New Years Day Ride 2014

January 1, 2014;

And so, it begins, another year! A year in which I can express myself in many ways. One of those ways is keeping fit through physical activity. I have chosen bicycling as that activity to reap the benefits of high calorie burn, and high aerobic benefits, as well as actually being able to go somewhere!  So, every year I try to get out and ride on New Years Day, no matter what the weather. Last year, I managed to ride 22 miles, it was frozen, temperatures in the teens, snowing lightly, and windy ..... wind chills around zero degrees. You can see pictures and write up looking in the archive for the New Years Day ride 2013.

This year, however, it promised to be an altogether different day. First off, The group up in Stillwater, OK was hosting a New Years day ride on gravel or road, and I almost thought about going up there. However, my mountain bike front fork sprang a fatal leak, and needs to be replaced, or a total rebuild, and I wasn't sure I wanted to ride the tourer on some of their routes, so I stayed local. As it turned out, it was indeed fortuitous. The cold front that was predicted for today reached them even earlier than predicted and caused their ride to become a polar marathon half way through, with wind chills of zero degrees, and frozen digits and noses, just to get back. Mine, however, was so blissful, I took in a much longer ride than I first had planned.

Starting out, I had dressed fairly warmly for the 39 degree temperatures at 11am. The day was supposed to warm to 50, however before turning cold late in the afternoon. We still had our "wind comes sweepin' down the plain" sort of day with winds of 10-12 producing a wind chill of around 25 degrees to start. Because it was supposed to warm up, I stuffed some lighter weight clothing in my trunk bag..... have I mentioned I love those things .... oh yes, I suppose I had at one point or another. Well, there, you have my endorsement again.

I could have sworn I heard the chirping of Velociraptors .....

If anyone ever wanted to know where the Gilligan's Island crew ended up ...... And now you know!

It turned out to be just a beautiful  day for a ride, the cows were contented ....

The geese were goosing ..... or whatever they do up there....

My little buddies were so happy to see me....

In fact, the day was so nice, I decided to extend my ride plans and instead of a 25 mile ride, I would double that. Which brought me to Jacktown, at the intersection of Hwy 177 and 62.

From here, it was through Meeker, then south for a ways and then east to Jim Thorpe road and past his birthplace. Nothing exists there anymore except a plaque stating that he was born there. I did get in a little gravel along with the road riding on this ride, which always adds to the interest.

Just past the Jim Thorpe site a few miles was this little country church and cemetery. having gone through Garden Grove many times in California, the name caught my attention.

Down a little quiet country lane, perfect for a bicycle ride. A couple of Gestapo dogs came out to question my authority and to spoil the serenity of the ride however, but after a lively discussion, I won out, and once again enjoyed the scenery. By this time, I had on my light jacket and gloves, as well as swapping out my winter skull cap for a light riding cap. I'm tellin' ya' ..... it was nice.

And so ends my 2014 New Years Day ride, a day which I hope is a good omen for riding in the coming year. Last year started out really nasty, but I managed 128 rides and 5479 miles for the year. I'm hoping for more this year. You'll just have to stay tuned along with me, to see what happens.