Jan. 14 ride

We got about 1-2" of snow overnight but thankfully the bike path was plowed.  All praise the Bike Path Plow Gods!  I decided to go to yoga class on Wednesday and that starts an hour later than my other class so I get to ride in daylight, yea!   It was about 1 degree F with winds out of the northeast about 15 mph and still some flurries falling.  Fortunately that wasn't a headwind until my ride home--and only on half the ride.  I'm kind of glad my route goes in two directions (first northwest, then southwest on the trip out), because then I don't get a direct headwind on the entire route.   I had my full gear on and I was hot!  Except for my toes.  I gotta do something about the toes.  Getting my core hot does keep my fingers warm but I get sweaty and that starts making my goggles fog--otherwise, they don't fog at all even over glasses.  However, tomorrow and the next day are going to be frickin' cold so I will wear the full gear for two more days.  I'll post about the gear next.  

It cleared up nicely during yoga and was a beautiful ride home, even with the headwind.  At left in this picture are the railroad tracks next to the bike path.  I guess they plow those too.

Jan 13 ride

It started out at 1 degree F and strong northwest wind which is a headwind for the first half of my ride.  I had all my warm clothes on including the goggles.  On the way home it was even colder but the winds were lighter.   Today's ride seemed slow.  Maybe the bike didn't want to go, the path seemed to have more friction, and I was wearing all those clothes.  My warmest jacket seems to weight a lot.  We had 3" of snow yesterday but it was plowed this morning.   But it was still better than driving.  I drove tonight to a meeting and froze.  I get colder in the car than on bike.  I don't have a great heater for one thing.  Oh, my feet got cold on the bike on the way home.  I could use some heated socks.  It's supposed to snow again overnight.  I hope I can bike tomorrow.

Jan. 12 ride

I'm back from my trip.  I was in LA and Longbeach, CA for work, followed by a family visit to the suburbs of Kansas City.  I have to say, my commute is no more insane and a lot more fun than what I saw on my trip.   Today it was 0 degrees F when I left and there were ice crystals in the air.  They weren't obvious until I snapped this picture with the flash.   

Cool.  I'm surprised it looks so turbulent.  Well, the flash is reflecting off the nearby crystals, and maybe my arrival on the scene disturbed the nearby air. The moon is up at the left of the picture.  Sunrise has finally moved to 7:28 am (having sat at 7:29 am for the last two weeks!).   But it's going to start moving more quickly now, according to this website.   This week is supposed to get really cold, so I'll wait until next week to start thinking about spring.   Commute was nice, especially on the way home.   The haze and frost and sun barely showing through the clouds was nice.  I was too cold to snap a picture though.  It's good to be back.

jan. 2 ride

Start of the bike path at 7 am:

Today was a brief return to my normal schedule so it was a little hard to get motivated after two days of sleeping later.  But as usual, I didn't regret it afterwards.  We had a great workout, I stopped at the grocery store for some supplies, and had a nice ride home---my ride home is usually slower as I'm kind of tired from the workout and it's nice to just relax and enjoy the ride.  However, when you ride slowly in the winter, your hands and feet get cold!  So I was cold by the time I got home.   The clouds formed a neat pattern in the sky:

Tomorrow I go out of town for 9 days.   and to think I'll miss this.  

Jan. 1

No bike ride today, but I did go on a walk and I realized that biking with studded tires is easier than walking in my neighborhood.  Interesting...

dec. 31 ride

Today I wasn't going to ride my bike but 2 other plans fell through so I got to go to yoga class, yea!   It was 1 degree F when I left so I wore the goggles to keep me warm.  I wore my thicker ski pants too, and my coldest weather boots and mittens.  My hands and feet always get a bit cold but I can warm them up by biking harder.  I didn't wear my coldest-weather coat because I get too warm in that.  I can definitely tell where the air leaks are on days like today.  There's one at my throat and at the bottom of my pants.  Gators would take care of the latter but I don't want to hassle with them.  I'll save them for -15 F.  Here's the start of the bike path, as usual.  I'm going to go with smaller pictures to save disk space and upload/download times.  I saw a cute muskrat by Starkweather creek on the way home but he ran away by the time I got the camera out.   As usual, a lovely day and a lovely bike ride.  I say this every day.

dec. 30 ride

I was back to my early schedule today so started out about 35 minutes before sunrise.  It was about 20 degrees F with winds about 10-15 from the southeast.  Back in November, that seemed very cold.  Now it's in the realm where I don't have to wear my goggles so I consider that warm.  There were ice patches on the path so I'm so glad I have the studded tires.  Here's my daily start of the bike path:

The Yahara river looks different every day.  It had a nice sheen towards the sun (and Lake Monona).
It was a nice ride as usual.  Met a friend for breakfast on the way home.