How Light It Is

We've been really surprised at how light it stays at night. If we go to bed between 9:30 and 10pm, it's almost as light as during the middle of the day. I was driving home last night from dinner with some friends, and the streetlights were just popping on. It was 10:10pm! It's a bit disconcerting, but kind of nice in a way. I'll take a picture one day soon to post, so you can see what I mean.

Longest Ride So Far

While John at the school working today, I went out for a ride. I made it to Picture Butte and back. It was 62km in total. It was great on the way there, the wind was at my back and it was generally downhill. Coming back though-big surprise-not so fun. I was riding mostly uphill, directly into the wind. The wind wasn't too bad, but after riding 30km, it felt pretty strong on occasion! I only managed an average speed of 24km/hr. Hopefully with more riding that will improve. It's not fast enough to keep up with John & Jay. I'll need to bring it up over 30km.hr to keep with them. They both have about 4 years more riding in than I do.

I forgot to put sunscreen on my legs, and they are burned. I'm not used to my legs getting any sun. I have a real tan going though, which is really unusual for me.

Here are a couple of pictures, just to prove I actually made it! The view is of Lethbridge from a distance. The cutest thing I saw was two little foals playing. They were really small, and absolutely adorable. Unfortunately there was no safe place to stop for a picture.

Bike Ride

John & I went out for a 32km bike ride this afternoon. Unfortunately the wind was up a bit, so it was 28km/hr with gusts to 37km. It wasn't too bad for the most part, but every now and again it would be hard to ride against. I didn't take too many pictures, but here are a few. I was trying to get a picture of the sky off to the north west of us. It was really, really dark. They must have been having a storm.

Hopefully I'll be out again tomorrow and Sunday. John is going to the school to work tomorrow, so he won't be out. On Sunday I think he's going to go for a long ride on his own. Unfortunately, I am so far behind him in terms of cycling fitness that I tend to hold him up.

Poor Poodle

Poor Molly isn't feeling great these days. Her hips have really started to give her trouble, and with her stomach she can't take any of the oral medications well. We're going to try the injections again, to see if that gives her some relief. She still wants to walk, especially down by the coulees, and tries to pull us that way whenever we go out, but she can barely manage to get around the block. It's so sad when doggies get old.

Coulees, part 2

Here are a few more pictures. The wooden building is Fort Whoop-Up. Not really sure what that is, but we'll go one day to check it out.

The Coulees, part 1

Wow, it's been almost a month since I posted anything! I guess that goes to show nothing's been happening here.

The weather today is amazing, so I took the opportunity to ride into town. I took some pictures along the way, so you can see how much greener everything is right now. The coulees are at their greenest in May & June, the "rainy season" in Lethbridge. Come July, everything will be brown again from the heat & sun.

The pictures are taken along Whoop-Up, some going east into town, and some going west, back home. I can't remember if I mention it in a previous post, but I've been able to ride up both sides of Whoop-Up for a few months now. That was an accomplishment for me, as I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to.