Several club rides that were scheduled for New Years Day were cancelled in my area due to the cold. It looks like one ride was not cancelled; I know someone who was planning to do it so will have to ask if he actually went, and if anyone else was there. It was 10 degrees when I got home from a NYE party around 1:30-2:00, and 16-18 degrees for my entire drive from NY to Virginia with a lengthy stop to visit a friends in NJ. Significantly colder than average around here. (And did I mention that my car battery is showing signs of giving up the ghost, helped along by frigid temps and too many short drives with the defroster on? For the first half of the drive I had the heat and stereo off in order to make sure the headlights remained bright enough. Of course this sort of thing only happens on major holiday weekends.)
My friend in NJ did go out for a very brief ride, because she likes to start every year with a ride on Jan 1. A few days earlier she and her husband went out for a ride. They are both bike commuters and he does brevets, so they're not strangers to riding in adverse conditions. I suspect that a few other friends who are veteran bike commuters also went out for a short holiday spin.
I was just reading about the storm that is expected to hit the east coast later this week. Looks like Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and DelMarVa beaches are in its path. I am crossing all available fingers and toes that current forecasts hold and the storm stays east of DC. And am also hoping that Long Island is largely spared. It does look like the New England coast will get hammered by a winter "hurricane." And then we all get a blast of polar vortex for the cherry on top. Good thing I took my space heater out of storage.
And so as I said in last month's ride thread, I hope the books I got for Christmas will be good distractions for stationary cycling at the gym. Not sure which I'll start with -- I have a couple of novels that are set in the area where I grew up, plus Carrie Fisher's diary from her days filming the original Star Wars movie (which I still refer to as "the first Star Wars movie" -- never mind this new hope number four thing).
- Gray 2010 carbon WSD road bike, Rivet Independence saddle
- Red hardtail 26" aluminum mountain bike, Bontrager Evoke WSD saddle
- Royal blue 2018 aluminum gravel bike, Rivet Pearl saddle
Gone but not forgotten:
- Silver 2003 aluminum road bike
- Two awesome worn out Juliana saddles