Berries

A warm day yesterday. Took a long ride out into McHenry county- a bit farther than i should have done. Took the opportunity to check out a berry farm just north of Woodstock...

Carried home a pint of raspberries...

They traveled just nice in the saddlebag.

The farm's just outside of town on Queen Anne road. There's only a couple of weeks left in the season, so don't wait too long.

Sandhills

It seems they're always in pairs:

Standing by the roadside on Oak Knoll, seemingly unconcerned by my presence.

i never get tired of seeing these birds when i'm out and about on the bike. They don't seem the least bit afraid of people as long as we keep a respectful distance.

But will there be racing?

Seen by the roadside on today's ride:

(Couldn't resist...)

Just kidding...

Horchata Grande

Set out a bit too late this morning. It was a hot and windy day, about 92F (33C) and couldn't ride to keep out of my own way. Did a very slow 50km ride, and near the end of it took pause...

Horchata grande, sin hielo por favor...

Muchas gracias, Mexico Uno!

(This could get to be a habit.)

Damned Raccoons!!

Last week's campout provided a harsh lesson from Mother Nature:

Never leave your bike out where a hungry raccoon may nosh on your Brooks saddle!

Nature, "Red in tooth and claw."

i dunno... maybe they like the taste of Proofide?

Free Fallin'

It was early evening on Christmas eve a few years ago. i was in the down stairs family room, dozing off a big dinner, half awake, when i heard a thump somewhere upstairs, followed closely by a second thump. i thought little about it and half forgot about it.

Later that winter there was a thaw, and i noticed a brown stain spreading on the ceiling above the front vestibule. This got my attention and i scaled the roof to see what was what. On the roof, about four feet from the edge and in line with my front door, i discovered a smallish hole about a half inch (~12mm) in the shingle. i probed the hole and felt something push through the plywood and fall into the attic. A few feet away, on  the reverse slope of the roof, i noticed another pockmark in the shingle and a few feet downslope lay a bullet.

i live in a relatively peaceful suburb,and stray gunfire is not a regular occurrence. i  called the local police to make a report and turn in the recovered slug. The officer who came out resembled  Colonel Flagg.  He was not impressed by my discovery, and offered no useful info about how far such a round might have traveled before lodging in my roof.

The round that pierced the roof fell about 6 feet (2m) past my front steps and i wonder if others may have fallen nearby. i'm glad no one was standing at my front door at the time- it could have ruined someone's day...

Well, the patch i did back then finally failed (Damn! we'd just repainted that ceiling!) causing me to scramble up into the attic crawlspace to improvise a more permanent solution. Not much fun climbing about on 2X4 stringers trying not to have my 80 kilo self fall through the ceiling! Here's the offending slug, retrieved today from the insulation:

Looks like a .45 hollow point. Nasty piece of work.

At the time they struck, the roof was less than a year old. Damn, again. i hope the crawl through the dust and fibreglass shards won't need to be repeated any time soon. Now for hop into a nice hot shower...

(We'll have more bike-related stuff soon...)