This is the result of my 6 AM ride last Friday morning. The high for the last 10 days or so has been consistently around 110F and 82 for a low at night.

Hot Town, Summer on the Bikepath

cicadas singing their hearts out
deep in the foliage of eucalyptus
mesquite and palo verde with
ambient backup of jakebrakes
as rubber hits the road and airhorns

roadrunner stops in my path
lizard dangling from her beak
races me a few yards, then
sprints to the side of the riverbed
so dry, then down to ground

prairiedog stands sentry
at his sanctuary hole
motionless like ‘the kings guard’
suspicious of every errant
leaf and twig and passerby

powering down under bridges
coasting up the opposite side
spinning up more gradual
inclines with a steady pace in the
cicada-symphony-sunshine

–LE