Oh, the cold!

I've always been one who loved winter and all its trappings, not minding the drive in the snow or the chill.  I begin looking toward a white Christmas come Halloween.  It's amazing how much things change!  I feel cramped and cooped up without getting to go out on the bike hardly at all lately.  Simply: it's too cold and snowy.  We're finally get that much-needed snow, but it means I can't get out on the bike.  At least at this point, I'm not inclined to brave sub-freezing (it was 7 degrees F this morning!) to get out on the bike.  Plus, I don't have studded snow tires, and the latest near spills I took were because sloppy snow.  With the clipless pedals, I'm sure to fall over!

However, the few times I have made it out amidst various illness and inclement weather, I've done okay with the new pedals and shoes.  I did come to a stop at a stoplight and put my right foot down (I unclip ahead of time when I see I may stop and rest my toe on the pedal) only to start tipping to the left.  I righted myself, but that wouldn't have been fun!  I've only gotten to use the knee warmers a couple times, but I do like the warmth they add!  It's still hard for me to figure out the layering I need, and I'm right now resistant to taking the backpack if I don't need it.  The last time, I did have the sense to take the arm warmers with me to stop and put them on so I didn't freeze!  I liked the length of the knee warmers well enough to get myself some bib knickers for those cool but not cold days.  Hopefully, I'll get a chance to actually use them soon!

One cool new feature of the trails around here is that they added an underpass for the trail so one no longer has to try to cross a rather busy road to get onto the trail.  That's made life a lot easier, though the grading is rather steep.  Still, not complaining!

And for the next season, I did get myself some new tires with kevlar...they're Schwinn and were getting good reviews at Amazon.com.  I'm hoping that it's a way to cut the flats down.  I may also pick up some liners...Wal-Mart has some Slime bike tire liners...I may look into something like that for reinforcing the tire before the goat head bur season hits again in the fall!  Of course, as long as I'm going on the road, glass is always an issue.

So, here's looking forward to warmer weather and getting to go out again!  My hope for this summer is to have family outings of my wife and kids on the weekends...but to get through the snow!