On July 4th I broke out the original Spot, my singlespeed. Yes, he had forgotten who I was. He felt neglected just hanging in the garage getting all dusty! But, the minute I hopped on to ride it felt like old times!
I hadn't ridden my SS in a while and thought it was the perfect time to start integrating him into my workouts. At least every other ride I should be riding the SS. I could definitely tell it had been a while since I rode Spot. You definitely do use different muscles than on my 1 x 9. It didn't take me long, though, to get back in the groove of knowing when to stand and pedal.
The SS was a little more of a workout on a hot day than I planned, so I didn't do as many miles as usual. While I wandered around Dynamo did a few extra miles.
I should have just gone to the parking lot and waited, but no...I had to go down to the dam and look for the northern watersnakes that hang out by the bridge. Well, one was there! A little one searching for food! As I went back to get my camera and then attempted to head across the bridge, I spotted a rather large snake body just off the edge of the bridge!
In an attempt not to test fate, I snapped the above pic and inched my way slowly back to my bike! The entire time I was fussing at myself for being stupid and inviting trouble. I thought my little expedition was harmless. Plus, I wanted to take the SS up the big climb back to the parking lot. Good training you know!
After I got back to the car, I headed over to the Nature Center where I discussed my findings with the lady inside. She indicated that she thought it was a copperhead and that she would notify someone since that was a heavily traveled area for hikers, bikers, and others fishing. Needlesstosay, we steered clear of that area on Sunday when we rode!
It was another hot one on Sunday, but we ventured out anyways! We did a mix of fireroads and a little singletrack. In my mind I mapped out the route and we just went with the flow!
The water was very high and fast at the dam. It was much cooler at this location in the park. We noticed a lot of butterflies floating through the air near the dam. I'd never seen so many in one place. Maybe they were thirsty!
It was so hot I almost considered jumping in the water for a minute! Yes, me who never gets in water that I can't see the bottom! It was like an oasis in the desert!
Once we got used to the temperature it wasn't so bad. We had a great ride together and completed about 19 miles total. We drank a lot of water!
We had a lovely Independence Day holiday and hope you did too! What a great way to spend the holiday enjoying nature with my Dynamo!
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