A Ride in January

I like to read about the hardy souls that ride their bikes all year round. Especially the ones that ride in the northern latitudes. I can remember when I was in college, I had dispensed with a car, and for 3 years rode my bike year round.  As of late that has not been the case.  I do get out in all months of the year.  Occasionally I have ridden in the snow.  Somehow the call of my rollers is louder than the road bike on those cold days in January and February.  Today was the exception, more like an early spring day rather than the 6th of January.  With temperatures hitting 60 degrees it was time to get the mountain bike out.  I have a nice route of slightly more than 10 miles that is part gravel road and part pavement.  It has some short steep hills, but a lot of long flats.  There is traffic on only a short stretch, which has a wide gravel shoulder, hence the mountain bike.....

It has been relatively dry, so that means the road crews have been out blading the gravel.....nice for the cars, not so nice for the bike rider.....it is easy to get off in loose gravel and fall, so I need the wide tires of the mountain bike.

Riding in winter is fun because with the leaves gone you can seen back into the trees to see houses that you did not even know were there.  There are some stretches of road that I ride in the summer, thinking I am miles from people, only to find in the winter that there are a number of houses just off the road, with access coming from a different road so not apparent to me.

The nice thing about this particular route is the lack of dogs.  There is one old lab that would tear me asunder of he could get through my bike to get to me.  It is interesting that he is no less intense now, six years later than he was when we first met.  He is owned by a couple that use to work with me, with a cordial but not particularly positive association.  I figure they are showing pictures of me to the dog each evening while they beat him mercilessly....

Today I came across a lady who had brought her house dogs out on the pretty day.  The combination of this fast moving thing the likes of which that they had not seen before, along with this wild world of wind and sun spurred them to a vigorous defense of their owner.  The main danger was from the traffic.  Of course the pleadings from the owner to come back to her did nothing but spur them onto greater valor.  In the end we were all able to tactically remove ourselves, with no one hurt.  I am sure for nights to come they will dream of their heroic defense....I hope their owner gave them special treats.....

There is an interesting farm along the route that raises multicolor cows......

All in all a nice day....the forecast is for reasonable weather for the next several days, hope I can make time for a ride.  It is wood cutting weather, and I need to get next years wood supply in.....