expressin with my full capabilities

a few days ago i began to actually have some vague feelings of doubt about the upcoming ms 150 bike ride. sunday i went on a breakfast ride with the bike shop guys (including cicadashell jr. the elder), on the way back pushing that slightly bigger gear (50:16) that i had put on for thursday's trip to the vélodrome. and i felt okay. but later that day i rode back to dexter, and around south via parker to scio church, to get to the swim club, and it was hard, pushing that same gear. the stiff headwind didn't help, i suppose, but all the same i was a little more tired than i expected. a few backs i rode sixty miles on that bike (using a 48:16 gear) and felt great, no twinges or soreness or anything. but sunday i felt, or at least imagined i was beginning to feel, murmers of dissent in both knees.

i was further daunted after considering the weather forecast, which is calling for temperatures in the 90s. yes, i like heat, better hot than cold, i always say. but highs in the 80s are entirely sufficient; the 90s are unnecessary. i note that, as of today, the heat is forecast to arrive a day earlier, with higher humidity on sunday and then possible thundershowers on monday. now i know how inexact that type of forecast is, and it wouldn't surprise me to see it all pushed up by the weekend, with the unstable weather actually arriving on sunday.

but anyway. i will ride it, and relish the opportunity to do nothing but ride my track bike for a couple of days. the cicadas are buzzing, the corn and soybeans and wheat are transpiring furiously in the sun, the calves are bleating in their fiberglass huts, rolls of hay are appearing in the meadows, and basically all is in place for a lower michigan summer. i may even try to beg up some pledges.

opened a flickr account, need to go pro. at last, the free project has a home. look for more free stuff as the summertime-give-your-crap-away season unfolds.