What I've Been Up To

Of course, we've gotten a wee bit of snow since around Christmas.

With all of the late year reviewing and then the series on the "State Of Gravel Grinding" that took up the first full week of the New Year, I wanted to bring you up to speed on what I've been up to during that time.  A short list here then.......

• Staying warm
• Shivering
• Putting on more layers
• Riding a bicycle once or thrice
• Staying warm

Did I forget to mention in my list I spent much of my time staying warm? Apologies if I forgot that bit.

Yes.......it has been very cold here. 

We broke records, at least twice, during the last two weeks and was near to the record low for several other days. Waaaaay below zero Fahrenheit! It also has managed to be windy enough that the effects of the combination of wind and ambient air temperature, (or wind chill, as we call it), has often been in the -25°F to -35°F range.

That's beyond my capabilities to cycle in. I don't have the proper gear for that, and secondly, I just don't feel the need to do bicycling in that sort of weather. Kudos to those of you that do it. Thirdly, since we rarely have stretches of this sort of weather here, it makes no sense for me to gear up for that. I simply resort to driving for these kinds of days. Sue me!

Of course, there were a few days that were not "brutal" so I actually did ride.

 Just before New Year's Day we got a fresh dump of snow and it was warm enough that I managed a few commutes to work during this time. I also had my hours cut back- again- so I haven't had to commute as much. My kids had Winter break, so I spent a lot of time with them instead. That was all great, but not so much for my bank account! Being a bicycle mechanic during Winter in the Upper Mid-West is tough. Tougher still when the entire economy is sluggish.

I busted out the Blackborow DS for a nice ride recently.

I should also mention that I spent the majority of the last two weeks recovering from a nasty cold/flu that I picked up around Christmas time. That was a huge factor in my "not going outdoors" as well. So, I had a lot of time on my hands to write, and that's why you got the series on gravel grinding you got. Fortunately I felt pretty chipper by New Year's day and shortly afterward I got in a couple of great rides on the fat bikes. The snow has been awesome, albeit not very voluminous, and the temperatures have been tolerable for a few days. The Green Belt trails have been in primo Winter riding conditions. Hopefully we get some more snow for a solid base and that we can enjoy fat biking through February. That'd be nice. But......now it looks like we won't. Bah!

Along with this cold I have figured out a new cold weather fat biking set up for wearable items and I will detail all of that coming up. Stay tuned.......

Oh! And there was this Banjo Brothers interview. Check it out if you haven't already.