"Hazards of the Ride"

Long hot ride today. I even ran out of water and had to take an alternate route to get more. It makes you think about all the water sources out there. Naturally anywhere there is a human occupied dwelling there is usually potable water. In a desperate situation I wouldn't hesitate to knock on a  residential door to ask for some water. Most people are happy to oblige even if it is from the hose. I personally would rather hit a business for some fine quality h2o than a residential any day. Thank you to Wendys fast food chain for the ice water today. It was Gooooooood!

Today a bee flew in my mouth wile I was riding. I could feel the fuzzy body and the stinger as well on the roof of my mouth. Surprisingly it wasn't as bad as sniffing up a fire ant, I don't recommend that for anyone. Luckily nobody was around to hear me spitting and hocking in an attempt to rid of the perpetrator. After all was said and done I did a heap better than the bee who was spewn all over the trail. Sorry there will be a honey shortage and it is my fault. 

Low hanging Russian Olive trees everywhere today. They will wreck your world. The thorns are needle-like and are about 1 1/2 inches long. You metric folks can do the math, I am too tired. I have been punctured by them to many times to count. They are easy to recognize because they have very light colored (almost gray) leaves. It looked like they were all bearing young fruit today so I decided to do a quick research that I will share:

 Russian-Olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia)

The fruit of the Russian Olive resembles the olive and the leaf of the chaste tree. Russian Olive is the most commonly accepted name in the United States, though occasionally it is called the oleaster. Notice that since it is not a true olive the common name is hyphenated. The fruit is white colored and is fragrant. It has a sweat tasting flesh that matures in the late summer, but may persist on the tree throughout the winter. Young twigs are silver and often have thorns. 

Despite the small hazards, in all it was a beautiful day!