One More Color

Lake Minnetonka looked pretty cold today. Dark charcoal grey water, with ice forming around the shore. The north wind pushing the water into small swells of crushed ice, which made a grinding cracking rhythmic sound. Clouds would have kept it a brown and grey two color day, but overnight about an inch of white was added.

Plowed along the LRT on the evil one to Excelsior and decided to stop at my favorite port-a-pody. IT WAS LOCKED! Who locks a port-a-pody at a park, with a padlock? Come on! I'm old! Decided to tough it out and not stop again. Made it home without incident.

Temps in the mid 20's with a north breeze. I was pretty comfortable. I even had to open the vents on my R.E.D Frequency. 35/14.0

Hard To Come Home Again

It was so tempting to keep on riding. Another beautiful late fall day. Temps in the low 40's, light winds, and a couple of great guys to ride with...hard to beat. 65/16.4

A Didn't Want To Come Home Ride

With tempting temps touching the 40's, a cloudless sky, and whisper winds, even the groggy feeling from the food fest yesterday couldn't dull my appetite for a ride. It was obvious that the day was only going to get better as it progressed. Ron had a little time in the afternoon so we placed a perfect plan together, and rode some obscure roads with great views of Lake Minnetonka. 39/16.8

A Part Of The Day But Not The Ride

Red Sky At Night Rider's Delight

Later At Lake Calhoun

Downtown Minneapolis Reflecting Off Of Lake Calhoun

Thanksgiving Ride

Didn't see any wild turkeys on the ride today, but had a very nice time with Lynne, Amy and Steve.
We rode along the River into Downtown Minneapolis, and continued along the river to St. Anthony Parkway, then over into Theodore Wirth.
Great conversation, fun company, and a nice easy pace made this a delightful ride.
Hopefully I'll be able to fit in my cycling shorts tomorrow. 33/15.0

Good Ride

Felt good so I put on a couple more miles. The temps didn't hurt any either. Even mixed it up with a Nature Valley guy. 33/16.9

More Sun Less Wind

Nice ride relatively speaking. I still much prefer 80 and sunny, with the sun setting at 9PM instead of 4:30. 30/16.2

Another Long Shower

God, that wind was cold. Nice to be on the Orbea though. 30/15.7

Stud Season Already

The quads and hams are burning a little. I was pushing studded tires today. As it turned out I only needed them for about the first 1/2 hour of the ride. Wound up being a beautiful day, with temps in the low 40's. I was in such a hurry to get to the band shell this morning, that I forgot my helmet. Everyone was more than willing to stop at my place and insure the security of my brain. Rode with four other team members out to Excelsior. Got the requisite coffee stop in. They turned and went back, with Amy vowing to get on her road bike and ride some more. She's just trying to get more miles in than me. She's sneaky that way.
I continued from Excelsior solo and rode around Lake Minnetonka to the Luce Line trail. The lake was a battleship grey, calm as it reflected the cloudy skies. Shockingly white patches of snow covered ice interrupted the still lake. Low flying White Sea Gulls and Egrets maneuvered just above the water, their white down in stark contrast to the still grey just inches below them. The clouds weren't really defined, but blurry with the sun peering through, sometimes almost naked as you could only see it's round shape filtered by the misty clouds.
On the Luce Line I saw pheasants, deer, and even a few canines out walking their humans. 43/15.1

A Little Snow

I was looking forward to being back on my road bike today, but around 2 AM a quarter of an inch of snow was sifted on to the roads, and my Orbea spent the day inside. The evil one and I took off with Amy and rode the LRT to Excelsior, then hopped onto some wet and snowy roads to enjoy hot chocolate in Wayzata. The temp never got above freezing, but we stayed comfortable moving along at a cautious clip.
It felt great to be out. The sun even made an appearance or two. A nice ride (despite not being on my road bike) all around. 60/15.2

Ooooh Ahhhh New Stuff

Took today off the bike. Went to Hoigaards to get some toe warmers for tomorrow's ride. Look at what else I came home with. Toasty!

Test ride tomorrow.

Rut

Gym again. 2 hours on the elliptical.

Nothing Too Exciting

Just did the gym thing. 2 Hours on the elliptical and some core work, of 200 crunches, 3 reps of 10 50 lbs bench presses, and obliques.

Getting Used To It.

It might be just because I was in the gym yesterday, but it felt pretty good to be out today, even with temps in the low 30's.

Took my cracked rear wheel in to get repaired tonight. Looks like Mavic will be slow, but replace it for free. The mechanic at the shop seemed to be having girl friend problems. I over heard him say, "I can't call anyone on my phone (cell) because she is always calling me", then the store phone rang. The mechanic said, "that's her", so another employee answered the phone, and told the caller, "he's with a customer (me) I'll have him call you". Off the phone he said, "she sounded pissed". The mechanic, with more than a bit of a smirk said, "hey, I was helping a customer". I said, "I'm glad I could help out". Us guys gotta stick together. 30/16.2

I'm Tired

Went to the gym tonight, just couldn't face the cold and wind. Two hours on the elliptical, 200 crunches, 3 reps of 10 at 50 lbs on the bench press, also did some oblique work.

Cold SSR

Wanted to keep riding yesterday. Not today.
The cold had a way of seeping all the way through me today. Even though the sun peeked out about half way through the ride, I just didn't really get warm.
Four of us did our Standard Sunday Route, with the required coffee stop in Wayzata. 46/16.6

What A Great Ride!

Hooked up with Ron and rode up to Lake Independence. The weather guys got it wrong and it was a spectacular day to ride, even if the temps didn't get much above 30. I guess after 2 weeks of gray, rain, and drizzle, a cloudless sky made everything feel 10 degrees warmer. We were well layered and kept plenty warm. We're in the two color season, but with the sun out everything looked alive and took on a variety of tints.
Heading south on 201 by Baker, we came up on a deer just strolling along the road. He took a look at us tilting his head a little to consider what kind of animals we might be. Deciding Ron was a serious threat, he pointed his white tail straight up and sprinted across the road hurdling a fence with about 6 feet of clearance to spare. Just gorgeous!
Sun, scenery, wildlife and great company made this a great, warm 30 degree ride. 56/17.5

Friday Night Ride Pictures

Minneapolis Sky Scape From Lake of The Isles.

5/??

A Few Less Clothes

Took the angry one out tonight. Just my winter route. Came around Calhoun at Thomas Beach...the skyline looked cool. Temps in the 40's. 30/15.4

It Works

Ride outside when it's in the 20's and the 30's feel pretty good. Nice ride tonight on the cx. 30/14.9

Not Too Long Of A Shower

Wussy boy went to the gym tonight. Two hours on the elliptical, 150 crunches, 3 reps of 10 at 50lbs on the bench press.

21 and 20

Temps in the high 20's again. The cold really drains the energy out of me. I kept on trying to shift from my 21 to an easier gear, but 21 is as high as my cassette goes. I may have been in my 20 for a total of 5 minutes tonight. The rest of my ride was spent grinding away on my 21. Slow, slow, slow. 30/16.0

Cold and Gray Again

Rode to Wayzata with Geoff and Steve. It's cold! Started the ride at about 20 degrees and finished at about 26 degrees, with wind chills in the teens. In a month or so this will seem warm, but considering a week ago it was in the 70's, this is a bit of a change.
All in all it was a good ride. Geoff and Steve rode over from St. Paul, so they had plenty of miles on already and turned around at Wayzata. I continued on and rode up into Baker and then around Lake Minnetonka. I was on the Orbea, and stayed warm finishing the ride with all the important body parts still operating normally...well normally for me anyways. 52/16.4



Not Bike Related Political Commentary Offensive Word Warning

Contrasts

Only a few weeks back rides were unhindered by warmth retaining layers, and full of color and sun.
Today...no sun, wet roads and a cold relentless northwest wind. Colors? just brown and gray.

A few of us took our cross bikes out and ventured along the LRT trail to Victoria. The advantage to this was plenty of shelter from the onslaught out of the northwest of an incessant wanna be winter wind. Even in just two colors the trail surroundings are beautiful. I noticed on the way back how all the tall trees had lost their leaves. The scrub tress however not only had their leaves, but they were still green, trying to capture some of the sun light that the taller trees had monopolized all summer long. It's interesting how we humans imitate our surroundings. And yet we think we are so superior to all other life.
Now that I spent an hour in a hot shower I can honestly say, it was a good ride. 47/16.2

You Been Outside?

Took the day off the bike. I did put the fenders back on the evil one. I'll be out on it tomorrow.

A Little Bit Of Everything

Clouds, wind, rain, wet leaves, damp pavement, it all kept the ride interesting tonight. Don't get me wrong, my favorite riding weather is 80 degrees, sunny, and no wind. Winter brings a whole nother element to being on the bike though. Nothing like not being able to see because your glasses don't have windshield wipers. And not only do you have to worry about cars, but you also need to watch out for wind gusts that will put you down. Wind is real easy to see too. Of course, there is always that one slippery wet leaf, with your name on it. I kept the rubber on the road tonight. 33/16.4

A Precursor

A cloudy and dreary ride, with a few drops of rain sprinkled in. A smattering of people out walking or running the lakes trying to get in, at least, one more comfortable fall day. Looks like the next few days will be pay back, for the spectacular weather of the last several weeks. 33/16.2

Hope

Nice sunset this evening. 33/16.6

I'm A Lucky Dog

I've had a small crack in my Ksyrium rear rim for awhile. My last three rides have been noisier than I prefer, so that wheel is now off and the noisy culprit will be on it's way to the warranty department at Mavic. I have four sets of Ksyrium wheels. They've all cracked at one time or another. As long as the crack happens with in a year of purchase I get a new rim put on by Mavic. They've been pretty good about it. This will be my 3rd free rim replacement.

Now that we're back to standard time getting a ride in, before the sun goes down, can be a little difficult. I was able to get out at about 2:30, so for my entire 2hr ride I was enjoying sunshine. Apparently that makes me a fortunate canine. 33/17.7

Oh Man!

This was so perfect. Six or seven of us just enjoying the comfortable temps, sun all over the place, cruising at scenery speed, and laughing it up. Majorly delightful, but damn, Amy got more miles in than me. 50/16.8

That Was Nice.

Four of us started out shivering towards Afton. Let me just say that rollers into the wind don't bring a smile to your face, but it gets rid of the shivers. There was a guy who rode with us on his cx, and he kept up! Scary to think what he'd do to us on a road bike.
Heading back to the cities smiles started cracking, bagels kicked in, and jerseys got unzipped. Amy helped me with my intimidation issues and kept her miles about the same as mine. 77/18.2