December rides...

[north woods gal]

Yeah, it's headed your way. We will have a high of 30, tomorrow, but temperatures falling rapidly, come afternoon. Could be awhile before we get above freezing, again. Stay warm.

[rebeccaC]

As always, thanks Emily…and NY, not editing was a very nice way of showing your positivity and helping other ride leaders feel it too.

Very peaceful image nwg!!!!

My very cold/wet/muddy ride in Michigan on Thanksgiving re-enforced the enjoyment/adventure that any kind of weather can give a ride….then again a fireplace, a hot chocolate and a view of falling snow hmmmmmm

[azfiddle]

I braved the cold (Tucson cold) weather Friday to commute: 37 degrees is what the NWS said for my start time. My hands were cold, but everything else wasn't too bad. It was much better after the sun came up (7 miles in). Coming home was cloudy, and kind of blustery so I had all the cold weather gear on even though it was in the low 50's. Saturday I mainly did errands on the Surly- grocery shopping etc. Sunday I rode back in to work to ready for my annual formal evaluation- got the lesson plans done and ready to go. No ride today.

[emily_in_nc]

Yesterday we did our usual ride towards Apopka but tried a different way to get over to the West Orange Trail, involving more road riding on some low-traffic roads. Cut down on the number of road crossings and other (often even slower than me) cyclists we had to deal with. Also took a couple of trail spurs, so I got in my usual mileage (33) without having to ride into downtown Apopka, which is stop sign after stop sign and way too many road crossings. There's a nice rest room at Apopka Station, but not having to go all that way makes for a more pleasant ride. Super windy again though.

Today was a planned day off, and a good thing indeed, as we got a lot of much-needed rain. Got out for a nice walk afterwards.

[north woods gal]

Another inch and a half of snow on top of the several we already had, but fairly dry stuff, so stable and not too tricky. Used the big Salsa Blackboro with its 4.8" tires to break trail then finished up with the Pugsley and it's 4" tires for a little variety. Dropping temps all day, but no big snow in the weekly forecast, ahead, so this girl is still riding, cold and all, with a big smile on her face. The woods in winter are so cool. My idea of heaven.

[Crankin]

Yesterday we had about 2 inches of snow, which turned to a nice wintry mix on the road by the time I got home. It was 42 today and beautiful, but of course, tomorrow, there's another icy mix forecasted for the AM. So, another crappy day and no group ride. I signed up for spin. The temperatures are supposed to plummet after that. If the roads are somewhat cleaner by Saturday, I might brave a short road ride, but it looks like my outdoor rides may be numbered.

[emily_in_nc]

Today we put the panniers on the Bike Fridays and rode west to the Clermont Walmart to pick up my DH's new glasses plus some groceries and household items we needed. The ride took us through some of the hilliest parts of Lake County, and I could really feel the heavier load on the back end of my bike. Glad for the low gears! I just never dreamed I'd be riding hills in Florida. There are actually some beautiful views of Lake Apopka from the high points, though I didn't take any photos this time.

Fortunately, we can ride to Apopka tomorrow, which is a much less hilly, recovery ride. Today was tough but a good accomplishment. 28.5 miles total at a slow (12 mph) pace, about 2/3 on bike paths, and 1/3 on road, mostly with bike lanes.

[azfiddle]

Yesterday my husband and I did a "birding by bike" adventure in the Santa Cruz flats, a desert and agricultural area north of Tucson and south of Phoenix. We "chased" two Rufous-back Robins and saw them, plus a Burrowing Owl, an entire field full of Caracaras and Ravens, many Kestrels and Red-tailed Hawks and one Prairie Falcon. About 3/4 of the road was dirt so it's a good thing we took our touring bikes - the road bikes would not have been that happy on the dirt roads, even though they were well graded. 39 miles and about 40 species of birds.

Untitled by Sharon Goldwasser, on Flickr

[azfiddle]

The farmhouse where the Rufous-backed Robins, American Robins, Abert's Towhees, House Finches, Gila Woodpeckers and other species were coming in to feast on pomegranates and drink at a leaking faucet. Also, some of the other birders intent on seeing the robins. Untitled by Sharon Goldwasser, on Flickr

Untitled by Sharon Goldwasser, on Flickr

[azfiddle]

A distant view of a Burrowing Owl... unfortunately, no Mountain Plovers were in the field behind it.Untitled by Sharon Goldwasser, on Flickr

[north woods gal]

Hey, everyone, thanks for the breathtaking pics. I'm just stunned. Really am. Might as well be a different planet than what I have up here in snow country.

And snow it is. Another three inches, so total snow depth is now edging over 6". That's not great news for the fat biking. Now deep enough for steering loss of control to become an issue on anything but wide and flat sections, not to mention plowing through snow up over the rims is just plain exhausting. Will be switching over to riding roads or groomed trails. Oh, well.

That same 6" of snow is great news for the skiing, though, at least with my wide backcountry skis. Three miles of trail work and may head back out for more.

AZ, did put up our feeders, today, so hope to report on some northern birds you might not see down there. If there's a species of interest, let me know. Did flush a Ruffed Grouse on the fat bike, yesterday. Our bird feeder season is basically Dec 1 to maybe the third week of March. Otherwise, you end up feeding the black bears and then you have a serious problem on your hands. Been there, done that. This guy was especially grouchy. Didn't want to leave the yard, at all.

[rebeccaC]

nwg that's not my kind of neighbor.....had a ranger in the santa monica mountains tell me that by the time i see a cougar once they could have seen me multiple times.

thinking with all these snow posts i shouldn't add temps to my ride posts for a couple of months

[north woods gal]

Gosh, no, don't stop posting those warm temps. They warm me up in spirit, at least.

[Dogmama]

Please keep posting the cold temps too. I'm a weather weanie - don't like to ride below 50 degrees - but love morning rides. Luckily, in Tucson we don't have months of cold weather.

[rebeccaC]

But there sure are a lot of dang cornfields.

“Waist high by the 4th of July”
Thinking they are also needed on a hot ragbrai days ride when you need to drink lots of water……well, at least for me and the group of women I rode with. .....One of my favorite states to have ridden in and across.

Taking all day tomorrow to ride to Mt Ventoux with Alex, an uncle and a friend from here. My mother and a couple of others will ride with us for a shorter ride on the beautiful roads to Sault too. The San Gabriel rides before we left home were good preparation. Feeling blessed to be here with family and friends…