Ice!

13 miles
43 degrees

I looked at the weather before I left for today's ride. 43 degrees. No big deal. I've been riding in that for weeks so I decided not to wear my base layer leggings. I've only worn them once in the last two weeks. Boy was I wrong. It's cold out there. I don't care if the internet says 43 degrees, its wrong. I went over to Riverfront Park and noticed frost on the trails. It was shaded so I didn't think much of it until I burst out of the woods and saw the pond with a thin layer of ice forming on its surface. Can it really be 43 degrees and there still be ice on the pond? I don't know but I decided then that I was crazy for being out in only shorts, a jersey, and a thin base layer top.

I decided that I needed to keep moving to keep myself warm so rather than mess with the single track trails that are often discontinuous and difficult to navigate causing frequent stops, slow downs and occasion back tracking, I decided to stick to the larger trails. The trail I selected ran next to the river (even colder but by then I was numb anyway) and lead over to Norm's Island. Norm's Island was nice but I had to watch closely since there were several pedestrians with dogs. I didn't want to come around a corner and nail a golden retriever or collie. OUCH! It's bad enough having to worry about hitting a deer, with which I also had a close encounter today. I flushed up a pheasant hen as well. Luckily the vegetation wasn't nearly as dense as it is at Two Moon Park or Riverfront Park so I was able to spy anything in my path far before I reached it. I found myself cruising along the trails at 15 mph in one of my middle gears. Months ago I would have considered that a good speed on a flat, paved road on my road bike in the highest gear.

I need to get a small camera that I can pack around with me to document my travels with photographs, but until then, these found pictures will have to do. It looks a lot different right now since the leafs are gone but there is no snow yet.

Yellowstone River from Norm's IslandBridge at Riverfront Park

Across the river from Norm's Island (I rode over here today too)