Snow was falling lightly when I awoke this morning. The online forecasts called for the snow to end early so the 8am was a go for me. Temps were in the mid 20's and the snow stopped by 8am. Good job Mr. Forecaster. We got our usual late start and decided to do a short loop and double back to the parking lot to possibly meet up with some guys what were showing up at 9am. Sure enough, Messrs. Hill, Nelson, Hardy, Strothman and new guy Trent had arrived.
While preparing to leave, the snow started lightly again but it was no big deal and we headed up on the bluffs with the intent of going to Waterloo on a route the others did last week. We were not up on the bluffs for long and the roads began to get a light covering of snow. Then some more. And some more. Before long there was some talk about dropping down to the flats. Yet, we pushed on. Mr. Hill, riding his fixed gear, thought better of riding in these conditions and went back to Columbia. He was probably the smart one of the group. I was riding like garbage. Maybe it was the cold or the snow or who knows what. I noticed in the parking lot that when the bike was leaned over I felt a rubbing like the brake was rubbing but it was not. Maybe something is wrong with my rear hub.
The conditions were really quite crappy. I wish I hadn't left the camera in the car. Eventually we reached 156 where the road was only wet, probably because of the increased traffic. We elected to descend Mont Valmeyer to the flats. Down in Old Valmeyer the roads were, at most, damp. Turning north on Levee Rd saw Cooper head out on his own. Strothman went in pursuit a minute later and later still the rest of the group tried to get a paceline going. The effort was disjointed since some were beginning to hurt. As we exploded, Hardy looked like he really wanted to get up to the lead two. I pulled through, had him get on my wheel and bridged the gap. After doing my work I dropped back to wait for the others. We rode as a group for a while and then they told some of the stronger guys to go on ahead. We had five of us pacelining in half inch snow. An interesting experience to say the least. Trent apparently was chasing solo that whole time and when we eased up for a little bit he caught back on. A nice effort on his part.
I got home and my feet were cold. I hopped in the shower and had too warm of water early on. My toes hurt and the my right toes turned darkish. Upon seeing that I cooled the water and gently massaged my toes. The pinkish color came back, thank goodness. After getting out of the shower, though my toes were visibly swollen and hard to the touch. Right now, at 6pm, the swelling is better but still tender. What happened to our warm weather?
ride time 3:10
While preparing to leave, the snow started lightly again but it was no big deal and we headed up on the bluffs with the intent of going to Waterloo on a route the others did last week. We were not up on the bluffs for long and the roads began to get a light covering of snow. Then some more. And some more. Before long there was some talk about dropping down to the flats. Yet, we pushed on. Mr. Hill, riding his fixed gear, thought better of riding in these conditions and went back to Columbia. He was probably the smart one of the group. I was riding like garbage. Maybe it was the cold or the snow or who knows what. I noticed in the parking lot that when the bike was leaned over I felt a rubbing like the brake was rubbing but it was not. Maybe something is wrong with my rear hub.
The conditions were really quite crappy. I wish I hadn't left the camera in the car. Eventually we reached 156 where the road was only wet, probably because of the increased traffic. We elected to descend Mont Valmeyer to the flats. Down in Old Valmeyer the roads were, at most, damp. Turning north on Levee Rd saw Cooper head out on his own. Strothman went in pursuit a minute later and later still the rest of the group tried to get a paceline going. The effort was disjointed since some were beginning to hurt. As we exploded, Hardy looked like he really wanted to get up to the lead two. I pulled through, had him get on my wheel and bridged the gap. After doing my work I dropped back to wait for the others. We rode as a group for a while and then they told some of the stronger guys to go on ahead. We had five of us pacelining in half inch snow. An interesting experience to say the least. Trent apparently was chasing solo that whole time and when we eased up for a little bit he caught back on. A nice effort on his part.
I got home and my feet were cold. I hopped in the shower and had too warm of water early on. My toes hurt and the my right toes turned darkish. Upon seeing that I cooled the water and gently massaged my toes. The pinkish color came back, thank goodness. After getting out of the shower, though my toes were visibly swollen and hard to the touch. Right now, at 6pm, the swelling is better but still tender. What happened to our warm weather?
ride time 3:10
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