I LOVE this time of year when the trees begin to change and the days are balmy and sunny. Not too hot, not too cold (though a cold or hot day can still pop up here or there). Today, Russ and I took advantage of this sunny, balmy day and rode our bikes on the prairie path. I did not wear my cycling shoes or bike shorts. Just wanted to take a nice cruise through the prairie wilderness and enjoy the ride (it is, afterall, the triathlon off season for most of us). The wind picked up as we headed out and by the time we got home, it was quite windy! Resistance makes for a good workout!

I forgot my camera! But I did find the two plants that seem to have caught my attention on this ride on google images.

Remember Milk Weed?

I remember as a kid cutting them open to see the "milk" only to find GLUE. It was sticky and a little smelly, if I recall. But it was fun to discover the unusual stuff inside. There was plenty of milk weed in the prairie this week and some caterpillars found their way to them. Hmmm...wonder if they poke through the blossom and drink the "milk".

My favorite late summer, early autumn wild plant is the Cat Tail. Usually found in swampy areas, the prairie is full of clusters where water likes to pool or where the brook babbles here and there.

So pretty, wispy and whimsical!

An hour later...our lungs were filled with fresh air, our beings filled with the beauty of God's creation and our legs filled with unsteady jiggle as we had worked hard peddling uphill with the wind in our faces. Invigorating!

I love riding my bike....

"Every time I see an adult on a bicycle I no longer despair for the future of the human race."-H.G. Wells

On the running trail with me.....

My run on Thursday, September 3, 2009 a bit after 6 PM.... I love this time of year to run...on the prairie path...at sunset. There are some beautiful sunsets in this preserve. Good thing I brought my camera with me tonight. BINGO....one of many great sunsets I see on this path.

I always start warming up by walking up a small loop where on one side, hobby plane enthusiast are radioing their aircraft through the air from an airfield just for such aircraft... See the plane at the bottom of the picture?

Leaving the parking lot behind, and taking on a 5K steady run....

It's about 6:15 PM and the sun is setting behind some clouds and starting its' awesome show!

Passing pass the plane hobbyists' air field....

Kool....

around the "walking warm-up" route to my stretching bench...

A beautiful wildflower greets me on the way...

The sunset's expression keeps changing....

The bench I do my warm-up stretches on (it overlooks a beautiful pond).

Stretch, set.....

GO!

Chasing the sunset....what a motivator!

Crossing a wooden bridge.

The big loop is about 5.8 miles around. Today I'm doing a short, slow, steady run (obviously, with a lot of stops for picture taking) since I'm still trying to recover from this glute pull!

A runner ahead of me takes a turn past another bridge and heads out to prairie land!

Horses are ridden on this trail too! Sometimes....you have to tip toe through the tulips!

Spectacular!

Here is the big turnaround! Running back to the parking lot of a 3.1 finish.

the infamous brook ... Springbrook creek. At one time, the forest preserve district was going to dam it up and a dragon shaped lake would form. The park was renamed, "Dragon Lake Forest Preserve" for a while. But the funds could never be raised. The project was too expensive and the idea was abandoned. The Springbrook Prairie name eventually returned. It has become a bird sanctuary now. Lots of deer, quail and pheasant run around here. Have seen some snake as well!

Another jogger runs up and over a hill. At one point, I started to catch up to him and thought I was becoming fast. But then he took off with high speed. He must be working on his fartklets!

Returning over the wooden bridge again...

Looking at the sunset over the prairie grasses...

I'm back on the warm-up path "cooling down" now with a walk. Looks like I'm walking up to heaven!

I can't stop looking at it! Can't stop snapping pictures!

Walking past the picnic area. Peaceful!

I'm watching this show while doing my cool down stretches...which are similar to the warm up stretches...

Work out those Achilles!

Is God a great artist or what!?!?!?!

Self portrait with the amazing background!

Trigger happy!

Swim, bike, Run..... It's what I do........

Too hard to see, but there was actually a person sky sailing into the sunset. Imagine... I was listening to my Mp3 still...and "Major Tom" came on ....how appropriate: "Earth below us, drifting, falling, floating, calling, calling, hoooooommmmeeeeee..........."

Driving home....

And what do I find? Dear hubby reading on the front porch! Even though he's facing West, the neighborhood houses were in the way for him to enjoy the sunset...
In the backyard? An amazing moonrise!!!!! A full moon too! This picture didn't do it justice. There was an orange cast to it. So....went from an amazing sunset, to and amazing moonrise...all within the span of one hour! Great run!