End Of Year Recap

Ride Stats
Miles for 2012: 11122
Rides
Set a record for most rides in a year. Rode Outside every Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in 2012. Also threw in a handful of Fridays for 318 days, outside, in the saddle. I consider this a pretty cool accomplishment and feel I should acknowledge global warming for helping out.
More Ride Stats
2 Rides at 21 mph for 80+ miles
1 Ride at 20 mph for 80+ miles
2 Centuries at 19+ mph
Favorite Ride
Monday September 3rd  "Turned 54 Years Old Today" (see blog post Monday Sept 3rd)
                30+ people showed up for a team ride on my birthday and even sang me Happy Birthday
Business
Came out of my semi-retired life style to inject new life in my abstracting business, after it took a pummeling during the economic downturn of 2010 and 2011. I received and processed more orders for my business than I have in over 7 years. As a matter of fact I received and processed more orders in 2012 than the last four years combined.
Highlight Of The Year
Officiated at the marriage of my daughter, Britney. This probably made the top 5 of my best all time life experiences. (see blog posts September 15th and September 16th "Big Day")
Favorite Photos Of The Year

Another very good year, with great rides, friends, and family. I'm grateful to my children and grandchildren, they are the greatest joys in my life, to my riding friends, especially Amy, for making my rides seem even longer, to Penny for understanding the cyclist in me, and to my blogger friends, thanks for checking in regularly and putting up with poor sentence structure and all the misspellings.

Thanks for making 2012 so good and letting me share it with you.
Tom

Last!

Did it! Rode outside everyday (except Fridays) this year. Finished the year perfectly...a ride with Amy. Pretty cold out there, we were both feeling the 11 degree temp this evening. 20/12.7

Finishing

Ending the year well. These cold weather rides are hard, though. Pushing up the slightest hill gets the quads screamin'. Just me and Amy again, which was great. We'll be out there again tomorrow. 31/13.2

Roadie Winter Fun

Temp was 15 when Amy and I left, and 16 when we got home. Wind was noticeable. We headed for Excelsior on a limestone trail, which kept us somewhat sheltered from the wind. It was all asphalt after that 15 miles. Out on the roads it was tempting to think, hey we could do this on our road bikes, (we hit 25mph on a descent) but wiser (Amy) people quickly put those thoughts in perspective.
Sun came out, which always makes so much of a difference. Really never got cold and once again Evil showed his versatility on trails, snow, and asphalt. 51/13.8

Shop Work

Friday is turning into mechanic day.
Took the V brakes off of the Beast and replaced them with cantilever. I get a tighter brake lever pull. We'll see if that means shorter stopping distance. I'll give them a real world try in the morning. No saddle time today.

Not So Bad

Light snow for the whole ride. It's a cool look with the snow comin' down...little like fog. As light leaves and dark emerges the street lamps and car headlights elongate into the miniature flakes.
Not much accumulation on the trails, but plenty on Evil. 20/13.2

Can See The End

Hit 11,000 miles today for 2012. Sometimes it surprises me, because it just seems so normal. I mean, if I get on a bike and ride everyday, I guess the miles will eventually add up. It's sort of like breathing...I just kind of do it. I almost forgot to post tonight, that's how routine this has gotten for me. 20/13.7

Merrily Along

Another cold ride. I was out there with 13 degrees, apparently 2 of them weren't quite tough enough to finish the ride with me...only 11 when I got home.

A wonderful family gathering at Brit and Nate's for Christmas Brunch this morning.

Sure has been a delightful Christmas holiday.

Silent Night

A cold 17 degree ride, then I went to see all of the grandlumps and give them their Christmas goodies from Grandpa. They all tore into the presents and genuinely seemed to like them. That's a relief. It gets harder every year to figure out what they'd like.
A self-taken picture of Grandpa the Cyclist, taken today.

Kelsey drew a portrait of Grandpa today with paper and pencils she got from me for Christmas. I think she nailed the goatee.

Listening to Luther Choir on Pubic Television now. A wonderful day.
Merry Christmas!

I'll Take It

Another road ride, another day in heaven. Felt much colder today. That north wind had some harsh in it. Temp never got above 15 during the ride. Solo again...missed Amy.

There's A Simple Beauty In The Starkness Of Winter

 

Enjoyed celebrating two birthdays tonight. Both Kelsey (9) and Aubrey (1). Whole family was there. Real good day!

Aubs seemed to enjoy dinner

and really liked my gift

Kels thought the purse and shoes I gave her were great

All the candles got blown out

Everyone enjoys cake!

Just Can't Hang It Up

Three snowmobile-ers, with bright yellow snow machines had stopped along the road. I could see they did a double-take upon seeing me coming towards them. I pulled up to them, with my skinny 23c road tires, and said, "I like my snow machine better than yours". They laughed and one said, "you just can't hang it up". I had to agree.
Temp was 11 when I started out. I bought a new pair of boots, the old Lakes are being held together with pedal straps. These new boots kept the old hairy toes toasty. Spendy, but worth it.
http://fat-bike.com/2012/08/new-45nrths-winter-cycling-boot-wolvhammer/
Sun was out and created, not only a beautiful ride, but helped to keep the rest of me feelin' fine.

I needed this ride bad. The road is in my blood...I can't live without some long hours and miles on rural pavement. 58/15.8

End Of Darkness

Daylight starts to increase now, and I have to lose the rest of that weight. I guess I'm OK with that. Think I'm gonna try the road bike Saturday.
Actually got out with my camera today...it's been awhile.

Winter

Just a few flakes fell, but the wind really picked up, and the temps rocketed downward. Looks like folks to the south got dumped on. Good for them! 20/13.0

I just might ride the road bike on Saturday. Stay tuned.

Getting Rideable Again

Hey, I was thinking a raod bike could make it on these trails. If that storm misses us, I might be out on the road bike this weekend. 20/13.9

Tuesday December 18

Good ride. The trails are clearing up nicely with warmer temps and the Park Department putting down a little salt. 20/13.5

Excuses

I got out so I guess it wasn't a total wimp-out, but the icy trails, recovery Monday, cold temps, no sun, no sleep Sunday night....OK I suppose I shouldn't use up all my excuses at once. I just didn't feel good. 14/11.5 (the Beast went easy on me)

No Slush Today

Amy and I got out for an icy dicey ride to Wayzata. The roads weren't so bad but the Greenway had a thin layer of ice that the studs had a hard time sinking into. Nevertheless, Amy kept the bikes upright. 30/13.5

Better Than I Thought

Probably the most difficult weather conditions for staying warm when cycling is not 25 degrees below or 100 above. Those are easier to prepare for than a 35 degree rain. This wasn't drizzle, or sprinkles, this was rain. I decided to try out rain proof pants under which I wore my lightest tights. A long-sleeved jersey, a hooded base layer, and a waterproof rain cape over that covered my upper body. Lake cycling boots and one pair of wool socks for feet, warmest gloves and liners for my hands. I placed a cap, hood and a Gore covered helmet on the old hairless head. This all worked really well. The gear kept the 35 degree water out, and, even though my gear caused me to sweat, that was significantly warmer than what was falling on me.
Trails were very slushy at first, but the rain just kept on washing away at it and they started to clear up nicely after about an hour. Evil performed perfectly. That bike will do anything, slush, rain, ice, snow...
Only saw a few runners out, and, as is typical when the weather is at its worst, we were all giving each other head nods, thumbs-up, and very friendly hi's.
Ride turned out much better than I thought it would. 39 miles, just a little over 3 hours of saddle time and averaged 12.5 mph. I'll take this over the gym every time.

Low Rain Clouds Over Minneapolis

Cedar Lake Is Melting

Trails Are Clearing

Love The Rain Accumulation On The Bottom Of My Glasses

This Got To Me

While I was driving - heard the news, on the radio. Eighteen children.... I had to pull the car over to the side of the road...started to cry. Sent a text to each of my kids that simply said, I Love You.
Tried, unsuccessfully, to hold back more tears several times today. The dead are safe. It is those of us left behind and especially the parents left behind that will suffer for the rest of their lives.

Keep Melting

Been riding in the snow for a week now. A little crunchier today than yesterday. It still got above freezing today, but the trails had more ice on 'em. That re-freezin' will get you every time. Evil is serving me well. Good week of riding. (all that means is I survived) 20/12.2

Winter Flat

No that's not an extra stud. Little bastard gave Evil a flat. I haven't been on Evil since Saturday, so he must have picked it up then. Noticed the airless rear the second I got on so at least I was home to repair it and not out in the middle of the dark.
Evil felt good. The Beast is great and can handle all that an urban winter can throw at him, but with temps in the 40's and the trails clearing up some, plus Evil has full fenders, the ride was a little closer to road. 20/11.9

Had To Pull The Little Sucker Out With a Needle-Nose Pliers

Almost Fun

Well that was better. Still cold (18 degrees), but that's 10 degrees warmer than last night. Also, I'm getting my winter legs. Winter riding is so much different than road riding. I'm starting to feel a little more comfortable with the different riding techniques and experiences. I hate to say it, but I almost had fun out there tonight.  Another nice hot shower and a fantastic bowl of made from scratch wild rice soup. 20/??

It's Here

Beautiful when I left...15 degrees with lots of sun. That ended fast! Sun went down and so did the temp. I got cold. Temp was 6 when I got home, and I wasn't out for more than 2 hrs. I couldn't wait to get in that hot shower.
Trails were plowed...some ice though...glad I was on the Beast. I'm using my new light a lot lately. Fresh snow and a bright light was kind of cool. 20/??

Still Alive

Brought the Beast out for some frolicking in the snow. As I write this there's about a foot on the ground. Kept the streak alive too. Amy and I added one more memory to 6 years of great ride memories.
By the time I turned for home there was about 6 inches on the ground...not plowed. That was a hard slog. Not sure how many miles, but we were out for 2+ hours. I'd guess about 25 miles. Lucky if we averaged 12mph.
Here is some photo eveidence.

Adjustment

Kind of have the bah humbugs about winter, and particularly snow, this year. I liked last years lack of frozen liquid. I was not happy to be getting out in it this morning, which explains how over dressed I was. Within a couple of miles we passed a group of cyclists, then another, all waving and seemingly in good spirits. Hmph!
I was actually a little warm, and I was enjoying talking to my friends, then the sun came...well that sure messed up my bad attitude.
The new snow did what it always does, which is add a newness and freshness to the landscape. Combine that with the sun and a brightness is created that cheers even the most scroogy of Scrooges.
I lost my bahs and humbugs both before we made to Excelsior.

An out and back to Victoria along a crushed limestone trail, with Amy, Steven and Jen. Very Nice!