The weather channel said it was clear and 34 degrees this morning. They lie! There I stood on the porch bike in hand, lites lit, arctic gear on, ready to go looking at the delicate silver coating of frost on the walk, the road, and my lawn (which I stepped on and found it froze solid). Oh well it didn't feel slippery at least.

Off I went headed north (weather channel said 6 mph north winds. Did I mention that they lie? On the return leg I found myself fighting arctic headwinds but we'll get to that later). Main roads were dry and showed little traces of frost. Just after leaving town though I hit fog and it got thicker the farther from town I got. My face and nose were really cold and not warming.

I did find the helmet mounted light seemed to create a blinding aura in spots but not enough so as to make me turn it off or stop. Turning west to cross the freeway the ground frost got really thick in spots. I concentrated on smooth round pedaling and keeping the bike upright rather than leaning in the corners. I may have felt a subtle slip or two or it may have been an overactive imagination.

Riding thru the town of Donald I got treated to the tempting scents of the cafe firing up for the early AM crowd (all 12 of them) :-) Ahh the turn south, time to ride the gentle tail winds home. :-( Hmm my face is colder and my cadence lower, check speed. Odometer hazy, wipe off, HEY its iced over!. My feet have started aching from the chill despite using thick socks and toe warmers.

My nice 18 to 20 mph flat ground pace is slowed to between 16 and 17, a truck passes going the other way and I swear I flew backwards several yards. North winds? Lyin b*stards!

As I crawled upwind the sunrise began in earnest but all I could see was a distant white haze getting lighter and the occasional vehicle that would either pass by going my way giving me an instant 2 mph while I could stay in its draft or pass the other way and force instant slowdowns. I looked down at my arms and saw the frontside of the jacket had ice covered folds on the leading edges. Except for the exposed area on my face and my throbbing feet I wasn't cold. But I was beginning to resemble a flocked xmas tree.

I rolled up in front of the house at 20.2 miles with a nice white frost on my frontside, an odometer that was frosted over, the spare headlight had a nice thick frost coat on it. The neighborhood almost looked like it had had a dusting of snow.

As I put the bike away, my feet now thawing I thought to myself. "Too bad its not going to be like this tomorrow morning"

Don "winter wonderland" Bolton

1. Don, you are an amazing story teller.
2. Are you nuts riding when it slick?
3. And you want to do it again?

My earmuffs are off to you Mr. Bolton. I was in my nice, warm, electrically heated bed while you were out being Mr. Snowmizer....

Wendi "cold toes even in the house" Thornton

1. Thanks. I'm having fun with life while I can.
2. Of course! It wasn't slick when and where I started and once there then what else can you do?
3. Of course! Any landing (or ride) you can walk away from is a good one:-) I had a great ride today! some adversity, some technical skills needed, and the sheer joy of being able to do it easily.

Don "just a kid living in a middle aged body" Bolton

Great ride story Don!

I'm impressed with your perseverance in this weather. I've been doing most of my training on rollers of late. I purchased a set of Kreitler Challenger rollers (an early Christmas present) a couple of weeks ago and I just love them.

I set them up in the garage, open the garage door put on some tunes and away I go. Despite what I'd heard, they were easy to learn how to use; I can spin at 23 mph and 100 rpms for 1-2 hours in the morning and get a pretty good workout. In contrast to your apparel, I wear cycling shorts and a short sleeve jersey and am very comfortable. I like being outside but not "in the weather". I like the rollers much better than a trainer and haven't found them to be boring at all, yet.

Linda (dry and warm going nowhere fast in my garage) Moreland-Hooker