Dashing thru the snow...

...for one last ride of '08.

'Dashing' is a little bit of an exaggeration as we averaged just 12.1 mph over the 20.13 mile ride. I'm not used to riding on snow, so I was taking it easy, learning about snow riding and having a very fun time!

When we set off, the snow was just beginning. The temps were at 22F for the whole ride. The wind speed was variable, 8-20 mph.

We paused at the boat landing where I snapped this pic of Jeff.

The grasses along the beach were crispy with frost like this.

As the snow built up on the roads it became more and more like pedaling on the beach sand, soft and grabby.

Another pic of Jeff...can you believe I was operating the camera with my lobster gloves *on* and pedaling one handed in snow!

I didn't realize it at the time, but I had icy bits sticking in my eyebrows! I had to give up on my glasses about 3/4 of the way through the ride as they were foggy and gloppy.

Ahh, pristine snow! I absolutely love having the 'cross bikes so we can do a ride like this.

Jeff and I will spend the rest of the day snug at home as the snow continues to build up and blow around outside. We were hoping to do a New Year's Day ride tomorrow, but it looks like we may be snowed in at home instead.

Happy New Year! Hope you are happy and safe tonight and throughout '09!

Our Holiday: Bike Rides, Games and Food

My calf muscles are suddenly better. Honestly, I think the pomegranate cosmos I made last night healed me!! They were very, very relaxing =)

We always have some Scrabble battles around this time of year. We've been playing on the PS3 too, but working together in those games, like Resistance, to shoot the monsters.

It's nice to have Jeff home on vacation for games and lots of bike riding. We've already been out two days this week. Today's ride included 2.16 miles of beach riding which is incredibly fun.

When it's cold, gray and damp out I love to heat up the oven and make homemade pizza. It's the best after ride food! Here's one I made yesterday, didn't the crust come out well? This time the toppings were turkey pepperoni and kalamata olives. I sprinkled a little pecorino romano over the top in addition to the mozzarella.

Last Complete Week of '08

Jeff and I both rode 3 days and 94.92 miles on the cx bikes.

It was clear, but windy for our xmas day ride. You can get some idea of the wind if you look at the surf blowing back off the waves in this pic.

On Friday's ride, we saw these tiny calves. They seemed as excited by snow free ground as we were!
We stopped to watch them chase each other back and forth in the pasture with their tails in the air like cats. I didn't manage to get a clear shot with both of them running, but here's the little tan one. We could hear their little hooves clattering over the frozen ground.

Sorry, no pics from today's ride, it was wet and I didn't bother to take the camera.

Maybe one of you can help me with a problem? I have had tight, sore calf muscles since my Thursday ride. I am actually OK while pedaling, but I can't walk comfortably. Stepping forward causes the calf to knot up even more. I haven't ever had such knotted calves before. Does anyone have any suggestions for making them better? I have been stretching them, mainly by standing on a step and dropping my heel off the edge. I'm not sure what caused it, but it seems like maybe the 5 days off the bike wasn't so good for me!

Happy Christmas!

I got my Christmas wish...the snow melted so Jeff and I could ride! After 5 days off, I was feeling achy. It wouldn't have been so bad if I had been able to walk or jog, but we had treacherous ice and I didn't want to risk falling. Everywhere I went I hobbled around like a penguin. Today, it felt so great to get on the bike. It always feels so light and responsive after a break. But, it took me about 10 miles to work out the kinks in my muscles. Jeff and I did 33.34 miles in all on the cx bikes. It was really windy, but it was a fairly steady wind so it wasn't knocking us off our line much.

We opened our presents this morning and the dogs opened theirs as well. Saffy knows what to do on Christmas and gets very excited for it. Silas is more reserved about it. He's a bit neurotic, to say the least, and new stuff can make him nervous.

Silas slowly worked his way into his present and really seemed pleased with the tire toy.

Saffy tore into the paper, and found her stuffed, squeaky hedgehog to add to her increasing collection of soft toys. That was fun to play with, but she also had to shred all the wrapping paper into tiny pieces.

After shredding and playing with hedgehog, she set her sights on the tire and stole it from Silas.

After all the excitement and treats, they are sleeping soundly now.

O Christmas Tree

My legs are feeling a little twitchy from two days off the bike, but I'm getting a lot of other things done around here, like decorating for Christmas!

We have a tabletop tree, loaded with an assortment of ornaments from family and a few I've picked out over the years, but I don't seem to have a single bicycle ornament!

Snow!

The snow accumulated quickly yesterday evening and overnight. The dogs were so excited and had to dig to find their toys in the backyard.

It's going to be awhile before the roads are clear again for riding out of the way of cars as you can see in this picture I took on our way home from the grocery store today. This is one of the main roads, so it is in much better shape than the side roads which are still snow covered. I would love to have a chance to snow bike, but there aren't any car free places that I know of around here.

I'm glad I was able to ride a bunch earlier in the week. I did 6 days of riding and 168.11 miles. It was good to make use of all three bikes this week, the old mtn bike doesn't get out of the barn much these days.

I'll take a day or two off and then get the trainer set up!

1 More Before the Storm

X6 is home from the shop and feeling great. It got new brake pads and chain and all tightened up. It's shifting beautifully! I love having both my bikes feeling like new again!

I went out for a 20 mile spin on X6 this morning before the snow. It was dim, cold and there was a fairly steady wind out of the north. I thought this view was interesting, almost abstract. In the foreground is a bit of icy marsh that runs between the road and beach. The gray band of sky keeps fooling me into thinking it is the ocean/horizon! The clouds like that over the sun are a sure sign of the snow to come.

I'm not sure when I'll get outside for a ride again...I may be on the trainer some.