Some of downtown & Lakeshore Drive before the snow ride startedTuesday night we accumulated some precip which made for perfect snow ride conditions Wednesday morning. Temps were pretty agreeable though still only in the 20s with some stiff West wind. After morning appointments I caught up with some of my favorite boys for a lakefront path snow ride. They were all riding on studded tires so it was hard to keep up with them on my standard cyclocross tread - I found myself going sideways more times than I could count but somehow managed to stay upright for the entire ride.
Heading South the path hadn't been touched by a plow or salt which made for lots of nervous moments and cautious (but fun!) riding. There's something way cool about riding in the untouched snow - the sound of it crunching under your tires and the 'insulated from the outside world' feeling it provides. Heading back North wasn't quite as fun since the plows had come through and dropped salt so it was easy to find a pavement patch to ride on most of the time.
This year's winter has so far made outdoor riding difficult - bitterly cold, windy and snowy conditions have caused me to curtail the amount of outdoor saddle time I've been getting. I truly despise riding indoors so having a day like Wednesday made for a really nice departure from the rollers, if only for a day. Thanks to Lou, Josh and Mike for letting me tag along.
I'm still reading 'Next Man Up' but managed to sneak in a quick read of David Sedaris's 'Holidays on Ice' which was tremendously amusing. Spin classes have been at capacity all week and will probably remain that way for a while until things taper off in February. Here's today's soundtrack:
Season of the Witch - Donovan
You Better You Bet - The Who
Chains of Love - The Dirtbombs
Lips Like Sugar - Echo and the Bunnymen
Whatever Happened to My Rock n Roll - BRMC
Crazy Train - Ozzy Osbourne
Do Right - Jimmie's Chicken Shack
Tonight, Tonight - Smashing Pumpkins
This is a Call - Foo Fighters
Alive - PJ
It's Alright - Big Head Todd and the Monsters
Heading South the path hadn't been touched by a plow or salt which made for lots of nervous moments and cautious (but fun!) riding. There's something way cool about riding in the untouched snow - the sound of it crunching under your tires and the 'insulated from the outside world' feeling it provides. Heading back North wasn't quite as fun since the plows had come through and dropped salt so it was easy to find a pavement patch to ride on most of the time.
This year's winter has so far made outdoor riding difficult - bitterly cold, windy and snowy conditions have caused me to curtail the amount of outdoor saddle time I've been getting. I truly despise riding indoors so having a day like Wednesday made for a really nice departure from the rollers, if only for a day. Thanks to Lou, Josh and Mike for letting me tag along.
I'm still reading 'Next Man Up' but managed to sneak in a quick read of David Sedaris's 'Holidays on Ice' which was tremendously amusing. Spin classes have been at capacity all week and will probably remain that way for a while until things taper off in February. Here's today's soundtrack:
Season of the Witch - Donovan
You Better You Bet - The Who
Chains of Love - The Dirtbombs
Lips Like Sugar - Echo and the Bunnymen
Whatever Happened to My Rock n Roll - BRMC
Crazy Train - Ozzy Osbourne
Do Right - Jimmie's Chicken Shack
Tonight, Tonight - Smashing Pumpkins
This is a Call - Foo Fighters
Alive - PJ
It's Alright - Big Head Todd and the Monsters
