Monday morning I quickly finished up some stuff I needed to attend to and then got out for a 31-ish mile ride on the Boone in the nipply Autumn air north of town.
After a weekend of pretty much non-stop wind and rain I expected the worst in road conditions but was pleasantly surprised by what I was given. For the most part, the dirt roads were tacky and I encountered none of the deep mud that I was expecting. Some were actually packed down tight and made for some fast rolling.
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You wouldn’t know it by the flat photo of Battle Road above, but I did eventually hit some nice hills. Nothing requiring me to get out of the big ring, but enough to feel like I was doing something.
I continue to experiment with the new to me Sony RX10 III that I picked up via eBay with the funds I got from selling my D7100, and I continue to waffle between being super impressed and just a smidge let down at times.
A pre-ride check shows that some new tires might be needed soon.
I know, given the camera’s sensor size, it can’t match what my Nikon D500 or the Fuji X-T1 offer, but sometimes I think I got the perfect shot when previewed on the LCD but when I get home I’m left a little underwhelmed (welcome to the world of the unprofessional photographer). I suppose the Fujinon XF 18-135 mm could be a good option to get from wide to zoom, but I do dig the reach I can get with the Sony.
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All fun, creative stuff though, and to be honest I am still navigating my way around some of the settings and also had some mistakes due to the auto focus setting being accidentally changed when I was taking it in and out of my bag.
To be honest, I’ve been in a real mental funk lately and have been finding it really hard to maintain the positive mindset that I have been working on over the past few months. This ride really helped with that, well, at least until I got home. It’s a real work in progress for sure, you can’t just hit Command Z on 46 years worth of self loathing.
Lots of things going on with this dirt road hump shack.
Tuesday morning my brain and growing belly were hoping for some more saddle time, so after I got the family out the door I headed south of town with the Boone.
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I sort of knew going in that Tuesday’s ride would not be as long as Monday’s, and mileage wise it wasn’t. But between the time I spent backtracking because of a road closure, fighting a STIFF westerly headwind, plowing through a long stretch of freshly laid dirt, and taking photos of super important things like a heap of discarded potatoes along the road, I think I was out for the same amount of time, despite going fewer miles. Cuss!
At times I was like a fat Sven Nys trying to plow through a sandy section of a cross course.
I’m hoping that the rest of the week will cooperate with a couple more rides. The weather is just about perfect this week and I want to try and get as many rides in as I can before the winter slush and slop descend upon us.
I’ve really been all over the place recently, on my bike and in my head. I’m hoping that the riding, the sun we’ve had the past two days, and some quality sleep will eventually nudge me in the right direction.
Later.