The View From My Saddle: January 2011
 

With the new year came a new weather pattern. A nice thaw melted away all but the slightest remnants of the record-breaking 50” December cumulative snowfall.

I finished my last Night Shift on Sunday morning, the 2nd of January. Unfortunately I needed to stay in as I was preparing for a Colonoscopy on Monday morning. Tuesday morning dawned cloudy but the temperature was still in the low 30’s and with the roads being bare I just had to go for a ride. I headed into the older section of the Town of Greece and then wandered across the cemetery towards the river. It was a great day for a ride, the roads seemed abandoned and with little traffic to concern myself with I could allow myself to become totally immersed in my surroundings.

I saw only one other person on the three mile stretch of MUP along the Genesee River from Lake Avenue all the way down to the Port on Lake Ontario. There she is way over on the left side of the picture as she approaches across the bridge.

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Though the human population may not be abundant this time of year, the wildlife remains. I was fortunate to capture a Heron in this image of the small waterfall that I was trying to photograph. You can kinda see the water cascading down the bank through the trees about a third of the way across the picture from the right side, and up near the top of the image in the center of the frame is the heron.

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The ice is quite thin thanks to the recent thaw and if you take a good look at the sky you’ll see what I call Rochester’s version of winter sunshine. Normally the sky is just a dull monochromatic gray, but occasionally we get a sky with an almost infinite variety of hues of grays and blues with a smattering of yellow and orange. I don’t posses the photographic skills to capture the majestic visual rapture that stretches out before me on days such as this, but that never stops me from trying.

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Just seven miles into my 20 mile ride I noticed this grand old house up on the bank along River Street. Though I’ve lived only a mile away from this house since 1977, I never really saw it until today. I can count at least five different colors of paint there.

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At this point of my ride my camera signaled low battery power. I popped my spare batteries into the camera and wouldn’t you know it…they were low too. Well, I continued my ride along the shore of Lake Ontario to Braddock Bay, turned around and rode back and had a great day.


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The next couple of weeks got very cold and snowy. What little riding I managed to squeeze in was in the form of commuting back and forth to work. By the 17th of January I had only done about 77 miles for the month, but then we had a nice one-day thaw on the 18th and as luck would have it I had just finished my night shift that morning. After a late morning doctor’s appointment I jumped onto ‘The Beast’ and we headed out on a nice, leisurely 15 mile adventure along the lakeshore. I approached the Lake from Dewey Avenue and when I arrived I was greeted by another display of Rochester winter sunshine. Now don’t laugh too hard at ‘The Beast’ as she’s served me well every winter since 1988 when I bought her specifically for foul weather riding.

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It felt really good to be rolling along on dry, bare pavement basking in 40+ degree warmth. It was a nice break from the technical type of maneuvering necessary to commute on the snow and ice covered surfaces that I had been traversing for the past several days. I allowed myself to become totally distracted from the business of riding and just enjoyed the views as they peacefully rolled by. We were flying down the short downhills and breezing along the flats with a marvelous tailwind and all was well with the world. Life’s little problems and worries were gone. They simply ceased to exist. In their place was the beauty and bounties provided by Mother Nature herself. Yeah, it was a good ride.

Here’s a little piece of what I enjoyed for most of that 15 mile ride. I shot this picture at the Round Pond outlet.

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I obviously am not the only person who enjoys the gifts nature provides here among the lake and ponds. This gentleman explained to me that this 18” specimen was too small to keep, so he gently slipped the Northern Pike back through the hole in the ice to finish growing and maybe be caught another day.

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Just a few miles farther along the shore and I noticed all this ice just floating out on the water. One never knows from one day to the next what views will greet them out along the shores of the Great lakes.

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Here’s a couple of final images captured on the way home. Two things there is plenty of in this world are nature and history and I’m fascinated by them both. When I spied this relatively new sign at Goodwin Park (Long Pond Rd @ Edgemere Dr.) I just had to ride over and take a look. It was also a good excuse to frolic in the undisturbed snow.

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Well, that ride back on the 18th seems like a lifetime ago. I haven’t been on the bike since due to any number of reasons ranging from dangerous road & weather conditions, health issues, and just not being in the mood.

Please check back in about a month for February’s edition of ”The View From My Saddle”!

Great pix, thnx!

Nice!

As always, I love your writing, pics and your sharing of your world and yourself. Thanks for taking the time and effort for all of us to see.

Wow Cranky, your pics and writing always inspire me to ride.:thumb:

+1

Not up to your usual colourfull views---Seems a bit grey this month. See if you can arrange a bit more sun for next month.

Great pics and seems a great ride- even if it wants me to turn over and get another 10 minutes of eye resting instead of getting out.

Nice job Lenny. We have a lot of snow on the ground out our way and with temps not getting up it has stayed. Streets are just too icy for me right now.

Great stuff Lenny, but I had to go put a jacket on while looking at your photos. Thanks for sharing your travels with us.

You have an incredible knack for turning the ordinary into an adventure!! I hope that attitude helps to keep your spirits up!

Thanks all for the complimentary comments.

I apologize for not responding sooner.