#44 DECEMBER 10, 2020
Brrrrrrr. It seemed colder than the 38 degree temp indicated on our thermometer this morning. When it is damp from the day before, that is often the case. I was dressed just fine to keep my body warm enough, and if my feet had felt any colder, I could easily have turned on my battery insoles. What ended up rather frosty feeling were my fingers. Started out ok, but felt the cold within half an hour. Adding glove liners to my mittens helped for a short time, then changing to wind bloc mittens over those glove liners helped for another half hour or so. By the time my fingers finally started screeching at me it felt too late to add the chemical hand warmers that I had stashed in my pannier. Why waste those when I was now fairly close to home. My fingers tried to tell me it would not be a waste, but I didn’t listen.
I will be just fine and happy if these are the only snow flakes we see this winter ;’-).
#45 DECEMBER 11, 2020
Of course now that I was equipped for cold hands I had some sun breaks on my mid morning ride. Short and in a minimal amount of area, but still. Temps just a few degrees higher than yesterday brought no cold hands and pleasant miles near home.
I ride by Lake Serene often, and today it was all alone.
I wonder how long ago it was that horse riding was a thing here. This has got to be an old sign at the entry gate to the lake.
Rounded out my ride passing this line up of Santa soldiers.
#46 DECEMBER 12, 2020
Cold 35 degrees at the outset, but that full sun was gorgeous! I was definitely outfitted for cold, and only felt the cold (did not feel cold, just felt the cold) when in the shade for any extended time. I must thank my friend Lucie for the tip about using the chemical TOE warmers rather than the HAND warmers inside my mittens. The toe warmers have an adhesive backing that keeps them in place inside my convertible mittens (the kind that fold back to expose fingers) allowing me to not drop them when I need to use my fingers. THANK YOU LUCIE.
I took a different route to end up riding through the Boeing Plant. On the way, there was the sign for masking. Unfortunate that people need to be reminded (hit in the face kinda) to wear a mask and why!
I often pass this tree stump “farm” that has been there a very long time. Trees must have died, but no one has done a thing with the stumps or the property.
I made a stop along the way to take a sip of my tea. When I put down the kickstand it was wobbly and went catawumpus. (an aside — google wants me to “learn spelling” with that word, but gives me no other option). I was worried that the kickstand had broken again and I would have a longer wait this time for a replacement. Fortunately Susan found that it was a loose bolt and was able to tighten it for me. My hero ;’-).
#47 DECEMBER 14, 2020
I waited until the time that my weather app indicated we would have no rain. I started my ride at 11:00. It began with a mist at 11:01. It rained for my entire hour and a half ride. Once I was in the saddle though, I figured I could weather the weather whatever the weather would be ;’-).
At one point I thought for a minute that I had a reprieve as it stopped raining! The rain had left puddles in its wake as I unavoidingly rode through a couple that got my feet wet on the down stroke. It isn’t that the puddles were THAT deep, but the combination of deepISH puddles and my 20 inch wheels causing splash, my shoe filled a bit with rain water. I had the “unraining” time for maybe 6 minutes when it started again and consistently rained for the rest of the ride.
This place in the photo is often a good spot to stop for a sip and a bite, but today the stop was just long enough to take this photo.
At 42 degrees it was not all that cold, and coupled with my foul weather wear, I was fine on that end. I did get rather wet though and had to hang out the wet gear in the garage before entering the house. Glad I rode 😉😊🚴♀️💕
No comments:
Post a Comment