A cold Thanksgiving morning ride
Today I went to the Velo-Duluth Club's Thanksgiving ride at 9:00 this morning. It was 14F degrees when I left the house. By far the coldest morning this season so far. There was a whopping 5 people that showed up. Really though, that was more than I was expecting. We only went 10 miles because I was the only regular cold weather rider in attendance. Afterwards I did another 21 miles on my own. I headed through downtown and came back on the Lake Walk.
Still a trace of yesterday's half inch of snowfall. I have to say I was very glad, during yesterdays commute, that I put my studded tires on the Cross Check on Sunday. There some very icy spots that would have been hard to walk on. The studded tires took it all in stride. Today, while the others were warning each other of icy spots, I was aiming for them.
I crossed over the lift bridge and went part way out the sand spit towards Park Point. Coming back I was "bridged" (a local term) and had to wait for a freighter to pass through the shipping canal.
It is impressive to stand so close to a freighter as long as three football fields as it passes by. They glide by with virtually little sound.
There was no zoom used for these pictures, this is how close I was standing to the ship.
Overall a good ride with some rare sunshine. Every year I have to re-learn how to dress for different conditions. I must be getting better at it. I had it nailed today. Not too cold, nor too hot.Monday: 39 mi
Tuesday: 20 mi
Wednesday: 29 mi
Thursday: 31 mi
November: 496 mi
2007: 7,164 mi
posted by Doug @ 5:18 PM
7 comments
links to this post
7 Comments:
you and Noah @ KC have really inspired me to put aside the old Schwinn road bike thru these winter months,and buy a all terrain knobby tire,hit the trails going to work attitude!,not crazy snow'e here in Texas,but some rain and sleet,i can't wait.!!!,going at lunch and put some money down on a GT DISC BRAKE ride,,,,thanks for your blog,DANG IT I WANT STUUDED TIRES!!!!....:>)
Thanksgiving ride. That sounded like fun. I guess I'll have to join the club to hear about things like that.
Boz
I was very impressed to see the cycleways you have in Minnesota,we have along way to go here in Wales where I live.You have so much space,and the scenery is terrific.Keep the good work up with your blog,I really look foreward to reading it,
cheers
I took a photo of a sign on the lift bridge last summer but lost it. if I remember right it said " Bicycles must be walked across bridge", but I rode anyway. Great photo,s , keep up the great blog, I enjoy it greatly
Keep them pics coming! I plan to up there sometime this month to visit the family. Mpls has a dusting right now but nothing like it is back home. One question, why do you do fixed instead of single speed? I've been contemplating switching to fixed but am worried about accidents being that I bike through downtown Mpls. I would think with the hills ou would want gears or if anything single speed for the decents.
dirtyspeed...I'm not sure if I have an answer for you. When I decided to set-up a one gear bike, the idea of a SS never entered my mind. Plus, I've always been an amazing spinner, if I do say so myself. So the downhills aren't a problem, nor are the the uphills, except for the very steepest ones.
keiron curtis...my pictures distort the true state of cycling in my fair city. We have a few good cycleways, and many many really bad roads in need of repair. I tend to show the cycleways and not the unpicturesque roads.
Sad to hear that Doug I guess it's pretty universal that this world of ours needs get with it when it comes to the cycling revolution that is coming.I see it here,but as always governments are slow to get up to speed with what really counts.We all need the cycling infrastructure asap.,all we can do is pressurise our politicians.Whoops,I'll just get off my soapbox,I'm sure you know what I mean
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home