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[oliver1850]

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[oliver1850]

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[oliver1850]

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[oliver1850]

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[oliver1850]

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[fiamme red]

The oak tree with the fence around it is know as The Witness Tree. It was used as a survey point when the Rock Island Railroad was built in the 1850s. It must have been a large tree then to be used as a survey point. It's looked like this for as long as I can remember (40 years).The man only asked him what he had on board, and he said
"I got livestock, I got livestock
I got cows, I got pigs, I got sheep, I got mules, I got all livestock"
Well, he said, "you're all right, boy
You don't have to pay no toll
You just go right on through"
So, he went on through the toll gate, and as he went through
He started picking up a little bit of speed
Picking up a little bit of steam
He got on through he turned a look back to the man, he said
"Well, I fooled you, I fooled you
I got pig iron, I got pig iron
I got all pig iron"

Down the Rock Island Line is a mighty good road
The Rock Island Line, it's the road to ride
The Rock Island Line, it's a mighty good road
Well, if you want to ride you gotta ride like you find it
Get your ticket at the station of the Rock Island Line

[oliver1850]

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[akelman]

As ever, thanks for the tour of your neighborhood.

[oliver1850]

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[fiamme red]

Here's the ride for today, my early 90s Allez. I really like this frame, but would love it if the top tube was shorter and the head tube taller. I didn't ride in the drops much today, too many clothes on.Maybe try moving your brake levers up a little?

Is that an adapter for a threadless stem? If the fork is threaded, you can use a Nitto Technomic stem to get it higher.

[oliver1850]

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[oliver1850]

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[akelman]

We're surrounded by sheep farms. Not to mention, right on campus the ag school has a huge sheep breeding program. I take the kids out to the barns for lambing. Anyway, your posts always make me think I should put up pics from one of my rides. If I remember, maybe I'll get a smaller camera one of these days, something that will fit in a pocket easily.

[spiderman]

Great pics...nice muskrat shot...and the witness tree.
Reminds me of one of my favorite wendell berry poems...

...But here
The light of Heaven"s sun descends.
Stained and mingled with its forms,
Heavy trunk and limb, light leaf and wing,
That we must pray for clarity to see,
Not raw sources, symbols, worded powers,
But fellow presences, independent, called
Out of nothing by no word of ours,
Bless'ed, here with us.

Thanks for sharing the beauty of life...
If ben reads the forum
This post has to be better than any card he could get...
Merry Christmas

[rounder]

Great pictures.

The rock island line is the road to ride.

[oliver1850]

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[spiderman]

it's nice to freshen up the forum with this post of yours
and hopefully others will get out and take some great shots
of the beauty around them and post them as well!
there's something completely set apart
and incredibly joyful
about riding in winter
...especially if you have both of your eyes open to take it in...
now to decide to bike or ski in for rounds.
i suppose the only danger is getting so enthusiastic about the winter posting
that we do this...

((and here you were so gracious about not hijacking))

[Karin Kirk]

Oliver,

That's wonderful, thanks for taking the time to share the pictures and write a nice description. The sheep look really sweet, especially under that blueish-dusky sky that always reminds me of Christmas.

That's sad about the coyotes though. Around here the ranchers put llamas out with the sheep. The llamas are badass enough to keep coyotes away. Wolves are a different story, but the llamas do help with that too.

The Allez is the perfect choice for winter riding. A classic, but not so fancy that you'd worry about it.

Thanks again for the treat!

[akelman]

Ari: I hope you will post some pics of your rides. I'm surprised to hear there are that many sheep around you. How are they protected out there? You have coyotes too, don't you?

As Karin said, llamas, man, llamas. No self-aware coyote wants to mess with a llama, apparently. As for wildlife, we see lots of birds, especially raptors, and the most amazing groups (gaggles, flocks, parliaments, murders, what?) of wild turkeys. We also do run across the occasional coyote, though they're pretty secretive, and plenty of deer. But mostly it's about the agriculture around here: endless acres of fruit trees are the highlight.

[buldogge]

I see squirrels and bunny rabbits run out of parks or bushes once in awhile...

Thanx for taking the time to run the stuff to the PO, Mark...

Now it's snowing here as...oh well...at least the little one is excited for a white xmas!

I've pledged to myself to ride when I can, once the roads have been cleared...so..I wedged some 28c Pasela Greys on the Sampson (at least it's Ti and should clean up easily).

Everytime you write about getting out there in the cold it gives me a little kick in the rear...keep it up.

TA
-Mark in St. Louis

[oliver1850]

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[dave thompson]

In my front yard this morning. The 'fleet' wanders through our neighborhood frequently with my dog and cat watching them intently though the front window. No riding, too icy, too bad.

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/2934/turkeys.jpg (http://img69.imageshack.us/i/turkeys.jpg/)

[Ken Robb]

and you found THE road with the curve too.

[HenryA]

Great post!

oliver1850 -- thank you!

[oliver1850]

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