Each time I ride now I assume it is the last ride of the year. Today was a great day to be out on a bike, with the temperature reaching 44 by the time I returned. I almost rode the Elite, but chose the Advantage with its wider tires with lower pressure to give a bigger footprint on the road. There were a few iffy patches of melting slush in the shade of the trees on 168th as I returned, so it was the right choice for today. I passed a few blueberry fields -- riding mostly north and west from here. 
It was so pretty that for a few minutes I 'almost' regretted that I will be taking a brief hiatus from winter soon. I saw only one other biker, a young boy delivering newspapers. Have I mentioned that I love my bike -- even the relatively clunky Bianchi Advantage?
Yesterday, the SLO's wanted to bake some 'scratch' cookies and decorate them as a present for their Grandfather. Since I am the only person they know who knows how to make scratch cookies, I was drafted to assist in their project. OSLO assisted as well, and Nikki declared it to be a good bonding experience. This is the result of their efforts. Too cute.
Since there seems to be a theme going on -- both GZ and TT have recently posted scenes from their yards -- here's mine.
Lake effect snow bands are setting up this afternoon and will deposit more white stuff overnight. It is part of the deal here, and winds like we have today are part of the requirements for a good 'event.' We set a new record high temperature for the date today -- 52 degrees shortly after midnight. It is currently about 22. They got that whole Ides of March thing wrong -- beware the Winter Solstice.
Today's ride was the messiest ride I've taken this month, and even though I was riding the 'cheap' bike purchased specifically for riding in salt and sandy road conditions, I felt obligated to wipe it down when I got home. All the snow that had been resting politely in people's lawns got very excited by the 40 degree temperatures, threw off their frosty bonds and ran into the street. But still a nice December ride. (The photo above is of a tree in Tunnel Park, decorated by Mother Nature. Nice job.)
Tunnel Park was closed, however. The gates were not only closed, but locked.
On my way home I rode past this willow tree blowing in the wind. The sun, almost visible through the clouds at the top of the tree, is hanging low -- not in the western sky, but in the southern sky. Well, I suppose I should have known that. 
The parking lot at the state park was also empty -- pretty much as expected on a dreary day like today. The temperature was about 36, though -- and the wind about 10 mph from the WNW. It felt cold -- partly because I'd made some changes in my layers and got it wrong. Not cold enough to be a problem, just kind of uncomfortable.
I am now closer to 3,500 miles than I am to 3,400 miles for the year, so if I talk about this year's total miles -- and I will -- I have ridden 'almost 3,500' miles rather than 'more than 3,400.' The solstice is nearly here and the sun will soon begin its long journey north. Of course, it will get really, really cold for a while, too.
The tree is tall and skinny, pre-wired with non LED lights, so we are not as environmentally friendly as TT and UH. TOPWLH says that the lights are very low wattage, and thus don't use a lot of electricity, and that throwing away a non bio-degradable, nearly new tree in order to use less electricity would increase our carbon footprint, not decrease it. So we will continue with this system, which is cool with me. So I think Emily posted a picture of her tree first, then TT and UH, and now me. Good on us for having so much of the afore mentioned spirit of the season.
The sun was shining, there were patches of blue in the sky, and the wind was brisk. They rode their sled down the small hill at the back edge of the yard, made snow angels, threw a few snowballs and eventually gave up on trying to make a fort. I joined them for a while, mostly in the role as 'pusher of sled.'
Funny how kids have such a different perspective on winter than adults do.
The SLO's have arrived to take some of the chocolate home with them. They are happy to see their grandfather again. The feeling is obviously mutual.
With pro sports so badly battered, where does one turn for entertainment? Today fatcyclist recommended a blog that I read regularly, Jill in Alaska, who recently posted a link to some old Discovery Channel videos of a 1988 snow bike race in Alaska. Jill plans to do it this winter. The Iditabike. (She's young. Very young.)
Tunnel Park this morning. It was about 25 degrees, with a NNE wind less than 10 mph. About an 11 mile ride, plenty far enough in these conditions. The Bianchi Advantage did pretty well.
This is from yesterday -- the temperature was about the same, but the wind -- especially right at the edge of the bluff, was throat cutting.
These are hemlocks, as in, "THIS is the forest primeval, the murmuring pines and the hemlocks," -- Longfellow. A nice hike from Pine Bend to Hemlock Crossing (and back) along the Pigeon River with Lynne this morning.
In other news, it looks as though Ted will not need surgery to put him back together, that everything will heal on its own. The jury is still out on his cheekbone, but all in all, a good report from the docs. (Stay off ladders, please.)
We spent almost an hour following the various trails through the woods. There had been at least one person through there this morning on skis, though there really isn't enough snow to cover all the stumps left behind when the trails were cut. The wind in the pine trees was about the only sound we heard while we were there. A cold and beautiful morning to be outside.
We're thinking about doing the hiking thing again soon. I was surprised by how excited Lynne was about our small adventure, less than 4 miles from home. We're hoping to walk the trails along the north side of the Pigeon River.... I'll keep you posted. As far as I know, that isn't a Superfund site.
Lynne and I are going over there tomorrow to hike around some. We're both a little hesitant to go off into the woods alone, so it will be a joint venture. It will provide some possibilities for photos, too. She's had some significant knee problems, so is a little gimpy --there was even some talk of surgery a few weeks ago -- and I'm not much of a hiker. But I have plenty of cold weather gear, so should be good to go. The location is good because the ice on our streets here makes it easier to walk in the woods than around the neighborhood. (Blogger claims to have fixed the problem with the photos.)
We didn't get much snow here, but we did get ice.... the parking lots and side streets are treacherous. So besides a bit of shopping, my exercise for the day was to do some hiking around the Riley Street Cross Country Ski Trails. No evidence that anyone was desperate enough to ski in the paltry accumulations, but lots of footprints in the fresh snow. I had the place to myself, which was oddly spooky. But very pretty. I walked along loop 'B' -- for beginners, guided by the orange dots on the trees.
I was following a mountain bike's tracks in the snow until the bike took a fork onto one of the more advanced trails and I circled back to the parking lot. I like the serenity of walking in the woods, especially now when I am pretty sure that all of the deer ticks are dead or at least hibernating. Definitely cold enough to hibernate.
It was a little bit of exercise, a little 'full spectrum' sun -- I hope it counts if there is no sun -- and a little fresh air. Not much, but not zero. Stay tuned for post number 201.....
Not zero? The miles I have ridden in December. There has been no month with a zero in the miles column since January of '04, though the last two Decembers were close. 11 miles in '05 and 44 in '06. This morning's miles guaranteed that December of '07 will not break my streak of nonzero months. And of course, not zero is also the number of posts that I will be making in December. And this is a photo of the bike/pedestrian bridge across the Black River, complete with ice along the edge of the water and a fake windmill in the background. Theme day. Still waiting for the snow to arrive.