The picture for today’s post shows the Continental Life Building as seen from the dolphin fountain on St. Louis University’s campus in midtown.  This picture and today’s header were taken a couple of weeks ago.  It was a Saturday and it was the last day warm enough to still feel like summer.  Since then and now the weather has gotten cooler.  I’ve had to turn on the heat.  And this morning’s bike ride in the Park was down right chilly.

It was fifty, foggy and dark when I left the house and forty-eight with just the first hint of dawn when I returned.  I was a little under dressed for the weather, which is probably why I am whining now.  I stuck mainly to the streets, they are better lit then the bike path and what with the Hampton highway interchange being closed there are fewer vehicles in the Park now.

I did have two encounters of the vehicular kind.  The first was heading to the roundabout above the Zoo’s Bird Cage.  A car came up behind me, but wouldn’t pass.  At the roundabout I went counterclockwise, the way you are suppose to go.  The car went clockwise and beat me to the turnoff.  Alright then, at least we didn’t tie.

The second encounter was around Pagoda Circle.  I was going around the circle and while passing over one of the bridges, I heard either frogs croaking or ducks quacking, but I couldn’t tell which.  So I decided to go around again to try to hear better.  On the second time around, I came upon a pair of runners who were crossing the road and then a city bus comes wheeling around the bend.  The runners scattered left, I scattered right, the bus slowed and the frogs or ducks were silent.

I only saw five other cyclists this morning, which is one below par.  I did see the Washington University’s ROTC doing push ups in the cold wet grass.  I also saw a smaller, but dedicate group of women doing crunches on the granite around Art Hill’s statue of St. Louis.  Wet grass, cold granite, maybe I shouldn’t whine about the weather, but embrace the change of seasons?  Anyway, I got twenty miles today.