I needed some images for a project and while searching photos from 2020 I came across these. Taken when I was able to get out on longer gravel rides on the back roads. Taken on an early morning ride when there was still a bit of fog in the low lying areas.
From today's trail ride.
Ramaria caulifloriformis, coral fungi
Cortinarius distans or Laccaria, not sure!
After breakfast this morning I had about 90 minutes before the rain was scheduled to come in so I got out for a walk with the dogs.
There was a lot of bird song so I took the binoculars and went slow. They were deep in the woods, so I didn't see many but they were all around me: blue-winged warbler, Wilson's warbler, white-eyed vireo, red-eyed vireo, summer tanager, ovenbird, Carolina chickadee.
Birds that I did get to see were: indigo bunting, chipping sparrow and a gray catbird
Got back just in time to take a quick ride down to the creek. A peaceful twenty minutes before the storm listening to the birds and the light rain dripping through the forest.
A few hours later an unexpected visit from a friend who I've not seen in awhile (Hi Bill!). We spent some time catching up on the porch and listening to the bird song. He has an uncanny ability to identify birds by their song and it's always a delight to visit with him. While we chatted another welcome visitor stopped by, a bright red summer tanager landed on a branch not too far away.
From the trail ride today: Polystichum acrostichoides, Christmas fern Tradescantia, Spiderwort
My photos only show a small area along the trail but this hill is covered in Mayapples. It's quite something.
Lots of Mayapples on the trail as well as Andersonglossum, wild comfry which has simple, five petaled flowers. Very pretty evening bird song including: summer tanager, northern parula, and red-eyed vireo.
Observed along the trail on the ride this evening: Larkspur, Delphinium tricorne.
With all the rain we've had recently the creek is flowing really well. My favorite place to stop and be still. These are the best moments in my simple, slow life. Learning to be content in a smaller radius and with as little external fossil fuel input as possible.
Really nice trail ride today. Lots of wild flowers. Hypoxia hirsuta, common goldstar, one of those that's currently blooming.
Some nice trail rides in recent days. Always a treat to observe the woods wake up in the early days of spring.
I love early spring rides in the woods. I can feel spring right around the corner! It's the time of year when I can hear the spring peepers and in a couple of weeks the first wildflowers will start to pop!
After a few days off the fat bike I finally got out for a nice ride on the still snowy trails.
Photo from yesterday's trail ride. Taken along the backside creek inflow to the lake. Some pretty grasses in this area.
Had a fun ride on the snowy trail yesterday.
Feeling grateful for the green moss and flowing creeks that I get to visit on my trail rides.
A rainy day yesterday but there was a break just long enough to enjoy a ride on the trail.
One of my favorite trail ride sections is a patch of cedar trees with an abundance of moss near the trail providing some winter color.
Winter fat-biking sunset. The trail is so quiet this time of year, always relaxing.

“Globally, only one in 50 new cars were fully electric in 2020… even if all new cars were electric now, it would still take 15-20 years to replace the world’s fossil fuel car fleet.”
Cycling is ten times more important than electric cars for reaching net-zero cities
Sunrise photos from my last bike ride on 9/19. An hour later I was so dizzy I could barely stand. Three weeks later and I’ve adapted. Still dizzy but I can function with it. Humbling to be so suddenly incapacitated.
Photos taken same time, different sections of sky.
Morning ride moody cloud landscape.
A nice ride this evening. September is slowly bringing in the cooler air and it’s so refreshing. I’m ready for some fall color.
“On this Day” feature of Photos app popped up a few images from two years ago. One of my longer gravel routes, 52 miles with some nice hills and fantastic views. Need some adventure in your life? Get a gravel bike and go get lost on a back country gravel road!
🚲📷 More bike love! This is a follow-up to my post yesterday where I shared my beloved gravel bike. Today it’s my equally loved fat bike. Years ago I used a mountain bike for trail riding, this time around I opted for an over-sized fat tire bike. The tires for fat bikes range from 3.5" to 5", mine has 4" tires. As I understand it fat bikes were created for year round riding allowing for winter riding on snow and also easier access to softer surfaces like sand.
While many of the newest more expensive fat bikes include front or even full suspension I opted for a ridged frame and fork because I tend to ride slower and on trails that are not overly rough. I also use it for gravel rides when we’ve had rain and the gravel road base is softened up as will be the case for todays ride. While a fat bike tends to be a bit heavier than a standard mountain bike that has much lighter 2" tires they do offer a soft, plush ride, the tires more easily going over fallen branches, larger rocks or other obstacles. They’re a blast to ride!
Have a bike you love? Share it!
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Hey fellow bike nerds, share your bikes! I’ve got two that I ride. This is my gravel bike. As the name suggests, this is the bike I ride for routes that are a mix of road and gravel. My daily short ride is about 2 miles of gravel, 2 miles rough county pavement. The photos in this post were taken on a much longer ride into the Mark Twain National Forest into a neighboring county, also a mix of gravel and pavement and options for dirt trail as well.
