Cycling: Some summer flora

[cjw50310]

I stuck to the paved trails today, and was surprised by all the summer flowers in bloom. These don't typically show up until July; we didn't have much of a winter here this year so nature is running ahead of schedule.











And since I was negligent last time round, a piccy of the trusty mount:



Thanks for looking,
Chris

[DaveB]

No tractor Chris but nice all the same

ATB
DaveB

[Airspeed]

Think you're having us on Chris - no sunshine in any of the pix but your bike casts a strong shadow!



Nice to see a bit of your countryside, was that a lake I saw in pic 4, or the sea?

[nigelb]

Nice pics as usual, Chris.

Mike - the sea in Iowa? You might want to consult a map of the U.S.

Nigel²

[speedbird591]

They're lovely pictures, Chris. Thanks for posting. What a beautiful part of the world to live and how lucky you are to have all that quiet, flat path to ride on. I'd have to consider a road bike myself if I lived there. I'd be out every day.

A very nice looking bike too!

Ian

[cjw50310]

Think you're having us on Chris - no sunshine in any of the pix but your bike casts a strong shadow!



Nice to see a bit of your countryside, was that a lake I saw in pic 4, or the sea?

As I'm ~1,000 miles from the coast, it'd be quite a deal if that was the sea. It's not technically a lake, but an impoundment of the Des Moines River as a flood control reservoir to keep the city (somewhat) dry during bouts of flooding. The bit of land that the bike trail is on is owned by the US Army Corps of Engineers, so it's managed to stay mostly undeveloped.

I have to say it's not quite as flat as it appears; a couple of miles from that spot is a hill that runs up the side of the dam, which results in an elevation change of ~150 feet in a bit over half a mile. Going down it is much more fun that going up. Depending on which trail system one chooses, there are plenty of flat bits that pass the corn, soybeans, and pigs.

[Airspeed]

Oh, so THAT's America?
I'd often wondered where it was, but never read the instructions printed on the globe.
Didn't see any cowboys and Indians, oil wells or movie cameras, so how was I to know?