Reeking of Sage

There are so many different scents Out There right now that it can be hard to separate one from another. By the time I arrived back home, though, just one remained and it was overpowering - the scent of sage had followed me home. It coated my legs. It was embedded in the fibers of my kit. It had likely wafted up and become entangled in the hair on my head. It had mingled with sweat and become plastered to my arms. If I had taken the time to smell my tires, my chain, I might have found it there as well. The sage is everywhere Out There, growing in on the trail, a pungent wall that must be brushed against at every twist and turn.

Dendromecon regida (Bush Poppy), I do believe

you can call this section of trail what ever you want, I call it "the Pits," and boy is it full of them

Not that sage is the only plant out there showing off - clumps of California bluebell stand out against all the green, the grasses, and all that lower clumping stuff with the yellow flowers that I have decided to classify as a weed since it is so prevalent that no one takes photos of it - just what is it anyway? Oh well, and anyway, I did nearly run over my first serpent of the season, not the viper kind, but rather a passive gopher snake that slithered off into the brush before I had a chance to get my camera ready. There will be plenty more chances. 

now i see why they installed a new gauge in this basin

dragonflies doing their thang

little waterfall

ponds in the spreading grounds

As for that injured leg, it turns out that calf muscle is the very same one that pulls the pedal up around the back half of the rotation, and it was tight the whole ride (I haven't ridden in two weeks because of it). Not willing to push it too far, too fast yet, I didn't go up and over the dam as I had hoped to do. But that is a-okay, as it leaves me physically capable of spending a little time with racquet in hand in the afternoon, and able to ride the Golden Streets on Sunday. Win win.