Ride Report, or Back in the Saddle

Yes I'm back in the saddle again. My commute this morning, although not the long route, was cold but brisk--just the way I like it. Well, the first 1/4 mile was freezing and I was wondering what the Hell I was doing--why wasn't I just driving in like the rest of the mob?

Then I remembered the last few weeks were traffic has been unbearably slow. Its because of the Snow Birds--what we used to call Blue Hairs back in Oklahoma. Its lighter longer in the evenings which will make my long commute home better. I can see, motorists can see me, and I can ride faster.

This weekend Steve Tartar and Yours have planed an epic ride to Winkelman--which will be about 25 or 30 miles past Mammoth. Mammoth (click to see blog entry) was a fun ride back then, so now to Winkelman. To save about 40 miles I believe we will leave from Claire's Cafe. This of course means we will have to have a hearty breakfast before we start the climb to Oracle. Mammoth will have a fast winding downhill with some crosswinds. I hope its not too cold.

I checked in with Gerry Goode and he's given me the particulars to Winkelman, including a place to have lunch. We're leaving from Claire's because if we try to go from my place to Winkelman, we'll run out of daylight on the return. And if we leave real early its just too cold. On the brevets we can drop our warm gear at the controles. But I hate to carry all that suff with us because we have a pretty major climb from Mammoth back up to Oracle.

Steve and I are preparing mentally and physically for the 300 kilometer February 11th. I'll do some long commutes into work to get the bike adjusted and my butt ready for the long haul. Last year it rained for the whole 16 hours we were riding. I suppose I'll be telling about that one for a long time.

Allure Libre!