Ride # 13: Cold and Sunny

February 11, 2014, about 1:30 PM

Cold and sunny, that was today's ramble. Clean, sharp, clear. 28 degrees (-2 C) when I left around 1:45 in the afternoon and 25 (-3 C) when I got back. No cloud cover today excepting the occasional drifting puff smear of a cloud. But even though the sun is strong there is little melting. What spots that normally get enough sun to melt did so yesterday so that today the roads are mostly dry. Except for those patches where the sun doesn't strike at all and, in the Princeton hills, that meant patches of packed snow covering the pavement.

Indeed, the hill roads were iffy. Hobbs Rd in Princeton, a short but vicious incline, is not blessed by sunlight. I included it in today's ride as a descent. Snowy, slushy, at points wet or possibly icy, I couldn't tell. I had to inch my way down, hands clamping the brakes tightly. At one point, I un-clipped my left foot to steady myself in the event my wheels skidded out from underneath. I could never have ridden up it.

But excepting a few of the steepest and westernmost roads, the surfaces were good. Just winter, that's all. Nice and frigid. We haven't had temps above freezing for a week now. And I don't really mind it. I conjure the feeling of enthusiasm for the cold that Iceland imbued in me, an awed attachment to the semi-darkness, to the crunchy snow underfoot and the ice-covered sidewalks and roads. Winter makes the skin hum and the eyes twinkle.

Shadows of the Dub

And today I felt strong. Great night's sleep last night, eating well, weighed in at 145 lbs this morning. I am a little concerned that, though I'm at a lightness plateau poundage-wise, I could be stronger. Perhaps I should be thinking about trying to add 5-10 lbs of muscle mass. My hips could use some strength as could my hands, my shoulders, my forearms. Nevertheless, I was able to sit and pedal strongly and without fatigue up some inclines that, at earlier times and when in poorer condition, I'd have to stand and hoof it. No struggle today.

Shad Lane

As usual, Shad Lane was about the worst road I went on all day. Though the above pic doesn't make that so clear, Shad Lane is consistently snow-covered and slushy, a neighborhood side street that gets intermittent attention from the DPW. It's positively Russian.

Ride Stats: 20.9 miles (32 k), 11.0 mph (had to take it seriously slow at a few places due to adverse road conditions), an hour and forty five minutes in the saddle.

No road kill. I saw a mockingbird come to light on a telephone wire and then immediately set off in pursuit of a robin that happened to be flying nearby.