After washing the supper dishes, I carried my bike up from the basement and set out on an evening ride. I followed a favourite circuit: riding along the Rideau River to Hogs Back Falls, and then following the canal back home. The sun had just set when I left, and I rode through a long, fading dusk.
As I rode through the twilight under the trees, I admired the colours of the sky reflecting off the river and bracketing the far, shadowed bank with bands of gold, bronze and turqoise. Dark clusters of ducks threw long wakes in the swift flowing water. Red winged blackbirds sang their evening songs in last year's cattails along the shoreline. At least two great blue herons lifted as I passed and escorted me briefly along my way, before curving backward against the sky to disappear behind me again in the darkness.
I rode quickly, for exercise rather than relaxation -- also to stay warm. The air cooled quickly once the sun set. The faintest mist began to gather along the river, and I won't be surprised to see fog in the morning.
I've booked off the week following the Easter weekend, which gives me a full ten days to enjoy the spring weather. I'll have to take at least one of those mornings for a more leisurely ride along the river.
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