The Three Hour Tour

Saturday we were treated to some "warm" temperatures. Warm is relative, I am sure, but for us it meant climbing out of the single digits for daytime highs upwards to the low 30's. It may as well have been declared as a t-shirt day, since we get so acclimated to the cold, that when it does "warm up", it feels like springtime is right around the corner.

I headed out of town to the northeast, as it provides the quickest way to gravel for me. On the way out, I spied a bit of snowmobile trail and decided it looked too good to pass up.

Things rolled along well at first, but the air temperatures were coming up quickly, and I started to sink in more, making it a real grind to ride on. I had to stop and strip off a few articles of clothing due to overheating. Overheating in February!



Then I hit the roads for a bit, but it wasn't long after I first hit gravel that I found another snowmobile trail that cut diagonally across a field. I couldn't resist, and before long, I was speeding downwards into the area in the middle of the field where the drainage ran through. Here the snow was too churned up by the snowmobiles to ride in. Right about then, about a dozen snowmobiles rushed by me, and I got several strange looks! After a bit of walking, the snow firmed up again, enough so that I pulled into Dewar on The Snow Dog instead of walking it!

After Dewar I was obliged to go north on blacktop another mile and right onto Airline Highway, which at that point is a gravel. The sun was bright, it was warm, and in places, the gravel was getting moist!

I stopped to grab a couple of images and headed back westwards to another "T" intersection and southwards back to the Donald Street blacktop. I rode in the shoulder where it was positively muddy. The Larry tires were sinking in, but I kept motoring on. Probably due to my sinking down to frozen terra firma though, otherwise I think I'd have been marooned on the shoulder! Crossing Raymond Road, I got back on the pavement, while mud was flinging in all directions off the Larry's.

Then it was criss-cross through city streets in Waterloo's north end back towards the house. I was getting pretty zonked by now, the fact that I took zero water or food having something to do with that......maybe! Well, I had not intended to be out much more than an hour, and after stopping out on Airline Highway, I finally took heed of the time and found out I was already two hours into the ride!

Sheesh! I ended up doing three hours plus, and having a great time. Good thing too, since today, and the next few days are going to be brutally cold. Oh well! Winter. It ain't over till its over. Even if it does get "warm" once in awhile!