BRRRR

It seems that at least some of winter has finally arrived in New England. This morning when I got up, the thermometer read 6F (-14C). Still no snow here, but it was plenty cold all day. After work, the temp was a balmy 15F (-9C). What to do? Ride, of course!

I dressed in multiple layers - wool ski socks, bike shorts and knee warmers as the first bottom layer, and then a pair of wind proof winter tights over top; sports bra, undershirt, wicking hoodie and lined wool jersey topped with a wind vest and jacket on the top; added toe covers over my wool socks, and slipped on my Lake winter shoes for my feet; hands had a pair of liner gloves with an outer layer of fleece-lined ski gloves; fleece earband, hood (from hoodie) and helmet on my head. I felt like the Michelin man.


I headed out with the boys. Riding the road to get to the woods was chilly - my face got a little cold, but the rest of me was ok. Once we were in the woods, I quickly warmed up. After a few days of rain, and then cold temps here, the trails were pretty solid, but not as icy as I expected. The ice came whenever we needed to cross a bridge.

After doing some really fun riding, it was time to head home when my feet started to get really cold. I ran for awhile on one trail just to try to get them warmed up some! The only issue was that the ride home was mostly downhill, and a lot of roads, making it VERY COLD; in fact, I ended up with an ice cream headache on the way home!

Changed into warm, dry clothes and ate some dinner, so am warm and happy as I write this. Crazy? Yes indeed. We usually do one really cold ride a year though, and have ridden in colder temps. Managed to ride 10.5 miles in 1:40. I think I'll ride the trainer in the basement next week - it's definitely warmer ;-).

In Search of ... Snow!

Well, it took some work, but we FINALLY got out to ride in the snow today!

We got up at the crack of yesterday (aka 5:00 a.m.!) and were out the door within an hour. Temp when we left was 37 degrees, and as we drove, it kept getting WARMER. This wasn't boding well... We continued on our way over Grafton and Dixville Notches. Finally, as we crested Dixville Notch and headed down towards The Balsams, it started to snow. Yippee!

The weather changed again heading into Colebrook, where there was no snow. In fact, there was no snow all the way through downtown Pittsburgh. As we went further north, and started climbing though, we started to see the white gold everywhere. Of course, we WERE almost in Canada ;-). We pulled into the parking lot and were unloaded and ready to ride just after 8:00.


The trails were a little thin in places (ok, in some places you could hear your skis hitting rocks), but some of the trails were in excellent shape, with about 6 inches or more of snow cover. We could tell by seeing how far down the moose tracks went ;-). We saw lots of tracks today, but no moose. Only one wildlife encounter.

The jays up there have no fear, and will land right on you looking for food. This one wasn't happy when it landed on Mike to find there was no food, and we felt a little bit guilty. Next time, I will pack a ziploc of bird seed in the bag.

We saw a number of riders, including five game wardens - they were out ensuring we all adhered to the 45 mph speed limit, and that we had registrations. We saw them writing tickets to at least one group of sledders.

After about 87 miles, we headed back to the parking lot to call it a day. Apparently a lot of people were looking to ride, 'cause not only were the lots full, but people were parked up and down the road as well! It was amazing to see trucks and trailers everywhere.

And, while we were out, the temps dropped from 32 to 23, and there had been rain, making the roads a literal skating rink. The drive back down into Pittsburg for lunch was treacherous and a little nerve wracking.

Ok, so we DROVE 200 miles to ride 87, but for the first ride on my brand new sled (which, I'll have you know, is one of the cleanest and most fuel-efficient available), I would do it again in a heartbeat. Let's hope that Mother Nature starts dumping some more snow SOON!

Introducing Oreo

Since I don't have much blog worthy news today, I figured that I would introduce Oreo. She's not too excited that we're heading up north today - doesn't like the act of getting in the car. Once there, she's a fine passenger, and she doesn't mind the Maine house either. Good thing, since she doesn't have much choice!

Time to Announce the Blog!

It's taken me a couple of days to figure out the intricacies of this blogging thing. Thanks to my good friend and blogger extraordinaire, Claudia, I think I finally have it down. Now it's time to announce the page to some friends and family, and see what they think!

On the riding front, I went out with the boys for a SS ride last night. It was a little wet, but not too bad. I think, though, that I need a bit of a break. I felt lethargic while riding and think that it's because I haven't yet had a break from the bike.

The weather here has been uns[r]easonable, and the lack of snow means that we can't yet ski, snowshoe or snowmobile as an alternative... Plus, I would feel guilty if I hadn't gone out this past weekend with temps in the 70s! Hard to believe it is January.

Looks like rain and warm-ish temps here in MA for the weekend. I think we'll head north and see what kind of snow we can find...

Resolution

My New Year's resolution was to start a blog. This way, I could keep friends and family up-to-date on our adventures: biking, racing, skiing, snowmobiling, hiking and more. This will also allow me to post pictures of our adventures.

So, this is my first entry! Woohoo! I will try to update on a regular basis. Let me know what you think!