Riding in the Holiday Season: December Rides!

[rebeccaC]

I always feel better posting about nice weather riding this time of year after someone has just done it….thanks Emily!!!!

Yesterday, with Alex and two friends, we went for a ride south on the beach bike path and then into the Palos Verdes hills for some climbing. Perfect weather and just a pleasant day of being with friends. My riding has just been commutes and urban for what seems too long so it felt good to do some harder riding. We’re heading north to Mendocino Ca later this week to spend the holidays with Ellie and some friends. Looking forward to riding roads through giant redwoods again, relaxing and being with good people for 8 days.




a very nice rv campground next to the beach and bike path at Dockweiler state park for you Emily










btw…Alex starts IVF procedures next month and we are soooooo looking forward to that!!!!!!

[north woods gal]

I always feel better posting about nice weather riding this time of year after someone has just done it….thanks Emily!!!! ...

Hey, I feel better, too.

Seriously, I do. Love my snow biking, but the snow adds even more of a challenge to an already challenging type of riding. You have to be on full, red alert to just make it down the trail. Loose your concentration for even an instant and you risk stalling or worse. Relaxing, it is not. Right, now, I'd give just about anything for a nice clean section of pavement on a sunny, warm day.

Those pics, Rebecca, relax me and warm me right up. Brightens up my day. Thanks.

[emily_in_nc]

Great pics, Rebecca! That bike path looks wonderful, as does the RV park. Maybe someday.... As long as I am in braces, I'm kinda stuck in Florida. Not that I mind being here this time of year, but it was a bit tough in August-September.

[north woods gal]

Lost my record, yesterday. Was shoveling off the trail and next thing I knew it was too dark to ride the trail, safely (get's dark very early, up here). Not to mention I was totally pooped out from all that shoveling, anyway. Oh, well. Kind of nutty to think I have to ride each and every day in this weather. Some real cold headed our way by the ned of the week, with single digit and sub zero stuff.

On a brighter note, we have Common Redpolls at the feeder! They're strictly a northern bird that wanders a lot in the winter. Some winters, don't see a one. Other winters, see them a lot.

Not a great pic, but shows what the Common Redpoll looks like for you folks that live south of us.

[emily_in_nc]

NWG, thank you for sharing your photos of Common Redpolls. I had never heard of them until our one winter in Wisconsin many years ago, but they graced our feeders every day, and I so enjoyed feeding and seeing them!

The past two days have been very very warm for December rides, but we've lucked out as the wind has finally died for a bit. Very enjoyable. Just strange to be in sleeveless jerseys and 80 degree temps in mid-December, though it's to get a bit cooler next week.

Congratulations on 6000 miles, Sue -- that's a lot! I went over 3500 yesterday. Should be quite a bit more, but with my enforced layoff this spring/summer, I missed a few months. I'm still quite happy with this total and will get a few more rides in before the new year.

[Crankin]

Congrats on the mileage, everyone. I am still hoping to get one more ride in, it may be tomorrow afternoon. I will still go to my class at the gym, half spin, half conditioning, but then I have my office holiday party at lunch time. I normally wouldn't be there on Wednesdays, so after lunch, it will be around 40 and I may go for a ride, if it's not too windy. It was 49 today, but of course, I was working.
I'm just happy I got to x country ski Sunday.

[north woods gal]

Ooops, missed that Sue. 6000 miles is one heck of a year. Congrats.

Good ride, today, but mostly on paved neighborhood roads. Temp was warm enough to break up some of the snow pack and traction was very good. Not much for miles, only 7, but riding snow is different, plus added in 3 miles on my trails.

Our forecast high temp for Christmas is zero. Note self: time to setup the indoor trainer.

[shootingstar]

Lost my record, yesterday. Was shoveling off the trail and next thing I knew it was too dark to ride the trail, safely (get's dark very early, up here). Not to mention I was totally pooped out from all that shoveling, anyway. Oh, well. Kind of nutty to think I have to ride each and every day in this weather. Some real cold headed our way by the ned of the week, with single digit and sub zero stuff.

On a brighter note, we have Common Redpolls at the feeder! They're strictly a northern bird that wanders a lot in the winter. Some winters, don't see a one. Other winters, see them a lot.

Not a great pic, but shows what the Common Redpoll looks like for you folks that live south of us.

Redpoll birds are incredibly hardy: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...nter-1.4465936

"They can survive up to 20 hours without access to food, even if temperatures drop to -54 C," Keating said.
Redpolls have specially designed esophageal pouches that allow them to hold on to seeds, then later slowly digest them to provide them with energy to maintain their core at a balmy 40 C — "kinda like throwing logs on a fireplace."
"Their internal temperature can be 73 degrees warmer than the surrounding air, with the two extremes being separated by less than a half a centimetre layer of feathers."

[north woods gal]

For sure, very hard birds. Have to be, to hang around in the winter, up here.

Speaking of birds, have had a Northern Shrike hanging around our neighborhood the last couple of weeks, running a route of all the local bird feeders. Another very interesting bird, basically a song bird turned predator. When the Shrike is around, the birds at the feeder react the same way as when a hawk is around, namely, all activity ceases and the birds wait until the Shrike is gone before moving.

[emily_in_nc]

I need 8 more miles to hit 3700 for the year. We'd planned to ride today, but it was (in the morning and still is in the afternoon) in the low 50s with a brisk north breeze, full cloud cover, and mist in the air, so we bailed. We took a 6 mile walk instead, in many layers. Warmed up as we went and enjoyed it. The weekend looks a little nicer, still chillier than normal for central Florida, but sunny, at least. I normally avoid the bike paths on weekends because of all the kids and tourists, so I may just do a short road ride to get my miles. Next week looks cold pretty much every day, so not sure how much riding I'll get done the first week of the new year.

Yes, I do realize that my idea of "cold" is a bit skewed.