15 March 2013

It's warmer than it was when I last rode around the south end of the
lake -- but I'm going to wear the shoes with no ventilation holes.

***
And my toes were chilly anyway. I suspect that that was in part
because the shoes are pointy in the toe and my feet aren't.

This time I pulled off on Dwight (which seemed a more comfortable
place than 200S and County Farm) and consulted my map. Then I followed
200S to Ferguson and Ferguson to Zimmer Road.

It was pretty easy for Zimmer Road to be *much* more comfortable than
it was last summer -- the previous time it rated a teeny-tiny notch
above "I don't care WHERE that side road goes!" I did reject Rozella
Road because it didn't go where I wanted to go, but I knew that it
wasn't very far to Fergusen -- and if I recall correctly, I pulled off
on Fergusen first and read the map afterward.

There were a number of factors in the improvement: First and
foremost, the terrifying loose gravel had gotten packed down nice and
firm and looked like concrete. Still a drop-off most places, so I
never tried actually riding on it.

The traffic was lighter; three-abreast squeezes were almost constant
on the previous trip, and I don't recall any from this trip.

And I was going the other way. It makes a big difference when the
road is getting better instead of getting worse, and the shoulder on
the east side has a lot of wide spots where the west side is almost
uniformly narrow, and I think that the steep drop-offs were fewer and
farther apart. Of course, a lot of places are steep on both sides
because sections of the road are built on fill.

And the stretches of fill mean there is no coasting down and climbing
back up.

Once on Zimmer I was tempted to stay on it and finally get a good look
at the roundabout, which I should stop referring to as "the new
roundabout" --though it's still the newest-- but that would mean
coming back past Avila's, I couldn't pass by without going in, and we
haven't eaten up all the fattening goodies that I bought on my last
visit there.

So I turned off at the road along the railroad -- huh, Google maps not
only doesn't think it exists, it hadn't been built when they took the
aerial photograph they call "satellite view". The photo also shows
Center continuing to Zimmer, which it no longer does. But the loop now
ending Center is shown on the map view.

Anyhow, I blundered through the Zimmer parking lots to Center, and
checked, while riding along Center, that I should have stayed on the
back road until it ended, as all the lots have exits on Center. The
gate I chose to exit by was the only one that was hard to get through!

Then I set out for Marsh, but came to Owen's West first. (It's hard to
find only when I'm looking for it.) There's a pay phone on an outside
wall of Owen's West; I must remember to look at the other supermarkets
to see whether they have pay phones.

Much to my surprise, I found everything on my list, including flat-cut
corned beef.

Thence to Warsaw Health Foods (which is much easier to get to from
Owen's West than from Marsh) where I got the oat bran that was the
objective of this journey, and a box of teriyaki brown rice crackers
that are *very* good with Avila's sour cream.

I bought more noodles today. When I make lasagna again, I'll use half
as much noodle and twice as much beef as I did the first time, which
should make it less glycemic.