Saturday, October 5th Errand Ride

I didn't record my ride home yesterday because I wasn't feeling well at work and left early, and it was pouring rain, and I didn't think to turn on the RidewithGPS.  I wasn't sure what was up.  It wasn't a particular  illness as much as an overall sense of being unwell and exhausted, and I felt hot like I had a fever, but I'm not sure if I did have a fever.  At any rate, I didn't feel like I was doing my job very well, and I have well over a week of sick leave built up, so I thought it would be wise to take .4 days of it.  When I got down to the intersection of Camino Cruz Blanca and Camino del Monte Sol, the traffic was backed up because the low part of the road was flooded.  I took a right and did a long end run around all the potential pools of water.  During a similar storm, right after I coverted the Schwinn to a three speed, I had to ride through water in the Gail Ryba tunnel that I am pretty sure was up to the rear hub, if not over it, and my feet got soaked dipping in and out of the water as I pedaled through the puddle.

I did feel better this morning, and Laura and I did an 18.1 mile ride around the city to do some errands and other stuff.  I'm not good at looking at the thermometer before leaving, but my guess is that it was in the lower fifties this morning, (when the photo was taken), when we got underway.  We rode up to Mountain Cloud to help direct cars and guests for a Rio Grande Mindfulness Institute's Heart of Teach workshop for area public school teachers.  From there, we cut across the base of the mountains before dropping into town down Garcia Street and Canyon Road, to ride along Alameda beside the Santa Fe River for a little while before cutting over to DeVargas Mall on a new small section of trail whose name I never can remember.  I wanted to find an old copy of the Joy of Cooking at Op.Cit Books.  My daughter really loves the scones I make, but she claims she can't make them right.  I wanted to bring her the correct recipe for her twentieth birthday, but alas, they didn't have a copy.  We went over to the Barkin' Boutique, a thrift store that supports the Espanola Animal Shelter, and picked up some clothes.  (My pants really seem to be falling apart).  And then we had lunch at the Santa Fe Bar and Grill after calling our son to come over and eat with us.  He turns eighteen on October 22, so then we will have two adult children.

After that, we cruised home on the river trail.  The water is still flowing from the rain up closer to town, but it's just mud down by Siler Road, where the River Trail currently ends.  The cottonwoods that have been planted along the river are all turning a glorious yellow.  We helped plant some of them a few years ago, during that phase of the river restoration project, and they are already getting quite tall.  It makes me think that planting trees is one of the best things you can do of lasting value for the land and for the community.

This ride doesn't really count as part of Three Speed October.  I already filled out the form for the current week.