So yesterday was warm enough for me to take my first bike ride of 2014 and it was glorious! Only about 13 miles and it took me an hour and a half, because you know I couldn’t just ride – I had to stop and take pictures and smile. I smiled a lot. Like, pretty constantly. The sun was shining, I was riding in my new neighborhood, my bike was freshly tuned, and the wind was in my hair. Well, not really. I had on a skull cap and a helmet. But had my hair been free, the wind would have been ruffling it to Wind Blown Surfer Look.
Not to change the subject, but do you know how hard it is to concentrate when small, pain in the ass dogs are barking at you? Just an observation.
Now for your entertainment, photos from my ride:
First, my baby! All tuned up and ready to roll. For those of you new to my biking fetish, this is my Cannondale Quik – hence the reference in my title. Fooled ya, didn’t I?
What’s this? Something green!!! No clue what it is, exactly, but anything green is welcome at this point. Taken along Nicolet Drive.
One of the coolest things about where I live now is that I am a mere 5 minutes from the Bay. I stopped here, because I thought it was a rest stop. Turns out it was actually someone’s front porch. If you look over the fence, you see the house at the base of the drop off, on the shoreline. Pretty cool and great view. Can’t imagine hauling groceries down every week though.
Another view of the frozen Bay from the mystery front porch.
Did I mention I am only 5 minutes from the Bay? I LOVE IT! Okay, this was from the boat landing off Point Pleasant. “Boat Landing” is a generous description, seeing as there is no actual place to back up a trailer, but I am sure we can use it for our kayaks. There’s another one close to Cousin Jeremy’s – I threatened to leave our kayaks at his house and he didn’t even bat an eyelash. COME ON WARM WEATHER! I’m hyperventilating here.
Water is running like crazy all over. This is the bottom portion of Wequiock Creek, I am pretty sure.
And this would be the top of Wequiock Creek, before it tumbles over the Niagra Escarpment. You see me using my big geological words, like I actually know my shit? Gotta love the internet. And now for the big finale….
Wequiock Falls! I think in the summer this is down to a trickle, but in the spring when the snow is melting, it draws a lot of activity. Located off of Hwy 57, near the Jean Nicolet statue, in case you wanna take a drive by this weekend. You can stop at the Settlement and get some fish when you’re done.
Here are a few more images:
There is a set of stairs you can take that will bring you down to the creek – I was wearing biking shoes, so didn’t venture too far past the lowest level. Having metal clips on the bottom makes poor traction on rocks, and I didn’t want them packed with mud either. Plus, I found out water easily seeps up the bottom of my shoes, so I ended up pedaling home with wet socks. Totally worth it, though.
No, I did not venture into the area unmaintained by park staff. My normally adventuresome nature didn’t want to fall in the creek.
And in case you were wondering who loves Allie….
Linda! Duh!
Wequiock Creek after it goes thru the culvert. It then winds thru the woods until it gets to Nicolet Drive – which was the first picture in the series.
My first of many decent hill climbs this year. This is VanLanen Road, and I took it up from Nicolet to the Falls. The good thing was that I got to go back down it. What goes up, must come down, thank goodness. You can see the Bay in the distance.
And that’s it, my friends. I’ll see you Thursday with a house tour.
Sue
Brick House 