Wear yellow (and dodge the trees)

May 21, 2011

I survived a 50-mile ride today and enjoyed it, to boot! Yes, Mr. Braggy Pants had quite a time, meeting other cycle enthusiasts, some who were even more enthusiastic than I. One woman loved her Terry bicycle so much that she stated that she would take it to bed if she could and that she feels like she's cheating when she goes out for a ride on it! She also answered a longstanding question of mine as to the identity of this plant-

 

This tree tried to put the smackdown on me the other day as I was enjoying a bicycling excursion on the local multi-use trail.  Yes, I was nearly axed by a tree, which was chopping wildly in the wind.

Which brings me to the results of my tree identification project, which I have presented in the form of a weekend arboreal answer-if-you-can exercise.  If you answer correctly, then you will be redirected to one of the many fabulous Badly Drawn Boy videos available on youtube.  If you are wrong then you will see comedian Auggie Smith!

What type of tree is shown above? 

1. a banana tree (Musa acuminata)
2. a hooker willow (Salix hookerana)
3. American basswood (Tilia americana)

How about this one? 

1. white ash (Fraxinus americana)
2. American basswood (Tilia americana)
3. den shelter (Beastus umbrellialis)

Here's the weed I was concerned with earlier.  What would you call this (if you wanted to be correct)? 

1. mouse's ear (Cerastium fontanum)
2. ragweed (Ambrosia sp.)
3. beatle's bane (Mikus jaggerinus)
4. sour dock (Rumex crispus)

While the Wear Yellow Ride was rewarding, it was not without a mishap. I rode over this nail that skewered my Mr. Tuffy tire liner and tube like Auggie Smith's sharp wit skewers Portland bicyclists.

My standing firmly in the back of the pack was shaken. With a little help from Sean of The Bike Way I made it back to the start of the ride as the lone latecomer. I was not too proud to ask the man representing Chris's Cakes to fire his grill back up and flip me some 'jacks! He flipped me up eight, and they didn't last eight minutes.

For most of the ride I pedaled with my dad who is generally a bit faster on his two-wheeling, flat handlebar-headed steed than I.

We rode past some scenic areas of the region.
Linoma Beach - fun, but occasionally deadly family/partier destination, which according to hearsay, may be closed for the time being(?)

A feedlot - some skittish cattle, but a few stuck around to fulfill my need for personable subject matter.

Yes, all in all, a good time was had by most.