I haven't riden much lately, but I went out on a beautiful bike ride this afternoon. It was a relatively balmy day for January in Wisconsin: thick fog in the morning, in the forties by noon with occasional light rain, slipping back into fog at dusk... a promise of a winter storm by tomorrow! It might be my last chance to put some miles on in January, so I rode 24 miles to White Mound State Park. That brings my total to 110 miles so far in 2013. I have a goal for this year but perhaps I should give an update of 2012.

I didn't blog anymore after October but I rode through November and into early December. My total miles for 2012 was about 1,700. I had hoped to achieve 2,000 miles! A friend of mine suggested that in 2013 I should try to do the equivalent of New York to San Francisco... 2,905.5 miles! I think that would be possible, since I didn't start riding until May last year and then only 4 miles a day in the beginning. This year I'm hoping to commute (28 miles one way) to work occasionally instead of just once like I did in 20112, and I've already got a good start in January.... so San Francisco, here I come. Sort of!

I bought some additional riding gear as the weather turned colder. I got a pair of neoprene shoe covers, wool socks, a balaclava to cover my face, and a pair of Bar Mitts for the bike handlebars. It seems that as the temperature drops each 10 degree or so, it requires a different dressing for the ride. Todays ride lasted about 2 1/2 hours and due to the wet road spray and light rain, I was just beginning to get cold toward the end.

Back to today's ride, even though it was in the forties when I left around 1:00pm, I encountered back roads that were still snow and ice covered. These were usually along a north hillside or in east/west valleys.

One of the things I noticed as I rode is that I can see much deeper into the woods than in the summer when the leaves hide so many secretes. Pieces of old junk farm machines, old cars, hidden cabins, buildings, and campers are all unveiled in the naked landscape.

The creeks where high with the January snow melt and the January thunder storm we endured durring the night. This morning as I went about feeding the animals, I couldn't see flooded valley as Narrows Creek became a roaring river, but I could hear it through the fog.









As I finished my ride this afternoon, the creek had subsided but great chucks of ice remained jammed against the bridge and were left lying out in fields adjacent to the creek that had barely slipt back into her banks.




I arrived home soaked from the inside from my own body sweat, and from the outside by the rain and wet highways.  The photo is blurry, sorry.  It was supposed to be a shot of my dirty pant legs and the dirty bike before I washed it and brought it in the basement to dry. My wife tried but missed! Ha!

She did capture the Bar Mitts, they are awesome! They are like a pair of mittens that attach to the handlebars of the bike. You operate the shifters and brakes inside the Bar Mitts. I rode the entire day without gloves as my hands remained warm inside. On colder days, I wear a pair of light gloves inside the Bar Mitts. They're easy to slip hands in and out as I ride even with gloves on. I love them. The balaclava seemed to keep my glasses from steaming up more than when I wasn't wearing it. Lastly, I ditched the helmet for the winter. The one I have doesn't fit well with the additional hats I wear.