The Fog Before The Storm

January is notoriously the hardest month for me to get through, especially here in Michigan; it’s long, cold, snowy, icy, and as of late it’s been foggy. Snow and ice on the ground, followed by rain and warmer temperatures meant that a heavy fog rolled into the Mt. Pleazy area on Friday night and it stuck around well into Saturday morning afternoon. Not ideal conditions for getting out for a road ride, but with the rains predicted to changeover to snow Saturday night, I wanted to get a few (emphasis on few) miles in.

The above photo was taken just after noon on Saturday as I headed out-of-town. Take note that this is a color photograph, though you would be hard pressed to find too much color in it. Normally I don’t worry too much about riding in the dank stank since I have my trusty little blinky to light up my ass end. However…

The damn thing went and broke on me as I stretched the rubber fastener around the Boone’s seat post. CUSS! I jacked around with it to see if there was a way to fasten it on with zip-ties, but alas there was none to be had. So I risked it, banking that motorists would easily be able to see my hulking figure in a bright red riding jacket on the road ahead. As you may be able to figure out, since I am typing this, I survived the sub 27 mile Better Than The Trainer Ride™ without incident.

Aside from the heavy, misty fog that kept coating my riding specs, it was nice riding. I was dressed well and was pretty unfazed by the damp 40˚ temps. Although I wish I would have had a rear fender! The clamp on the fender that I’ve been using for close to five years doesn’t fit the oversized seat post on the Boone, so for now I am left dealing with some unwanted water on/up my ass end.

With the knowledge that the weather was going to go pear-shaped later in the day and into the evening, I was super stoked to get out, even if it was  just for a short 26.7 mile ride on pavement.

For this ride I took my Fuji X100S with a teleconverter lens on. There were a few quick stops along the way to snap a pic or two, but for the most part I just wanted to get the ride done.

This ride is probably the flattest of any ride I do here, or ANYWHERE. Pretty sure the total elevation gain is about 450 feet. Having said that, this ride is usually done in crap weather (rain, snow, wind, locusts, etc.), and just there just to blow the stink off of me and my cottage cheese filled thighs.

After the ride and a pan-fried burger for a late lunch the family and I went off to see the new Star Wars flick. Gotta say I was impressed. After the past three crap balls that Lucas put out, this one was damn entertaining.

When we got out of the theatre the rain was pouring down, but as the weather geeks predicted, once the temps fell it turned to wet snow and we woke up to about three or four inches of wet snow this morning.

After the Chelsea vs Scunthorpe United (C’MON YOU SCUNTS!) FA Cup match I headed out to shovel and snow blow the walks and driveway as well as snap a few pics from around the neighborhood before heading in to watch my adopted Spurs nearly lose to Leicester City, lucky to escape with a draw and replay in about a week in a half.

Semi-happy to say that I am four or five hours away from completing the first of four alcohol-free weeks. It’s been nice, but I will admit it would be damn nice to be sitting on the couch drinking a few pints this afternoon playing Xbox instead of caffeine free herbal iced tea. Oh well, my liver will thank me for the break come February. Maybe.

Series of pics from the past two days. Click on the photo to enlarge.

Not sure what the rest of the week holds, hopefully some time on snow packed roads or in the woods.

Later.