Has Anybody Seen December?
This is a December to remember as far as our weather goes. Our temps have been in the upper 30's to well into the 40s (2º - 9º C) most of the month which is quite a departure from normal. One of my neighbors was out doing yard work last week. Had our temps been cold enough for snow we'd be buried deep now because of all of the precipitation we've had. While the weather has been great for getting out and walking (50 miles in the past week), it's not so good for fat-biking. Our lakes haven't even iced over yet.
Because it's important to limit damage to mountain bike trails when they're wet, all of the trails have been closed for the past few weeks and I'm itching to be out there riding them. I wouldn't mind seeing some snow as well because it is winter after all and I've been looking forward to this—being retired, waking up and getting out on the snowy trails. There's still a lot of winter left so it's not quite time to panic.
I met up with a group of riders last Saturday for the Faturday group ride. They typically ride the Minnesota River bottoms but opted for the crushed limestone of the Lake Minnetonka LRT Regional Trail. This was my first time with the group so I wasn't sure what to expect. They're a fun crowd. We turned the ride into a pub crawl, stopping at 3 pubs along our 34-mile route. I intend to tag along with them again throughout the winter.
I only captured the first hour of our ride on video because I forgot my GoPro's batteries in my car but the video below will give you an idea of what a Faturday group ride looks like.
Rachel and Tony leave tomorrow for a friend's wedding in Georgia and she just came down with a head-cold yesterday. This is a trip they've been planning and looking forward to for several months so I hope she's able to get healthy again soon. From Georgia, their group will all leave for the Dominican Republic for (I think) a week. This will be our first Christmas without her. So, between my mom no longer being with us and Rachel being away it's not going to seem the same this holiday season. We only put up our small tree and opted for a minimalist approach to Christmas decorations. I prefer it this way.
At Rachel's suggestion, I bought a GoPro harness/mount for Charlie to wear to see if we could get some fun video from his point of view. He's not as excited about it as we are. See the "GoPro Fail" video below.
There's a small get-together this afternoon for John Otto and Barry Vig who will both be retiring at the end of the month. Yes, I'm a little melancholy about it because that would've been my retirement party as well. I need to get my butt moving because I've got a date with both the elliptical and rowing machine first.
Because it's important to limit damage to mountain bike trails when they're wet, all of the trails have been closed for the past few weeks and I'm itching to be out there riding them. I wouldn't mind seeing some snow as well because it is winter after all and I've been looking forward to this—being retired, waking up and getting out on the snowy trails. There's still a lot of winter left so it's not quite time to panic.
I met up with a group of riders last Saturday for the Faturday group ride. They typically ride the Minnesota River bottoms but opted for the crushed limestone of the Lake Minnetonka LRT Regional Trail. This was my first time with the group so I wasn't sure what to expect. They're a fun crowd. We turned the ride into a pub crawl, stopping at 3 pubs along our 34-mile route. I intend to tag along with them again throughout the winter.I only captured the first hour of our ride on video because I forgot my GoPro's batteries in my car but the video below will give you an idea of what a Faturday group ride looks like.
Rachel and Tony leave tomorrow for a friend's wedding in Georgia and she just came down with a head-cold yesterday. This is a trip they've been planning and looking forward to for several months so I hope she's able to get healthy again soon. From Georgia, their group will all leave for the Dominican Republic for (I think) a week. This will be our first Christmas without her. So, between my mom no longer being with us and Rachel being away it's not going to seem the same this holiday season. We only put up our small tree and opted for a minimalist approach to Christmas decorations. I prefer it this way.
At Rachel's suggestion, I bought a GoPro harness/mount for Charlie to wear to see if we could get some fun video from his point of view. He's not as excited about it as we are. See the "GoPro Fail" video below.
There's a small get-together this afternoon for John Otto and Barry Vig who will both be retiring at the end of the month. Yes, I'm a little melancholy about it because that would've been my retirement party as well. I need to get my butt moving because I've got a date with both the elliptical and rowing machine first.
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