue reading "AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO ICICLES"
I took myself across the land border into Napa County this afternoon in order to spend a couple of hours pedaling around the Carneros grape-growing region…. Read more at Bill Bikes
As they say, the way is the goal. Likewise, the challenge is the challenge. Yes, I believe it isn’t easy to think up new challenges for our entertainment every month. Here I would like to I offer my humble thoughts on the subject to our ever inspired, inspiring and untiring Czar Gregory. Encouraged by the … Continue reading "Have a Heart for Garceau"
We have snow again this morning, temps below freezing, icy roads. It is supposed to warm up over the next couple of days, which will bring us to the end of this month. Even though we have sun today, it will not be warm enough to melt or warm the road ice. Over the past … Continue reading "LMNOP IN ORDER. THE END"
This challenge was two easy! The hardest part was getting myself out the door on this two cold day. Looking around the country though, I’m not sure I have much to complain about. At least it was sunny here in Portland today and just above freezing, though the 15 mph wind did have a bite … Continue reading "Super Twosday"
Looking at the Diamond Back there are lots of 2’s 2 words in the brand name 2 wheels 2 hubs 2 rims 2 parts to each spoke 2 tires 2 inner tubes 2 valve stems 2 valve cores 2 valve caps 2 wheel axles 2 fork blades 2 chain stays 2 seat stays 2 vent … Continue reading "A Bicycle Blizzard of 2’s"
The words ’black ice’ on the weather report keep me away from a bike ride today. To say little about 28 degrees and cold north wind! So I did a walk on this 2/22/22 day for challenge photos and found a bunch. 2 logs covered in our morning dusting of snow ?. 2 mailboxes 2 … Continue reading "TWOSDAY TUESDAY TWOS"
I’m excited about this special day because there won’t be another one like it for a hundred years. And even then, it probably won’t occur on a Twosday. Also, there is a pretty good chance I won’t even be alive to celebrate 2/22/2122. As if the unique date wasn’t enough, the weather added even more … Continue reading "My 2/22/22 Adventure"
Cold Snow Ice Wind Rain After many days of inactivity, the Diamond Back is ready to go search for 2’s! Diamond Back anxiously awaits its first outing in a long time 2 garage doors w/2 windows each The DB has so many 2’s, that will have to wait for a later post It is a … Continue reading "2’s on 2/22/22"
I did not know about ambigrams (or what they are) until I saw this. And, sigh, I will not be riding today as we have temps in the high 20s that will possibly increase to mid 30s. Overnight snow (a dusting at our house but more in other areas) and such low temps means icy … Continue reading "AMBIGRAM?"
The feature photo is a sunset photo I took a few days ago. The volcanic ash in the upper atmosphere from the Tongan volcanic eruption has moved around the globe giving us some unusual sunsets. In a Cycle 365 first I’ve taken some photos from my kayak, I’m figuring it’s human powered so should be … Continue reading "LMNOP February Challenge"
I don’t know. I’m just not getting this STUVW thing, or JKLMN, or whatever. It’s a pretty simple rule, I admit – take a letter and progress through the alphabet for four more. I’m actually quite good on the alphabet but I seem to have trouble remembering where to start. M? Mmm, close; but no, … Continue reading "Still stuck in the past"
First are some Ps. I had not intended to P again, but they seem to be prolific. Propeller Pinwheels The little one is cute… Pup I know this is too early for Twosday Tuesday, but I cannot resist this one… for both challenges: Ps and 2s: Two Ps ;’-). And this one because I will … Continue reading "Ps AND 2s"
I know the LMNOP challenge is running out of steam. That’s OK, because Suzanne came up with a new challenge for February 22, 2022. Note all the twos in the date 2/22/22. The challenge is to ride your bike on that date and collect a bunch of pictures of ANYTHING related to the number 2. … Continue reading "LMNOPeteringout"
An auspicious date is coming up, whether you write it 2.22.22 or 22.2.22. Perhaps in honor of this day, we could all post some pictures illustrating the number two in some way. That is if the Czar agrees to this proposal. Went for a little ride today. It’s been very windy here the past days, … Continue reading "22222"
(I have no idea what this means, but it came to me in a dream last night. Maybe someone can explain.) It’s Saturday afternoon and Aaron, Bobby, Chico, Dodd and Ernie meet up on the Big Green. The air is tense as they wait for their rivals to appear. They’re late in coming, but finally … Continue reading "Game day"
So I didn’t find the plane while out riding, but I did spot it on google maps when scouting out a route for this weekend. I know people get excited about finding cyclists in street view, but this is the first time I’ve come across a plane when planning out cycling routes. If you zoom … Continue reading "M is for map. P is for plane."
And just one picture for the elemenopedia, a Pile of Logs. This is so easy, there are piles of logs everywhere. But I stopped for these for my bicycle picture of the day. It seems the market for lumber is very good now and many more trees are being felled than usual.
These Ns will finish up my individual letter hunting for this month’s challenge, taken on a couple of different rides. NEST Two kinds of NEEDLES. The natural kind… …and the unnatural kind. NAME Mr. Maus has his own rock. I caught this NUMBER… But later I got the NUMBER NINE. Fortunately for me, I was … Continue reading "“N” to ”N”"
After a couple of warm days, it’s pretty cold again here in Minnesota. And VERY icy too. It was so icy that I didn’t ride at all yesterday. Don’t worry though, I occupied my time with a dispute with Google over a post on my cooking blog. When I looked at the blog before posting … Continue reading "ELEMENOPEAbody Award Winning Post for Excellence in Cycle365 Journalism"
I rode up to the supermarket first thing on Friday to pick up some rice and baking powder. While there, and before all the shops opened and the people and the COVID came out, I took some pictures of the feature letters on the Main street of Wodonga. Unfortunately, the main street of Wodonga is … Continue reading "Main St Wodonga"
Actually these are from two different riding days, but I like the title so… I am not sure what they call these now but we always called them MANHOLE covers We have lots of different MOSS everywhere… This old MATTRESS was hanging out the back of the truck… A MASCOT eagle at one of our … Continue reading "TODAY I ’M’"
Brace yourselves for a Picture Overload. I didn’t just get N’s and O’s, but other letters as well, but my focus was on getting those letters that had been eluding me so far. There was kind of an inflation of P’s, I found them most easily. The pictures are from two different days, pretty sun … Continue reading "Getting My N’s and O’s"
I didn’t get out for a bike ride until just after 4:00 p.m. yesterday. I had a dental hygienist appointment first thing in the morning, followed by a couple more things I had to take care of. That’s okay, though, because the temperature got higher and higher as the day progressed. It didn’t quite hit … Continue reading "Two Day’s Worth of Elemenopeeosity"
I did a 3-day ride last weekend. Day 2 saw me pushing the bike about 90 percent of the time for four hours up and down rough and steep tracks. I don’t have a Pushing photo though – just video, so you’ll have to wait for my website post for that one. But I enjoyed … Continue reading "Pushing the bike A LOT"
I was too slow to answer Nancy’s post. I always need a bit of time for my thoughts to formulate. Nancy, I just wanted to say that I completely agree with your sentiments concerning the observance of Covid measures. I also understand your anger and disappointment that you don’t feel comfortable riding with the group … Continue reading "Oops! That page can’t be found."
I have a few more peeks at Minnesota L,M,N,O,P’s for you. Before we get to them, however, I have a weather report. Nine of the last ten days have begun with below-zero (F) weather. I’m a morning rider so I didn’t get to enjoy bike rides on the few days that got up to 10 … Continue reading "Elemenopeeks"
I was woeful about finding “O” as I had only one in mind that I knew of. Low and behold, as I rode along a few of them hopped out at me. OUTLET was the one I had in mind, and it was tricky to get the photo as the cover plate needed to be … Continue reading "“O” WOE"
I’ve fallen behind on commenting on everybody’s posts (my duty as a truly benevolent Challenge Czar) after my monthly trip down to Iowa, but let me just say it’s nice to see a few folks taking the LMNOP and Heart challenge to heart. Today I managed to get my own February LMNOP pictures for the … Continue reading "Elemenopoeia"
My ride seemed to favor P’s and M’s. Not much to say about the ride itself. We rode a familiar route and passed the same sights as usual, still not wishing to veer off onto dirt trails through the woods that are now quite muddy. Muddy is actually the theme of the ride.
I dithered for a while before making the great decision to go for a ride. Great especially since the last third of my ride was in sun or partial sun. Such a good omen for my planned ride for tomorrow. I start my L HUNT with a Twofer: VALENTINE AND LOVE. There was a bit … Continue reading "TO L AND BACK — NOT A LONG TRIP"
L-eaning M-y bike O-n P-ractically N-othing. Thanks to Bob I’ve learned a new trick. I had to try it out and see – and yes it really works, although I was dubious.
I’m always behind, it seems. January’s long gone now, and finally along comes a short but interesting chimney worth writing home about. Where were you last month when I needed you I call up to it, but there’s no answer. And how could there be? It’s just a pile of bricks, mortar and lichen. No … Continue reading "A week late, a chimney short"
The heavy morning rain turned into consistent misty rain by lunch time. Weather for walking not riding. I had not intended to collect things for the challenge, but noticed more stuff actually on the ground that I would likely not notice while riding. So, except for the first photo, I give you stuff on the … Continue reading "A WALK IN MISTY RAIN"
It is of course cold here at 34 degrees under the dark, rain filled clouds ;’-(. Again. Since the predicted rain had not started yet, I went for a short ride to P. P-layground was empty of players. The Point of Grace Church is nearby as I stayed fairly close to home and passed by … Continue reading "I WENT TO P TODAY"
Please note LMNOP in the title! Just copying Scott’s clever idea. But, yes, I was on a walk. It was windy with occasional snow flurries and soft hail so walking was my choice of outdoor exercise for the day. Janos accompanied me to the post office where we had some letters to mail and I … Continue reading "Lazily Meandering Nearby Ordinary Paths"
Garage Door Photo as Landon “Rages” Outside Many hours to go but it’s off to a reasonably concerning start Thanks Bob for this incredible phenomena! ( log has a handle so I can carry it around — you have heard of a Bump on a Log I’m certain 🙂 )
A new year and Corona is still with us. Not that the virus affects my winter riding much. It’s January again, and winter is what is holding us back. We had snowy days, wet days, windy days – and a few sunny days, too. However, it wasn’t quite as cold or snowy as last January … Continue reading "Cycle Days Challenge: The January 2022 Edition"
This is admittedly not a very attractive photo, but February isn’t exactly the most attractive month around here. And after my poor showing in last month’s challenge, it’s time to get back in the game. So in the photo above, you will see a Parking Lot, containing Motor vehicles, and also a Puddle on the … Continue reading "It’s February — Time To Get Back In The Game"
Finally! I thought the new challenge would never arrive. Now that it’s here, let me be the first and present you with this impressive proboscis from a sea elephant we observed on our ride up the coast to Ragged Point yesterday.
Thanks to our fine tech team, we’re back in business. Hooray! That’s the good news. The bad news is that, despite getting a couple extra days to think up a great challenge idea, I’m defaulting to a lame idea. Boo! Remember a couple months ago when I admitted I was running out of fresh ideas … Continue reading "ELEMENOPEE: The February Challenge"
Frustrating that we’re several hours into a new month already and still don’t know what the new challenge is. Where’s the leadership? C’mon, Challenge Czar! I’m sure everyone else is as impatient about this as I am. In the meantime, while we all wait for Mr. Tough Guy to get to work, here are some … Continue reading "Where’s the challenge?????"
As you all know of course, we lost the use of Cycle365 for several days. Rocky has been working with our host provider to resolve the situation, and fortunately they have been very responsive and helpful. It’s entirely due to them that we’re up and running again so quickly. They’re still working with us to … Continue reading "Security breach"
Howdy Cycle365ers. Loving all the snow photos. Things couldn’t be more different here with not a drop of rain since mid December and none on the horizon. Around Christmas we scored a 44 degree Celsius day and a week ago we shattered our previous record of 4 days of over 40 degrees in a row … Continue reading "More chimneys and an Announcement"