Training Log Archive: CleverSky

So, it snowed overnight and through most of the morning. How much? Hard to say. By the Gagarin method, there was 2" on my deck when it switched over to rain shortly before stopping. By the weather people method it doubtless would have been significantly more. On the pavement, which had more stored heat, it all melted as soon as it landed, so I guess by the Gagarin method, it didn't snow there at all. In any case, there was no need for any dealings, and by late afternoon, you had to snoop around to find any remaining anywhere.

A stroll around Robbs Hill (including some on the road) with Nancy. Saw a beaver and a heron, as well as a bunch of other birds (geese, ducks, and things I couldn't identify).

An eastward loop this time, in the middle of the day when the temperature was still nice. Because I could. Definitely on the windy side, though. A minor scare when I turned onto Mulpus Rd. and some bits of trash were blowing across the street; I hit it and heard a "pop!". Oh no, I thought, not another flat so soon, on my new tires. But it wasn't a flat, I thik one of the things I hit was one of those air-filled plastic bags that are used for packing material. Found the place where the snowmobile trail crosses Page St., but it looks like to get to it, instead of going up the driveway like I did on my mountain bike, you have to go around the perimeter of the peoples' lawn. It looks like the kind of house where the homeowners might be welcoming to snowmobiles, but it's less clear whether they'd like having someone on a bike or running there. Also unclear what the deal is once you cross, I may check it out quietly on foot at some point.

Got my shipment of rubber products from Bike Nashbar today, so I replaced the worn-out tires on the Incubus and went for a little wander around the south part of town. Breezy and cold, so I'll call it brisk. During the early part I was thinking that I should have worn a hat under my helmet, and during the later part I was thinking that warmer gloves would have been a good idea.

A minor annoyance that started last night, right around the time those dogs were following me: it feels like I have a thorn in the sole of my foot. I took off my shoe last night, thinking that something had gotten in there, but I didn't find anything. It still feels the same a day later, as if there's a tiny wire shard in there or something, but I can't see anything. Could just be a crack, but I put lotion on it and that hasn't helped either.

C • epsom salt 2

Shorter Mystery Blazes, without using the snowmobile bridge. Muddy here and there, but not too bad. A little chilly until I got warmed up.

In the Hickory Hills area, I ran past four teenagers with two dogs. As I went by, one of them said, "They're friendly!". (I've never heard anyone in those circumstances say, "Watch out, my dog is mean!".) One of the dogs seemed interested in this new thing passing by, and decided to follow me. And so did the other one. The teenagers called after them, but they weren't listening. They'd drop back briefly when called, then decide to run with me again. One of the kids sprinted to catch up, and tried to grab one of the dogs; I finally stopped in hopes of giving him a chance, and he snagged one. Then another kid caught up, and I waited while he tried in vain to grab the other, but it was too quick and evasive. Finally the other two people got there, and one of them was maybe the owner, because it ran to her and she was able to slap on a leash. I've got no complaint with having dogs off leash out in the woods where hardly anybody goes. But they really had no voice control over them. As I said to the dogs at one point, "You better go back, or your owners may never find their way out of the woods". If I had kept running, the dogs may well have followed me all the way home.

Groton rail trail, south to the first intersection and back, just ahead of The Dim. Knocking the rust off, I think it took me only three tries to start, and a few more than that when I turned around. One actual fall on the way south, I landed on my feet and just let the unicycle go skittering ahead. One comment that I got from a woman that I've never heard before: "I just got one of those, now I need to learn to ride it".

Some days it's just too ugly to want to go out. Pouring rain, and blowing like stink. But I'm still waiting for the new tires for my bikes, so I couldn't ride the rollers, and it was 60 F, so sometimes it just makes sense to go out into the teeth of it. I ventured forth right after my last meeting of the day, and the rain had lightened up, and the wind wasn't all that bad, just a few gusts. By the end, it was raining pretty hard again, and I was definitely drenched. I didn't wear glasses, so that helped in terms of morale. A little stiff from yesterday's long adventure. It might be my imagination, but it seems like with the reduced traffic, some of the remaining cars are driving kind of fast.

C • I've noticed that of the fe... 7

Midstate Trail, from Barre Falls Dam to East Hill Rd., with Nancy. Somehow this ended up being a mile and a half longer than it was supposed to be, because it was only about 7.5 miles when I did it back in 2015, but it was over 9 miles this time. We didn't start in exactly the same spot, but the difference wasn't that big (about 1 km) and we didn't finish in the same place (about 350 m). Don't know what happened here. My watch ran out of battery so I corrected the time and distance based on Nancy's GPS tracks.