DnvrFox

Sounds of "Silence" on an Early Morning Ride

I heard wonderful and pleasing sounds on my 5:30 am - 45F - 1.5 hour ride on the utility road bike with headlights and tailight this morning.

Owls a-hootin
Coyote a-howling
Geese a-honking
Ducks a-quacking
Red winged blackbirds a-singing
Meadowlarks a-larking
The creek a-bubbling
One jogger a-stomping
Two walkers a-talking
Bike a-silencing

All under gorgeous red-tinged clouds as the sun made its way slowly up beyond the clouds in the east.

Are you lucky enough to hear sounds as you ride?

Do you listen? What do you hear?

TromboneAl

I don't want to say this, but someone will if I don't: No partridge in a pear tree?

I like the sounds of the bike when I ride.

Nice pictures.

aRoudy1

A shotgun would have quieted everything except the creek. Sounds like a good ride--one of my favorite rides is through an area where I can hear hawks.

cyclinfool

Nice ride DF.
I usually hear old man a-weezing.

DnvrFox

No partridge, but there were two turtle doves

And my bike is absolutely silent when I ride, except for the wheel noise against the riding surface. I can't stand any noise from my bike.

missjean

Towards the evening this time of year, I hear the peepers, which I believe are a kind of tree frog. Peepers and the smell of fresh bark mulch mean spring.

B. Carfree

Last month the frogs in the seasonal ponds were absolutely deafening. One of the things I really enjoy about cycling is listening to all the critters. There's also the smells. In fact, one of the warning signs that I am in an area of lousy drivers is the smell of rotting carcasses on the roadside.

ping jockey

Last week my ride took me past a small pond which often has some ducks in it this time of year. This time there were a pair of Sandhill Cranes in the water, quite close to the road and nearly invisible because their coloring matched the still dead reeds in the pond. I must have startled them and they started calling, loudly, which scared the beejeebers out of me. I think I levitated about two feet off of the saddle before I figured out what the noise was. I'll stick with "The Sounds of Silence" for a while now, thank you.

KillerBeagle

DF, at 5:30AM I only want to hear silence while I sleep ;-)

I hear the rustling grasses and leaves by the roadside as the little hidden critters get startled as I go by.
Also hear mockingbirds with their wide variety of songs, scissortails doing their courtship song&dance, goats and roosters with their usual barnyard sounds.

BILLB58

I leave at 6:10am......still dark for half of the 11.3 miles

4 different Burrowing Owl nests
Mourning Doves and Mockingbirds
can hear the Osprey nest....parents not out yet...just a shade to dark right now..(about 2 miles from the river)
by the time I get to the Veteran's Bridge, there is enough light for the pelicans to start hunting, Ospreys come up from my rear now.....

sometimes there are rays working the surface as I cross, sometimes what looks like Tarpon fins or Sharks.....sometimes Dolphins and occasionally a Manatee...

2 years ago, I saw a Manatee and her calf....

One morning last year I had a heavy headwind coming in and was at the top of the bridge....66ft above the channel in the center of the river....4 pelicans echeloned about 3 ft off my right shoulder as I came down the bridge....this has happpened several times over the years....as they used me to break the headwind...

(The Veteran's bridge over the Caloosahatchee river is 1.1 miles long)

typical early morning traffic, but I tune them out and focus on my "friends" along the way..

capejohn

My 5:15 am rides on the MUP are very noisy. All the birds, squirrels, rabbits and everything else are posturing for breakfast. It's almost deafening.

qcpmsame 

Dnvrfox,
Nice post, I could close my eyes and "hear" the sounds of a nice early ride. Clears the mind and sets things on an even keel for the day. Thanks much!

Sculptor7

Good post. The morning is the best time of the day. Unfortunately, my wife feels uncomfortable with me leaving the house so early when she is asleep so, after 50 years, I defer. Still, I do miss the beauty of the morning, the sense of a new day, the clean air, the feeling of being one with nature. Also the gentle whirring of the freewheel and the efficient sound of the tires on the road. When I sailed I used to enjoy the sounds out on the bay early in the morning with my little sloop caressing the delicate morning breeze and the quiet compatible song of the gulls with, now and then, the sound of the lobster boats going about their work. By the way, that is a great photo of the sunrise!