Since mid-September, there’s been a nip in the air. The hot, humid days of summer are gone. It’s time to kit up in knee warmers. Can knickers be far behind?

We love our bikes, right? And we never tire of looking at them. At least I don’t, and if I’m to judge from what others tell me, I’m not alone. So each Sunday I’ll publish a bike-related picture. Most of the time it will be a photo, but don’t be surprised if a few drawings and paintings get added to the mix from time to time. I might even include a sculpture or two. (OK. A photo of a sculpture.) Anything, in short, that evokes the world on two wheels. And don’t be shy. If you have a picture you’d like to share, just email it to me. I’ll do the rest.

 
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Every year about this time, small teams of hard-charging kayakers—aka “creekers”—converge on dam-controlled rivers to ride the fall releases. And ride them they do, negotiating steep drops that would have been thought unrunnable even twenty years ago. It’s not my cup of tea, to be honest. I don’t run what I wouldn’t be happy to swim. But that doesn’t mean I can’t watch from the sidelines. The creekers put on a good show, too. Here’s a for-instance:

And here’s how he ended up:

It was a performance worth a second glance:

Clearly, this sort of thing isn’t for paddlers who like to stay dry:

They’re often lost to sight for many seconds. There are two boaters in this picture. Can you find the second?

Now here’s another paddler poised just above a 20-foot drop:

Over he goes!

While a buddy stands watch at the bottom of the drop, just in case.

Meanwhile, the show goes on…

And another creeker makes a happy landing:

It’s not a sport for the timid—or the foolhardy. You won’t find any bareheaded paddlers here. The rocks are harder than even the hardest head, after all. And a face guard isn’t a bad idea, either:

No boater can go head to head with these walls without at least a little protection!

Nose clips make sense, too:

As do elbow and forearm guards…

After all, creeking can be a risky business…

But who said going with the flow was always easy?

 
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Change is in the air. The sweet perfume of fallen leaves, the clean tang of cool northerly breezes rushing through The River’s gorges, the murmur of fast water over boulders, the first blushes of color on the hillsides… There’s no doubt: fall is on its way.

And summer is in retreat, leaving behind a welcome bounty of wild foods. Winter is coming. It’s time to lay in stores for the harsh months to come.

 
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