More light

I went out for another moonlit walk very late Friday, with the moon high in the clear sky. It really is amazing how much light it reflects, if you're out of the city lights and can let your eyes adapt.

Earlier, I had cycled home in the dark with my metal halide arc lamp attached to my head to light the way, and again saw that interesting and unusual phenomenon of the cautious, courteous, even deferential motorists. How often do you see that? But, as they wait to make a left turn while I'm still quite a distance from the intersection, they see only two points of light, one very bright and high, one much dimmer and low (from my auxiliary LED headlight). They really can't tell my distance, nor my speed, and, most importantly, I don't think they can even tell for sure that I'm riding a bicycle. So rather than turn in front of me, they figure it's best to wait until I'm past. Whatever it is that I am.

Pike Lake

I went to Pike Lake by bicycle on Saturday. It had been quite a long while since I last did so. It's about 50 km one-way, and it's a pretty but also hilly trip. The Bug Line trail is quite pretty, but the loose, narrow, crushed stone trail surface is not so nice. There were lots of people out on the very nice day, and that trail is barely wide enough for two-way traffic. The tunnel of trees effect is nice, though.

Monches Road and St. Augustine Road are narrow and twisting and very hilly, and there are more steep hills on Waterford Road and Kettle Morraine Road. Slow hard going on the way up, and, whee! descend twenty or thirty meters in a few tens of seconds at scary speed. 62km/hr for a moment down one of them, and high fifties on others with brakes on and curves ahead. I saw many motorcyclists, who enjoy the winding roads but don't have to suffer on the way up for their thrills.

It was a nice day at the little lake. Pike Lake was actually reasonably warm, with a layer of water at the very surface that was quite warm. Lots of people swimming and playing. I did some swimming, spent a few hours hanging around, and then, as you can see on the GPS track, took the easy way home, following Highway K (on the west), which is straight and wide with gentle grades. It does offer views off into the distance at places, so it's not just a dull slog down the highway.