Mountain Bike Monday - Fungus Among Us

I sure do hope that you all got to enjoy the beautiful day yesterday! It was absolutely gorgeous! Missy and I met at Poco to do our 30 mile training ride!



We started out early when the air was a little chilly, but it quickly warmed up to a comfortable temperature!



The sun glistening on the tree leaves was beautiful. It was just a great day for a ride with a friend! She and I have so much fun just riding and talking. She was patient with me while I stopped to photo the rare mushrooms on the side of the trail!



This white one was huge. Like the size of a salad plate. It was perfectly shaped. No damage yet! I wondered if Charlie would have eaten it if he saw it?



This mushroom was the weirdest of all mushrooms. I about fell off my bike when I saw it. It looked like it was draped with something. Just bizarre! Oh, the things you see in the wild. It must be the time of year for mushrooms!

Anyways...we finished a little over 30 miles and were pleased with our progress. We feel confident that we will be able to complete the 58 mile road ride next week, the Martin's Tour of Richmond.

The Mushroom Muncher

My Steed...the Mushroom Muncher. You may think I'm kidding, but I'm not. She is addicted to mushrooms.

We let her out to roam the 1 acre perimeter of the yard several times each day. She thinks she's a farm dog...we don't tell her any different. She's a lean, mean 21 pound mushroom huntin' machine. Yes, she has little dog syndrome too!

So, she roams around the yard. We live in the country and are surrounded by trees. She lets her nose lead her to the site of the buffet (seen in picture below).

She sniffs and sniffs...

















And, then she finds one...burried under the pine tags and dirt. She digs a little and it's revealed. A white mushroom! Her eyes light up (like when I see sweets), and then she settles in for the feast (see below).

















When she looks up her nose and face are covered with dirt and debris. Here she is after her buffet! Notice how proud she is of herself.

















And, off to hunt some more... (she got really frustrated that her mom was following her around the yard with the camera, so this is the view I got for the rest of the hunt)

















Ah, she's done! Time to relax...

















We get worried that she will eat too much or eat the wrong mushroom (we think that happened once). We asked the vet and she said that as long as she doesn't eat a "purple one" she's fine. Well, we can't watch everything she eats. She's a dog and she eats lots of stuff I don't really want to talk about (yuck!). The vet says that she knows what she's doing. So, we try to limit her intake as much as possible. But, it brings her such joy.