Really never saw this before

otherwise boring fence

Spring is very promising.  One of the wonderful, twisted delights of spring is finishing work before the sun goes down.  Riding home this evening, I meandered my way home and came across this scene which I have ridden by countless times.  I really don't know that it was anything but my project of taking in my surroundings that made me stop and look harder at this fence.  I just love the way the shadows streak across the snow.  Another few days and this will not be near so dramatic.  We are at the last days of the deep snow pack.  I guess I should enjoy it while I can.

Snow and all the fixins

Not as snowy as I thought it would be

 We received a bit of snow around here.  Hopefully the last of the big snows for the season.  Usually around the first of March, spring fever starts to hit hard around the cities.  We see an increase in customers at the shop, and with the sun starting to kick out a bit more heat and staying around longer, it's hard to not be excited about longer bike rides and less clothing while doing so.  Unfortunately, we still have to deal with snow and cold wet weather for another month or so.  It can become a bit depressing.

I ride over train tracks almost every day

Door latch mechanism new spring installed

I had the day off today and with a house that is 100 years old, some stuff tends to wear out and need fixin.  I have a couple of inside doors that have been less than perfect for a while.  Today, I could take it no longer.  I took the first one apart and found a coil spring had broken, causing the latch to hang up and keeping it from travelling completely into the catch.  A slight alteration to a retractable pen spring and door #1 was back in operation.  On door#2 I wasn't planning on digging into the mechanism but upon further inspection I found a linear spring had broken (fixed easily enough with a piece of rack brace).  I may have started a bad trend as both doorknobs now work fantastic being cleaned out and having some Phil Wood grease on the moving parts.

Ice

We have some hellacious icicles growing off our roof. With a house that is celebrating it's 100th birthday this year, it isn't completely unexpected. I move quickly underneath them whenever I have to walk around the side of the house (pretty much every day to get my bike out and in). I started looking at other icicles around the neighborhood and when I am riding around town, and I have concluded that our icicles really aren't that bad. And there are some nifty things that happen to water as it freezes.

This pic is from the bike shop behind the building. We have some random cable running down one of the gutters and it has frozen all the way top down. It's about 30 ft total height. Tough to visualize through this camera lens, but interesting to my eye.

A Different Month

winter commuter at Como Park

I took the day off today to recover from celebrating my 40th birthday.  I had to stop by work for a short spell and the ride home was much more delightful than I had anticipated.  The sun is as high in the sky as it is in mid October which is one of the most pleasant months to ride around the twin cities.  It sure made all the difference today, with temps hovering in the mid teens, but I was able to ride with gloves that normally I wouldn't use unless it was 25 degrees warmer.  

I also decided I would try a new concept to go along with the new month of 30 days of biking.  I stepped up the date and am starting my 30 days of biking a month early and along with that, I am trying 30 days of photographs.  The idea is to be out, on my bicycle and make sure to take the time to really look at my surroundings.  

I will have no themes or restrictions when heading out.  I am sure there will be a fair amount of bicycles and bicycle related images that will emerge, but I am hoping that by doing this, I will open my eyes to a little bit more of my environment.  To capture different scenes and garner inspiration, I will have to ride different places.  This has always been one of my weaknesses, falling into habits of riding routes, which I am trying to change.  

True change should be deliberate.