A Wonderful Place For The Birds

No, I'm not going into a new business or running a rib joint on the side, but Mindy and I rode out along Woodland Avenue today en route to the John Heinz Wildlife Sanctuary and couldn't resist getting a shot of me in front of this aptly and mysteriously named establishment.



There's the entrance off Lindburgh Ave. We rode through West Philly and some less than engaging neighborhoods and fairly industrial strength trafficked streets but Lindburgh itself was a pleasant and ample street. Once inside we stopped at the visitor center for some info. Fascinating place with lots of information about the watershed etc.



We sat on their front porch and had our snacks before setting off to ride the trail around the refuge. It was rough road and we got a little lost. What we were told was a 3 mile loop turned into an almost 10 mile ride, but it was beautiful and enjoyable. We passed scenes such as these.





Not to be confused with scenes such as this one of a major industrial site along the Schuylkill on our way home. We chose a different route, going along Island Avenue to Bartrum to Essington which turns into Passayunk to 22nd and back into town. All in all about 28 miles for me and a little more for Mindy as she came down from Mt. Airy for the ride. But it is always nice to have somewhere to go, something to see and to be with someone as opposed to my sometimes endless solo circling on the trail.


So while I tried not to find out what happened at the tour today so that I could watch it in innocence, the news of Sastre's winning the stage and the fact that he didn't win it by enough to leave him safe before Saturday's time trials was even on the NY Times web page. So now I'll settle in to watch the stage for the sheer enjoyment, despite the suspense being gone.

Tomorrow our attention will begin to shift to getting ready for our weekend in the Hudson Valley. We leave Friday for the New York Bike Club's Hudson Valley ride on Sunday. More on that next week.