Hi, readers! I don't usually post about giveaways, but I have one you don't want to miss! Here is the link:

http://www.benfranklinplumbingcharlotte.com/giveaways/

Think of all the bike gear you could buy with that prize!

Your blogger,
Flo

Warmer, Sunnier Skies

After having the temperatures drop below freezing here in South Carolina, now they are moving upwards to around sixty degrees this weekend. It is nice to feel it warming up again outside. Sometimes, when it is cold, I have to warm up for a long time before I ride. My joints will hurt otherwise from the cold. This just proves that a person determined to ride, will ride!

Whilst my dogs and cat huddle next to me at night, they sit out on the porch and absorb the sun by day. I have a little time to ride when I am not job hunting or doing errands. I take my bike along the roads in town and try to ride when there is very little traffic. The skies are beautiful.

Day and night are like two different worlds. The cold evenings can feel isolating and like a slower time. During the day, the birds are out and the plants are still pushing forth, and there is much more energy. It is a great time to get out and ride! I hope you will join me in spirit, reader, and will share your own tales of how wonderful it is to ride a bike!

Flora and Fauna

The temperature in South Carolina has gone from summer-like weather to winter chills in a matter of days. It is a lot to adjust to in the first days of the new year! What the warm weather has caused is a lot of plants starting to bloom like it is spring. It is beautiful to ride about town and to see early signs of spring. The only bad part of this is the blooms will get damaged in the frosts during the weeks to come. I have already ordered sunflower seeds to grow this spring and cannot wait. Winter can be depressing and seems to take a long time to loosen its grip. However, the photo opportunities during bike rides in winter are endless. This is from a beautiful, dead-end road near where I live:

Everything in my surroundings looks more starkly contrasted. It is fun to ride on country roads and capture the sights before the seasons change. There are some beautiful pastures and horse farms not far from town. The horses, in particular, are beautiful and make very nice photographic models. There was a lone horse grazing this week during one of my bike treks on Sweetwater Road. Here is a photograph of a beautiful new friend I met this week:

Always ride free,

Flo

Horticulture and the Country Bike Ride

If we were stationary all the time, our own yards would be our main connection to nature. When you are a bicycle enthusiast, every yard becomes your own, as you visually absorb all the green beauty. When I ride my bicycle in my small rural town, I can feel the cold air pour through my lungs and take in the beauty of all the flowers and foliage. I get to compare yard to yard, with different designs and focus. There are planters full of ivy that hang in long trails, like tentacles, coming off the side of an upstairs apartment in town. Further away from the concrete and asphalt, there are hugs gardens and old bushes, like camellias, that have been growing for a very long time. Every plant and tree seems like it can tell a story. I wonder what some plants would say if they could speak. There is one tree I pass very often that looks old and wise. I like to think that this tree would be kind and compliment people if it could speak. Here is a photo of the old, beautiful tree:

Very close to this tree is a creek. Sometimes, I mountain bike and come back to get my dog when I get tired. Her name is Betsey, and we walk down to this creek and enjoy the beautiful silence and the water. There are elephant's ear plants growing profusely throughout the creek, and the air around it seems fresher and clearer than anywhere else. Betsey likes to walk along the creek and to bark at the squirrels. It is a fun place to bike to, since there is very little traffic and it is peaceful. All of this is located in a little town called Edgefield, South Carolina. What beautiful, natural gems have you discovered where you are?

-Flo-

Freedom the Turtle

Riding a bicycle in the country is a special experience, especially if you are a photographer. You can catch sunrises and sunsets that many people only glimpse on vacation. You don't have to live in a glamorous place to catch a glimpse of nature - a fox dashing across the road, a hawk soaring overhead, or a doe and fawns nibbling sweet grass - that are comparable to images you could see in nature and photography magazines. I mountain bike, because it feels safer where I live to bike through fields and dirt roads very far out in the country. I do not like the feeling of invading the public roads, and it is a thrill to take small jumps and quick twists on newly discovered trails. One of my favorite things to do is finding large turtles in the road and rescuing them, which I do by re-homing them to a local creek. I got advice to take the turtle over to the side of the road in the direction it is moving. The problem is, some of these beautiful turtles are not facing one direction or the other. Some are not moving at all, and cars and trucks steadily advance. On top of being a bicyclist, I am now a self-identified turtle rescuer. I take the turtle and place them lightly in my backpack, and I cycle over to the local creek. There, I leave the turtles to retire to a great life and to swim to their heart's content. As a cyclist, I am probably a shock to the turtles I often find. Sometimes, I learn facts about them that I had not previously known! Recently, I found a turtle that I named "Freedom." I pulled him from the road, like all of the others, and I gently put him in the creek nearby. "Freedom" had some long, webbed things that looked like nails! I looked up some information on turtles, and what I learned is that these webbed "nails" are found on males and can attract their mates. Here is a photograph of "Freedom:"

As I took "Freedom" to the creek not far from town, I wondered how he was getting along in my backpack on what was likely his first bicycle ride. I watched with relief as he swam away into his new home. He relaxed into his new environment, and I got to enjoy filming what was like an adventure. Every day in nature is beautiful, and the mobility of bicycle riding can take you places you never imagined! 

-Flo-