Evening Ride With Eagle(?) Feather

This evening ride really illustrates one of the truly liberating things about having this bike, and why I love it.

It started with my granddaughter suggesting that we take an updated picture of me with my bike, since the first illustration for this blog was at the end of March, and I was in full winter coat and gloves. I am finally, after such a long wait for spring, biking without even a jacket. So here I am, finally in capris and short sleeves. No, I don't have proper biking clothing. I can see the point, but I don't think the world is ready for me in that much spandex.

When we went out to take the photo, I hadn't really planned to ride much - I'm a morning person and evening energy is pretty low. If I had had my old bike, I would have put it back away. With my e-bike I thought, "Why not? I can pedal as much as I have energy for and use as much power I want to." So I ended up going probably three miles and finding what might be an eagle feather.

I started out thinking I might just cruise up Segoe a bit and see how far I got. In a couple of blocks, there was Hilltop going off to my left. My nemesis, the steep hill that had always stood between me and where I wanted to go. I had only managed to "bike" up it once, and that meant walking most of it. In the past two years my bursitis has been bad enough that I couldn't even do that. Let's just see whether my e-bike can defeat my arch nemesis!

Whoosh! Up I went, and very satisfying it was too. No big deal. I LOVE this bike!

Once at the top I had all sorts of options, so I decided to make a loop. I went east on Tokay to the end, at Glenway. Then I jogged over to the bike path that crosses Glenway half a block down. Once on the bike path I headed west.

It was just after crossing Odana that I passed the feather. It was right in the middle of the bike path. I went past, but turned around to go back for it - it was quite big, and I was curious what sort of bird it could have been from. Here is a photo I took when I got back home. The ruler part of the square is 10 inches; later I measured it with a tape and got 12 inches or 30.5 centimeters.

I did a little research on a website I found called The Feather Atlas, and I believe it is either from a Bald Eagle or a Turkey Vulture. I have to admit that the Turkey Vulture is more likely, since I have seen them over the Odana Golf Course before, but I love the idea that it could be from an eagle. The amazing thing is that it isn't impossible. When I was a kid it couldn't have been. DDT had decimated raptor populations and there were no eagles around Madison; now eagles are nesting in Southern Wisconsin and Turkey Vultures circle overhead. What a wonderful recovery for our national bird and other raptors.

I came back through the Odana Golf Course and had the joy of Hilltop going downhill this time. Wheee! Easy up, easy down. And a decent ride for a low-key evening. It may be embarrassing to admit that I need the psychological support of power assist, but I do - and now I have it. :-)