livedarklions

No bonus claimed, Derry NH

Next mission: A live caterpillar or butterfly. No mechanical caterpillar.

Barry2 

Well played Sir. Nice library.

Barry

Joe Bikerider

Nice one. Very odd construction. If you are going to use an old window then why not make the box the same width? Is that some New England thrift going on? Note to Barry: I guess I wasn’t thinking, got kind of excited. Maybe not enough stress in my life? I’m retired now but the last place I worked we had a table in the coffee area where people would put and take stuff. I put several books there and was often amused where they were next seen. Like our big boss who had on his book shelf “All four engines have failed”. Never could figure that guy out.

mr_bill

Doubt this will count, Monarch flyby:


-mr. bill

livedarklions

You win as far as I'm concerned. I can see your hood on the right side, so you have bike plus butterfly. Everyone ok with it being a video?

Barry2 

Joe,
Here you go, all from a ride today.

Barry

Joe Bikerider

Thanks Barry. I won’t do such a fancy map but here are two more I know about locally. On Collins Drive in Pleasant Hill, it’s only a two block street, in Poet’s Corner area. And in the parking lot of Rancho San Miguel swim club on San Carlos across Ygnacio from Heather Farm park. I haven’t been out past Systron Drive in several years so I don’t know about your third one. Years ago my brother worked there making electronics for nuclear subs. Anyway, thanks.

livedarklions

Hearing no objection, I declare the next mission yours.

mr_bill

Oh, sorry, never expected that.

So, in most places there are invasive plants that follow where we ride. In our parts, common are purple loosestrife, Japanese honeysuckle, garlic mustard, Japanese Knotwood, and Norway Maple. Often they are beautiful, in sight or smell or taste, so they were willfully brought here.

This story repeats all over the world, only the names change.

So, learn about your invasive plants, and find some. Name it, tell us when they arrived where you are.

Next mission: Invasive Plants

-mr. bill

cyccommute 

The dreaded Tribulus terrestris! Probably came from the Russian Steppes in wheat (Quadrotriticale?).



This is a very little one by local standards. Wikipedia says that they get to 2 meters in diameter. Ours can grow to 2+ meters in radius. They can even grow in vast mats

DSCN1199 by Stuart Black, on Flickr

Each little yellow flower puts off 5 spiked seeds and each plant can have thousands of flowers. You can see the seed pods in this photo

DSCN1200 by Stuart Black, on Flickr

And, as if thousands of spiked seeds wasn’t enough, the seeds can lay fallow for 50 years waiting for the right conditions to germinate. The plant can’t stand competition but it can wait out the competition.

The most epic goathead ride I’ve ever experienced resulted in at least 60 punctures...well, I stopped counting at 60 on one tire! I just threw the tires away.

subgrade

We have only one officialy invasive plant, the Sosnowsky hogweed, which is not pretty by most standards, instead it is agressively invasive and dangerous to humans, as it causes chemical burns on ones skin if it has come into contact with the sap and exposed to sunlight.
I saw some today and might go by that place tomorrow if no one beats me to it.

cyccommute 

Next mission: Now how about a flowering native plant.

cyccommute 

Too late for the little library but this is a very well done one.

Joe Bikerider

That’s a pretty big little library! Can you tell us where it is? Thanks

cyccommute 

41st and Tejon in Denver. It’s in front of The Conflict Center.

flangehead

OK, I learned a lot on this one. I know next to nothing about plants. Being able to upload pictures to help identify is the only thing that made completing this search possible.

If anyone knows better please let me know, but I think this is a trumpet creeper:


This is a trumpet creeper flower, according to Plantnet.

Nice color match with the Moots*, I will say.

According to the USDA, it is native to my area. They have maps! https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=CARA2. And legally, it is an invasive weed. https://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/pg_cara2.pdf In my head, "invasive" was the opposite of "native" but I can see now how that's not right.

OK, flowering plants are nice to look at but I like to eat. We gathered about 2 gallons of wild blackberries out of the reservoir earlier this year:


Wild blackberries.

Next Mission: Your bike with edible fruit on the plant or tree. Blueberries, blackberries, cherries, peaches, etc. After 1:00 am CDT Thursday, July 2nd, inedible fruit will be acceptable (think holly berries).

*Gratuitous mention for the benefit of livedarklions.

cyccommute 

If something grows well and out competes the native plants, it can be invasive. Invasiveness usually happens way outside the plant’s normal range but if the plant or animal is moved over some natural barrier and there are no predator in the new area, they can spread unchecked. A “weed”, after all, is just a plant that’s in the wrong place.


And thanks for posting that one. I was unaware that trumpet vine was native. I wouldn’t call the plant invasive or weedy, personally. I’ve seen big trumpet vine plants but I’ve never thought of them as being all that easy to spread.

Hikebikerun

Blackberries!

If this counts, I will update with the next challenge at my coffee stop.

flangehead

Absolutely! How’d they taste?

Hikebikerun

Tart! My girlfriend has been picking all the good ones on her rides lol

I also nearly ran over a rattlesnake about 1/4 mi before this, and almost ran right into a young buck who stood his ground as I came around a corner a few miles later. An eventful ride!

Next mission: a bridge of questionable structural integrity.

Hikebikerun

(I’m a first time participant; if this is too obscure, any dilapidated building/infrastructure will do). I will leave it up to the regulars/moderator to decide.

livedarklions

No, no! You get the honor of anointing the winner. You gave us a really good mission.

flangehead

I like the mission. There are a lot of abandoned or decaying bridges around. Another reason to have a light weight bike...don’t collapse the bridge.....

Next mission: a bridge of questionable structural integrity.

livedarklions

Little known fact that this was all triggered by a guy who went too cheap when he bought his bottle cage:

subgrade

I went out yesterday to inspect some small bridges in the neighborhood, but to my dismay/relief found none of them to be of questionable structural integrity, as in danger of collapse. This one though swayed quite a lot, however, it being a small suspended pedestrian bridge, it's normal. You be the judges of whether it fits the mission.