Day salvaged - all is well

Trying out this Strava Storyteller app for the first time. Seems kind of cool.

So, what an absolutely awesome ride this was. It's hard to express how much I love rides like this. Not many people would understand, even if I tried. The ride wasn't fast, at all intense, or even all that beneficial from a fitness standpoint. But it was a ride I didn't even think I was going to get in today, after waking up to almost 2" of snow on the ground. A snow that was not forecast, at least not for this side of town. I woke up feeling kind of crappy anyway, so pretty much wrote off riding today. A couple of coffees, and a few hours of some of our dependable Colorado sunshine, and I was feelling better about getting a ride in. I love night rides, and this one did not disappoint. Clear skies, a bright moon, calm wind (as in none), a temperature I can't even call "cold" (I was perfectly toasty), and good music playing in the headphones... it really doesn't get much better. 

One of the reasons I enjoy early evening rides is because I love to take sunset photos. Colorado has to have some of the best sunsets, and they just never get old. I didn't really expect to take any shots on this ride, simply because my main goal was just to get a ride in and I was starting kind of late in the day. Here's the first shot I came upon, just as the sunset was about to disappear under the horizon. The cloud to the right caught my attention first. That is not Pikes Peak, but the location of that cloud is in the general direction of Pikes Peak. At this time of year, the sun sets in a west to southwest direction.

The best sunset photos are often after the sun has already set, and the sky on the horizon becomes all shades of bright orange, red, yellow, etc. I stopped to take this photo as I was cresting the hill along the trail beside the dam road. Just as I stopped, I noticed a huge flock of geese flying into view. I missed getting the main flock, which had to be 1000 or more geese, but managed to catch the tail end of them, which was still a heck of a lot of geese. I always wonder, where the heck are they going and do they all even know? I think they're just following the one goose that said "Hey, let's go this way. Follow me!".

Moon shots are hard to get with a smartphone camera. Tonight the moon was super bright against the clear sky. I didn't even need to turn on my bike light as I was winding around the trail through the park because it was so bright. 

I would like to thank coffee, and the Colorado sunshine for making this ride possible. And, the Lord. Can't forget Him! I am blessed to live in Colorado and to be able to get out on my bike and enjoy the beauty of it all.