I wasn’t sure that I’d get out for a ride today since I had other stuff going on.
First off, I had to take Bart the Dog on his daily adventure and today it was a romp and run, for both of us, at Riverfront Park in Billings. This park lies along the Yellowstone River and I’ve been running here for a couple of decades during which it has undergone continuous changes, some brought about by the movement of the river and others by humans.
The recent floods removed hundreds of square feet of the park, disappearing a section of trail I liked to traverse. On the downstream end of the park, humans have removed vegetation, such as anything with a trunk diameter less that 8-inches. Yes, lots of it was invasive species but they pretty much clear cut it and graded all the old twisty trails flat. I heard that another reason is that the area they cleared had become home to various encampments. OK, I guess I’ll get used to the new terrain. Here’s a photo from the extreme east end of the park, standing on what used to be Washington Street.
Bart and I ran through the regular part of the park, still in it’s natural state, and worked our way east, mostly along the river.
He loves running through the tall grass.
It is starting look like fall.
Sunrise over the Yellowstone River.
We saw some cross country runners doing a warmup run. Bart waited on a bench for them to pass.
We finished up under a colorful canopy.
Bart and I had a good time over our 3.8-mile trek, but it was time to get home, get cleaned up, and have breakfast. I got laundry started and then went across the street to check the battery on my 1983 Volvo 240. Because the car failed to start yesterday, I’d put it on the charger for 8 hours yesterday. It had cranked and tried to start but it was apparent that it needed more amps. Today showed that the charge had only brought it up to 12.3 volts instead of the 12.6 that would show a full charge. I checked the label and it looks like I bought that battery 10-years ago so I guess I got my money’s worth. I also knew that the clamps and cables were WAY overdue for a change.
I did some price comparison shopping online and I have to run over to Napa this week for a battery and cables.
Yes, this is my motorcycle blog and I’m eventually getting to that but I had to move my clothes from the washer to the dryer, do the weekly update of my Old Time Radio web site, transfer a few more 45 RPM records to digital, and make another attempt at turning some of my abundant zucchini crop into zucchini chips. Then it was time to go to a planning meeting for our upcoming RunTurkeyRun! 5K race. We met at Canyon Creek Brewing and the meeting was a short, a single beer one.
When I got home I got the bike out but realized I hadn’t washed it since my ride last Monday, the Lewistown/Roy Loop. Washed and dried, it was time for a short ride. The weather was perfect, cool and no wind. I decided to head to Molt, a 20-mile ride from my house on a quiet 2-lane road. It felt great. In Molt, I noticed they had a bluegrass show coming up at their community center. Where else would it be with, aside from a few houses and grain silos, only 3 public building: the community center, the post office, and the now-closed Prairie Winds cafe. Time for a few photos.
The road:
When I got to Buffalo Trail, I took it south for a mile or so and pulled over in a small, paved parking area. I wanted some photos but also to scour the area for shell casings. I always find some and add them to my found-brass collection that I might use for an art project. I found 5 today. Here’s some scenery shots (no pun intended.)
From there, I continued on south toward Laurel, MT, turned on Lipp Road by the Canyon Creek Battle Memorial, and wound my way back into the west end of Billings. A great, although short, ride but getting out is what it’s about.
45 miles today.
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