cranky old dude

I have not posted a View in a couple of months. I’ve been quite busy with our daughter’s College Graduation out in Milwaukee, my wife’s re-introduction the “Driving scene”. In addition, the two rides I was stressing over and kinda training for are both history now. I hate goals and to have two big rides looming in the future with just a minimal amount of riding under my belt through the first five months of the year was driving me to cram in as many miles as I could. The rest of the season promises to be very laid back and enjoyable.

I was also quite disappointed with the quality of my last View and I’m hoping the break has allowed my feeble old brain to rest enough to post something at least slightly interesting. It seems sorta silly to invest all the time and energy to post these if I can’t make them somewhat enjoyable to read.



July started out fantastically. Though I worked the “Night Shift” the first four days of the month, the weather was great and I managed to get some sweet early morning rides in on my homeward commutes. The following are a couple of pictures I snapped on the morning of July 5th as I was heading home to the start of a mid-week weekend.



Here’s my “Fair weather Commuter” parked on a small bridge on the Lake Ontario Parkway Trail....





The reason it was parked is that I was leaning against the rail and thoroughly enjoying the sunrise over Buck Pond. Though my work hours may suck, I do get to enjoy watching the sunrise on quite a regular basis.





Later on Tuesday I dropped my Tour Easy off at the LBS for some service. I was able to retrieve it late the following day and on Thursday the 7th I took it out for a nice 50-mile test ride. All is well with the big black bike. I stopped at one of my favorite neighborhood sights and snapped this photo. I’m sure you’re all bored to tears with all the photos I post of the Charlotte Light, but like I said…it is one of my favorite neighborhood sights.

This photo is quite busy, but I composed it that way on purpose. I love gazing to the East from this spot and seeing not only the Charlotte Lighthouse but also the old Hojack swing bridge and the Genesee River. This is a stop I make during almost every pleasure ride I take. It’s not unusual to catch me sitting on one of the benches just taking in the view.





By Friday the 8th I had logged almost 150 miles for the month and decided that today was a good day to spend with my bride. One of our ventures was a nice leisurely stroll on the Genesee river trail. I’ll include this in the post as it is one of my frequent biking locations. One of the great advantages to riding or hiking along rivers and ponds is the opportunity to view and enjoy abundant amounts of wildlife. Today’s stroll was no exception. Along with the usual ducks and swans we caught a glimpse of a Great Blue Heron with wings outstretched as it landed in the reeds. My wife was overjoyed seeing all the little turtles from the walkway across the marsh.



“Aw c’mon, jump in already. I’ve been waiting my turn forever and it’s hot up here!!”








Well looky there…Segway tours on the Genesee River Trail. Looks like my little neighborhood has been “Discovered”!!






By mid-month the heat has been very consistent and folks are starting to wonder if it will ever rain. I really don’t care as long as I get to ride! It’s been great with two months of weather that has basically been clear and dry, in fact the driest it’s been since 1933 I believe.


In case you’re not totally tired of seeing pictures of the same old places, here’s some from a 50 miler I rode on the 14th. Notice the beautiful clear blue skies.

The gatehouse at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery. While tooling around in the cemetery I happened upon two new recumbent enthusiasts on beautiful tadpole trikes that they had only just purchased. They had several questions regarding my favorite cycling area’s and routes. We had quite a nice chat, I’m looking foreword to seeing them again soon.





A couple more Lighthouse pictures....

cranky old dude

Here’s the cottage on Beach Avenue that’s being rehabbed...




I posted some pics of the early stages of this job a couple of months ago but here is one again for comparison...




Here are a couple of pictures of Buck pond. The second half of my usual ride is an out & back along the shore of Lake Ontario from the mouth of the Genesee River to Braddock Bay. The route is basically a very old wide sandbar between the lake and a string of five ponds. It’s been developed with a two parallel roads and beautiful homes. Here are a couple of pictures from one of those ponds, Buck Pond.






I felt fortunate to capture a picture of this critter about twenty yards out from the shoreline in Buck Pond….




….until the following day when I was driving along the pond with my bride and the turtle was still there…ewwww!! Later I pointed out the dead floater to Gyro and mused about how funny it would be to clean off the shell and make a helmet out of it. Neither of us wanted to deal with such a mess and we road on, chuckling a little bit as we imagined the sight of me riding up on my nerd bike wearing a turtle shell for a helmet!

cranky old dude

I managed to get down to the pier for the sunrise near the end of the month. It’s surprising how many people get up before dawn just to watch that ball of fire come up over the horizon.




Everyone seems to be enjoying the show…




The geese are getting ready for a busy day. I hadn’t noticed the Heron across the river on the Summerville pier until I uploaded the pictures…





There go the geese. Heading out to mess up our local MUP’s no doubt…









First boat out today…







Late in the month and my work schedule has finally rotated to where I have a few Sundays off. Yay!! I packed the Tour Easy into the Van and rode the weekly “Hellbent for Breakfast” ride with a bunch of other recumbent enthusiasts, or as this forum likes to call them, Recombo-nerds. Seen on today’s Hellbent is the answer to not having a bottle cage and not wanting to take your water bladder….



Actually he had just purchased the B.O.B off Craigslist and was just taking it out for a test ride.


That is all for now.

I truly enjoy that my bikes can take me to so many wonderful places and I feel so blessed that those places are all within just a few easy miles of my house. I hope you all enjoyed these little “July Jaunts”. I wonder what August has in store?!?!

NOS88

As always, Cranky, great photos.

teachme

Nice pics!

miss kenton

Lenny, I think your photos are becoming more beautiful each time you post a new batch. I always enjoy your views! Thank you for posting them.

trackhub

Thanks for the pics. That is a very nice looking 'bent you have there. Much as I love my fixie, I will never rule out the possibility / probability that I may have a 'bent
some day.

DnvrFox

Lenny, you have a real eye for putting the beauty into a photograph, and I really appreacite your monthly views!

sknhgy 

"….until the following day when I was driving along the pond with my bride and the turtle was still there…ewwww!! Later I pointed out the dead floater to Gyro and mused about how funny it would be to clean off the shell and make a helmet out of it. Neither of us wanted to deal with such a mess and we road on, chuckling a little bit as we imagined the sight of me riding up on my nerd bike wearing a turtle shell for a helmet! "

Whoa, that is a cool idea!!! My friend's father is very fond of turtle meat. I'll bet I could get a shell off of him and make me a cycle helmet to wear during "special" events.

If you throw that rotten turtle in an ant hill it will be cleaned for you.

worthlees

Cranky, you have some great pics! Thanks for sharing.

Ridinmurray

You have created some post cards there, great pics & thanks for sharing.

cranky old dude

Thank you all very much. I hope to stumble into some new subject matter for the next view.

CB HI

That Segway riding must be pretty rough if some people need to wear a knee brace.

alanknm

Great pictures ! Thank you for sharing !