hmmm I was letting my cats out at 5am and noticed how bright the moon was. didn't notice any eclipse tho

I was out earlier too and saw the ice crystals ring around it.

The eclipse wasn't noticeable until just before 7am and then for a bit after until it was too low in the horizon.

Yesterday evening, in the failing light after sunset, I rode my usual half mile of the D&R canal, and noticed beaver damage to several trees.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4650/...665318b4_b.jpg

I've seen a beaver near here once, and I've seen a critter (presumably a beaver) swimming. But I've never seen this kind of damage to the trees before. This is under a quarter mile from Route One, just outside Trenton city limits, not what you'd call a rural area. But it is an ancient wetland, appearing as 'Great Bear Swamp' on old maps, so beaver have been in the area forever.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4626/...660fb8bf_b.jpg

Assuming I make it home this evening, I finished up the month of January with 253 commuting miles which is 33 miles more than my previous best January.

January is usually a low mileage month for me. I still ride every day, but often times the weather makes me change my routes and/or not run as many errands as I do during warmer months. Also, looking back on previous years I've usually been home sick 2-3 days at some point during January, which didn't happen this year (yay!)

Way to lift up the public opinion of cyclists!

Oh you wicked, wicked wind. 32F with steady 16mph headwind. I just kept thinking about the ride home

I enjoy the ironic theme of this, the cyclist rescuing the helpless motorist because of the frosty weather.

37F, sprinkling. The clouds did thin enough about quarter to 6 for me to see a red blur where the moon should have been.

Clear and cool, right around freezing. Little wind, which was a relief.


I stopped at the hardware store to get some graphite; the lock I use to secure the bike at work has become cantankerous. I love the old hardware stores with knowledgeable people working there!

Took the MTB today. In the morning I did my first two legs ok but my cardiomyopathy was complaining so I diverted to the fire road for the third leg. Felt better later in the ride but by then I was all out of dirt. In the evening I had forgotten my lights so resolved to take the shortest route that would keep me off the road. I have two hard pitches right at the end of that route, the first was interrupted by some hikers and I had to get off, but the second I made it all the way up without stopping. Always proud of that, given my problems. I really took it easy today, attempted no features or anything likely to make me crash or require a sudden effort.

Tomorrow is kiddo's second day in the new preschool, and his first day riding in. It's no more out of the way than the other, though it's about a mile more with the seat and a mile less without it.

36F - a good 15 degrees warmer than yesterday. Wind seems to have been a pretty constant theme this week. It changed directions though and I had the headwind on the way to work instead of the way home. The first of three roadkills was a skunk in my lane. As soon as I saw it I started a long, slow exhale, but still managed to get a small taste of the stink.

Then I saw a live turkey vulture off on the edge of the ditch. He didn't move as I passed. He was more interested in the deer that was lying in the ditch. And a bit later I had to dodge a bunny in the road.

Sorry for morbid review. Happy Thursday!

Yesterday on my ride home from the station I saw a juvenile beaver at the edge of the canal; and then I saw him/her swimming around. Took some bad video with my cell phone, which I'll try to post later. The little guy was curious about me, swam by on the surface trying to get a better look, then drifted by with the current, watching me. When I got bored I got back on the bike and then saw a parent beaver a little farther down the way. Parent beaver is big!

On my weekends I often ride far out into rural areas. Odd that my most interesting wildlife sightings are so close to home!

Had a couple warm days in the 20's, then today it was back to winter. 3°F with a -15°F windchill. The 15mph wind was mostly a cross wind, but there were spots where I had to head straight into it. Not horrible, but annoying. We got a bit of freezing rain during the night so there was a pretty good layer of ice on the pavement.

Wore a long sleeve moisture wicking shirt under my windbreaker. The temp was right on the edge of where I usually add another layer on top, but I opted to go without figuring it will be 11°F when I ride across town to a client's office at lunch. After I arrived at our office I decided maybe I should have added the layer. I wasn't frozen, but was on the cool side of comfortable.

When I pulled up to the bike rack I went to lock up my bike and realized the combination mechanism had frozen solid. Probably due to the moisture and freezing temps. I fiddled with it for a minute trying to break it loose, then gave up and just left my bike unlocked. Our office is out on the edge of town away from anything else. Nobody ever comes into our lot unless they're an employee or a customer. The nearest sidewalk is 1/4 mile away so there is no pedestrians. I wagered that nobody will be making a special trip out to our office just to steal an old bike in single digit temps.

Got inside and took off my neckie only to discover one of the hazards of winter bicycle commuting: snotcicles.

https://scontent.ffsd1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...15&oe=5B1B2B6C

This morning was bleah; not quite warm, though not cold (thank goodness!), heavy overcast.


Last night, though! Stopped for supper with my wife, then rode the rest of the way home. The moon was full and very bright. I could almost have ridden without lights, even through the trees lining residential streets.


I like riding in those kinds of nights.

Allegedly there's a beaver under one of the trail bridges close to downtown. I say allegedly because I seem to be the only commuter who hasn't seen it!

36F this morning. Nearly nailed by a woman who blew through a trail crossing and didn't stop for red light before turning. Fortunately I approached the blind crossing slowly and could see her headlights. I gave her the "shame stare" when she looked up. I hope she peed herself

40F, moderate mist

I've never noticed beaver damage that early in the process, but they have to start somewhere I guess.

I don't know if the Great Bear Swamp is eternal, but beavers were pretty well eliminated east of the rockies in the 19th century, but they have been coming back in the last 50-80 years. Pretty amazing, really.

Well, there's many ways to explain that! Beaver are secretive; and mainly nocturnal (I've been seeing them at dusk). Aside from that, not every cyclist is a great naturalist.

I, to be sure, am not a great naturalist. But I've seen critters swimming in that canal several times, going back as far as fifteen years ago. The first several times I couldn't be sure what I was seeing, and beaver was the only thing I could think of. I later learned that muskrat and mink are likely -- though smaller.

The thing I saw a year ago was unmistakably a beaver; much too big to be any of the others. And now I'm seeing the trees they're chewing up, there's no doubt. The little one I saw swimming yesterday, much smaller than the adult I also saw, is still bigger than what I saw a dozen years ago. I now suspect the first one I saw was a mink. At the time, I didn't even know mink were common in this area.

I'll cop to hyperbole. :innocent:

Here some video. This one is a little long; you may want to skip to about halfway through:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/13gy...ew?usp=sharing

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4720/...1b0c0010_b.jpg

This one is shorter. But still, you can skip the first half or so. You'll get a good view of the beaver when he dives.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DPC...ew?usp=sharing
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4626/...e1e12514_b.jpg

Morning daycare ride canceled because the puppy chewed up kiddo’s helmet. I’m sad, it was a decent Giro and had lots of miles and memories

Consider the possibility that any of the smaller ones might be muskrats? Mink are pretty darn different from any rodent.

Definitely a possibility. I've looked at videos of swimming river otters, muskrat, and mink, and none of them really look like what I saw; all the videos show the critter higher in the water than what I saw. What I saw was just the nose and eyes, and the wake. Couldn't even get a sense of how big the thing was.

I'm inclined toward mink because I've seen mink in the area (well, ten miles away) and I haven't seen otter or muskrat (that I know of).

Or in my case city rats! Planned drive today for appointments - good thing, 7F

I left work early yesterday to try to beat the rain. Good news: I stayed dry for 7 miles. Bad news: it's 10 miles home.


This morning the temperature had dropped 30 degrees, and I got to rate the pavement quality -- where there were ice puddles, the street didn't drain well. Stiff north wind, but fortunately that's a tailwind coming in.

50F, gray except around the edges. Mountain did not see its shadow.

Tried to bike commute today on my new fat bike but due to the rushed assembly on Wednesday night, I had only hand tightened the pedals and 1/3 into this morning's commute, the left pedal fell off. With an air temperature of -27C/-17F and windchill of -34C/-29F, after a couple of minutes of bare-handed fumbling with the cold, aluminum pedal (and, in part, realizing that without the pedal wrench, I wouldn't get it any tighter than before and I could end up trying to put it on again in another couple of kms), I called my wife for a pickup, took the bike home and got a ride to work.

I will never rush another assembly again (I have as much confidence in that statement as I do in New Year's Resolutions, LOL).

Next week, I promise!!

Dang! I have learned to give wrench work a day or so to 'age' and shake down before taking it on the road for real.

(but I thought pedals were threaded to only tighten during normal forward motion?)