props to all the first-evers. stick with it!

already mid-40s today. i got some extra riding in this morning when, about 4 miles in, i heard this thwack sound fading off behind me that i recognized as my cell phone hitting the pavement and tumbling to the curb. i realized i had forgotten to zip my pockets and noticed that my wallet was missing, which explained that other, softer noise i heard near the beginning of my ride. so i retraced my steps all the way home, where i learned that a neighbor had found it and picked it up. the things we do to get an extra 8 or 9 miles of riding!

our fair city took a stab at sweeping the winter's detritus from the streets a few days ago. in many places they only succeeded in loosening the hardened materials and spreading them uniformly over the bike lanes, which are now covered with a soft, well-graded mixture of grit, gravel, cigarette butts and broken glass.

the red-winged blackbirds singing in the reeds that surround the stormwater detention ponds are quite enough consolation, however.