gardening pro tips for cyclists

I'm inspired to write this after spending too much time mowing the lawn when I should have been riding.
Dont fight moss.  Its green, right?  A perfectly manicured lawn is for golfers.  Clover looks okay after you mow it, and the bees really like it.  Same can be said for a lot of other weeds.  If dandelions were unknown and a botanist suddenly discovered them in a remote area, people would go apeshit over them.  They are edible.  If your neighbors complain, tell them they are not weeds, they are salad greens.  If you must wage war on dandelions, just ask your kids to make a bouquet out of them.  That will sort of slow them down.
Use native plants when possible.  Flowering currant is one of my favorites.  Birds and beneficial insects like them, they fit in nicely, and you don't have to waste time watering them or nursing them to health because they are native and like to live here.  Sword ferns:  my wife thinks they are ugly.  I disagree, and besides, what else are you going to grow on that north facing slope that is wet and dark 9 months of the year?
Ivy is evil and only rats enjoy it.  Its probably worth it to yank it and plant something nice in its place.
That about covers it.  Now get out and ride, its spring!

Paris Roubaix

I was excited to see Spartacus, Vanmarcke, and former cyclocross superstar Zdenek Stybar in a break with less than 20 km to go.  Then heartbroken to see Stybar clip a spectator, nearly crash, and lose contact with the break.  10 seconds might as well be 10 minutes when faced with regaining contact with Cancellara inside of 20 km to go in Paris-Roubaix.  On the crappy live internet feed I could see Stybar get suddenly knocked clear over to the other side of the path, collide with another spectator, but amazingly stay upright.   Those are cyclocross bike handling skills for sure. Lars Boom was in the mix earlier in the race too.  It would be fun to see some cyclocrossers win a spring classic and follow the path of the legendary Roger De Vlaeminck.