Nov and Dec's snowfalls have held down my bicycling to only 72 miles in December and -0- in January. On the positive side the snow is nearly all gone; LT Klein and Chief Winn are both back in Idaho; SGT's Bullard & Schumacher are finally complaining about the lack of winter exercise; and we had finally had a forecast high for above freezing daytime temps for the first time in 2011. I thought the planets had lined up for a perfect 5 Jan night ride.
LT Klein, SGT Schumacher, & I met at Ann Morrison Park and headed up the bike path with the temperature at 30 degrees. They each had small LED pixel lights that provided a small bright spot on the road- just a little better than a 2.4 watt halogen lights of yesteryear. Of course, if we stayed close together, they could use the light from the MiNewt 250. We all wanted a decent workout, so we turned to ride up E. Shaw Mountain Road to the end of its pavement. Before we reached the top the SGT, who generally loves a good hard workout, was complaining about what?- steepness and tiredness? We descended to the fork in the road where we might have gone to Table Rock and where I suggested we also climb Table Rock. The SGT wasn't as enthused as I'd expect, but I was sure it wasn't much more than 2 miles of gradual climb, and he never declines a challenge. The SGT grew up near Table Rock and knows it, but I, who've never been there, thought it was his imagined tiredness that made him exaggerate the distance and climb. In retrospect, he didn't. The climb didn't require use of granny, but there were no lower gears available on my 2nd sprocket. Where the pavement ends at a gate, we went over the gate. Most of our riding had been on the South side of the mountain, but we were now on the back side of Tablerock- the north side where snow and ice were. Soon I noticed the spinning of the wheel on the ice pack and and was thinking it was fun and a bit challenging to control the bike, but the SGT soon mentioned we'd have to ride down. How did we miss the glare of the ice that would make excellent sledding but not so good cycling down? We ditched our bikes in the sagebrush and hiked the ½ mile to the top. The descent on the ice would have been treacherous on a bike.
Although the SGT had the weakest headlamp, once we reached the pavement, he decided to bring his average speed up by speeding down the hill leaving the LT and me behind. I don't know what he could have seen at those speeds with that little light, but he made it down in one piece. It was a long descent which made me cold after the sweating of the uphill. It was only a couple of miles back to Ann Morrison, near where the LT lives. I was eager to get warm, so I went in for a hot chocolate and to hold the warm cat in my cold hands. With the temperature now at 20, it was up a couple moderate hills which kept me warm before reaching home with 23.3 miles and riding time of 2:53.
The LT and SGT are both eager to go again. I’m envious of my Lewiston friends who can plan weekly Wed night rides a year in advance and have to skip maybe 1 in 4 rides because of weather. Weather will likely make us skip 3 of 4 planned rides, but I’m looking forward to more night rides here in the cold of the South of Idaho!
Happy Cycling for fun, fitness, and transportation!
Steve
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