Monday's Ride

37.5 miles. I left the house around 11 am. After becoming increasingly ansty, waiting for the temps to hit 28 degrees, I went outside and decided to go ahead and ride. I didn't want to leave too late, and then in turn get back home late.


It was 17 degrees when I left, but the wind was light and the sun was shining. I managed to layer properly and was able to control my temps by zipping and unzipping my shell.


The ride on the parkway is always seems to take a while. It is a great warm up though. Eight miles of pavement on a single speed is not ideal. But, there are three hills that I try to push hard on, so, there is one benefeit of riding to Bent Creek. Once to Bent Creek, I rode up Hardtimes Rd. The plan was to stay on the dirt roads, thinking that the trails, if thawed would be muddy. I did venture onto a trail at one point. I did not need to worry as everything was frozen solid. Riding around the roads, I took in the beautiful sight of the snow all over the hills, and the bare trees standing quietly. South Ridge Rd had the most snow as it is in the shade most of the day. A vehicle of some sort had driven through, probably yesterday, leaving a packed 8 inch wide trail that I could cruise on. This allowed me to keep up a good spin, without getting bogged down in the snow.



I passed 3 mountain unicyclists. We chatted for a couple of seconds before I headed on, my tires crunching on the snow, and the sunlight glistening. What a great ride, I was thinking to myself. And not too cold. A mechanical would have been cold though. I got back out to the Arboretum and turned onto the Parkway access rd. Up until now, I had been comfortable. Then, a cold blast of wind hit me dead on. Owww! If this keeps up I'm going to be frozen when I get home. I turned onto the parkway, and the wind turned into a tail wind, eventually dying out. The trees on the parkway do a great job of sheltering the wind.



The parkway was closed, so I was able to cruise without worrying about getting creamed by tourists from FLA of USA.



I got home, changed , got Jubal up from his nap. We went to the park and played tackle soccer. Fun Stuff!!!!