Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Trip 14 -- Me: 1 Wind: 0

I already triumphed over rain, today's test was the high winds. The Weather Service says it's a south wind of 23 mph gusting to 35 mph. Riding north with the wind was no problem at all, but coming back was a beast. I had no idea bicycles could catch wind so bad, sometimes I felt like I was gonna get blown over. There was a point when I was on 55th st. and I came to a stop to take a picture. I stood up on my bike and my body was like a sail, the wind alone was pushing me down the road...it was pretty cool.

So I beat water, wind, and I guess you could say earth. I really hope I don't have to deal with fire, because I already concede.

Anyways,


Very windy today..that tree should be standing up straight.


So what exactly does a storm water pump station do?

Talk about homes being close to each other... at least they have alternating colors.


When I said I wanted to find crazy stuff in Grand Forks, this is what I meant. I have no idea why someone would put a chair on the top of a large dirt mound, but I'm glad they did.


The new welcome sign entering Grand Forks through highway 2. I do like it, it brings a little breath of fresh air to an otherwise unsightly road in GF.


Found this on the fitness trail by UND. I am completely stumped by what it is, but someone else was apparently curious as well and started taking bricks off.





People can be pretty frustrating sometimes...where the fitness trail crosses 17th ave there's one of those blinking light crosswalk beacons that I love so much. I pushed the button and a lady was nice enough to stop for me, even with like 5 cars behind her. I cross and the guy behind her just lays on his horn...I don't know if he was mad at me, her, or both...but really, guy? Did I slow you down that much? Did I make you late for some extremely important appointment? Jeez people, can we have just a little more patience? I never expect people to stop for me at those things, but I sure am grateful when they do.

Due to extremely high gas prices and a more health conscious nation, there are going to be more bicyclists than drivers are used to...we're going to have to find a way to coexist. Drivers are going to have to be more aware of bicyclists and vice versa.

Thanks for reading.


Start: 4:40
End: 6:20
Temp: 83
Trip: 12.66



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4 comments:

Kim said...

I agree with your post completely. Bikers and Vehicles must coexist. I am having issues with that same thing right now on my side of town.

Happy Trails!

Anonymous said...

I agree that they need to coexist, but I think bike riders need to learn the rules of co-existence as much as the vehicle owners do...

Anonymous said...

OK - the brick slab thing use to have a bench on it. It made it easier to level the benches. As for the pavers missing - check the coulie they are probably in there. Don't know why but that is what i've witnessed.

Anonymous said...

The pump house is used to pump water from the stormwater drains in the streets over to the river. There are also sanitary pumps that pump the household icky waste water to the lagoon west of town for treatment. We have one in town named after writer Dave Berry.

The only people I honk at are those drivers that are too busy on their cell phones to see the light change.

On another note, I saw a bicyle rider the other night texting on their cell phone while riding.