Flippin' Visors

#459 / #267
Thursday, December 1st

Today day we took our short, but not shortest, weekday afternoon ride along the American River.

Red Leader's visor (Da Brim) finally flipped off on the downhill (velcro vs wind) on the Hazel bridge. We were able to retrieve it, no problem.

Chilly - I wore my double layer wool Ibex gloves. Too much. Sweaty wrists. No arm warmers, but did wear tights and my windproof jacket.

And a wool Buff to cover up my super sensitive ears. Were you one of those children who got earaches all the time? I was, and still am. No cold breezes around my ears, please.

Finally, my early fears of riding trikes along the pedestrian/bikeway on the Folsom Auburn bridge came to pass. Some numbnut decided to pass both of us, despite me announcing and gesturing that he could cut in between us until the ONCOMING BICYCLISTS were safely pass. Said oncoming riders ended up slamming to an ungraceful and startled halt, clipped in and clinging to the concrete divider so Mr Numbnuts could ride by. Being a middle aged female, I apologized to them. BUT IT WAS NOT OUR FAULT. I hope Mr. NN got a flat today.
The Petty Person, signing off.

Turkey Trot

#458 / #266
Thanksgiving day 2016

Since I work on our usual holiday ride day (Black Friday) we opted outside a day early.
No turkeys spotted, but we did see some deer. Lots of deer. Remarkably unafraid of us.

A brisk ride of just under 20 miles, I enjoyed the chance to wear my tights, ear warmers, and arm warmers. I ditched the arm warmers after a mile or so.

The trail was not deserted, with family groups on foot and on wheels, and some exercise-hooked singles.

And I would like to offer a PSA to conventional bicycle riders. You might want to get a friend to check your backside for visibility. Not for lights or reflective gear, but for the appearance of your bike shorts or tights in bright sunlight. I can confirm that at least two cyclists yesterday, one male, one female, eschew underwear under their bike bottoms. Then there was the plumber's butt incident. FOR THE LOVE OF MIKE, PULL UP YOUR SHORTS!

that is all

One hour, fifteen

#457 / #264

Monday, November 21st
Retail madness (my new job) - even part time - is interfering with my chances to ride while the sun is shining. Red Leader, being a computer guy and independent of clamoring customers, snuck out for a ride on the 18th. 22.8 miles. Go, Red Leader!!

Today, we cruised around Lake Natoma backwards (counter clockwise) squinting into the patches of sun on the way west, and switching on our lights on the way back east.

I would like to shave 15 minutes off this ride and do it in one hour, but I'd need to be a LOT faster on the flats and really spin around the curvy parts, and charge up the hills. I might never make it, but the attempt will occupy me for a few years.

Next ride, Turkey Day - weather permitting!

Folsom Ramble, a New Beginning

#456 / #262

9.7 miles in beautiful Folsom on Nov 14th
We didn't have a lot of time, so we did a quick lovely ride through lots of fall leaves.
The Hill Shaving Fairies had been at it again, with inclines we used to notice becoming almost unnoticeable.
You will notice that Red Leader's ride number jumped by one more than mine. He has been trying very hard to exercise every other day, and I'm so pleased that he can go for a ride when I'm stuck at work.

Little, Middle, Big or Nerds on Bikes, a Conversation

Friday, Nov 11th

#455 / #260
Little, middle, big might refer to chain rings, but for these two nerdy recumbent riders, it was all about the glutes.

Yes, children. Butt muscles.

Specifically, the proper Latin plural for gluteus medius. That the muscle I feel the most after frequent rides. We never did figure the plural out. Red Leader had more Latin than I ever did, but it was a long time ago.

So, there you have it. Nerds.
Nerds on bikes.
The world is safe again.

CU

Hurry, scurry

#454 / #259

9 Nov. Wednesday

Our usual time for our Wednesday ride was disrupted by the end of daylight savings time, and by my work schedule.

So Red Leader drove in the bike-carrying truck from his work, and I drove from my work, meeting in the Folsom garage around 3:15 to start our refreshing 15 mile ride.

I could only find one water bottle in the morning brain fog, and Red Leader left his in the fridge at work, but my missing bottle was in the car, already full. So we each had a bottle, stopping to refill on our way back by Nimbus boat launch.

We did our shorter weekday afternoon ride from Folsom out to an easy turnaround before Sunrise, then back on whatever side of the lake we hadn't ridden on the way out.

I hope to ride again on Friday or Saturday this week! We shall see.

A Fork in the Road

No. I mean literally. A serving fork on the trail. Just lying there, no reason atall.

#453 / #248
7 Nov. Monday.
Red Leader went for a ride Saturday by himself. And had a flat. The tube in question has been sitting, inflated, on the kitchen counter all day. Still inflated. That man has a flat fairy following him around.

No flats today.
Anyway, we decided to do our old loop around Lake Natoma, as the time change is kind of messing with our usual schedule.
The river is high enough that the Nimbus Dam had two gates open. Nice to see. Does this mean there is hope for the drought? Dunno.
My chain tubes are beat up again, and I'm not sure when I can get in to the shop to get them changed out. Pretty sure Velotechnik did not intend to have the Scorpion folded all the time. So I go through a lot of tubes. Even with my newly acquired habit of putting the chain on the smallest rings.

Unclear when we will ride again. Hope Wednesday.

CU

Long time comin'

Whew. Has it really been THAT LONG since I wrote a blog post? Any blog post?

Yes, yes it has.

months and months and months!
I shall attempt a summary, and a big jump in our ride counts.

Last time we were here:
Me on ride #430  and Red Leader on #224


I can say that we have ridden together every time but twice since then, so I can just count the Strava riding activities and do some arithmetic.


One more ride in July where I forgot to bring my phone. So I manually added a ride based on Red Leader's Strava info. July's average ride distance 20 miles.


Then, four rides in August (five for Red Leader), including a re-visit of Folsom's neighborhood bike paths. Average ride distance 13 miles. A ride of a whopping 2.8 miles accounts for the low average.
This was the month when RL had 6 flats in two days of riding. 5 on the rear wheel. New rim tape seems to have done the trick. Red Leader, on the 2.8 mile ride, dragged his trike off the American River Parkway via a neighborhood access road, while I rode back to get the car and meet him. The ride I didn't go on also involved enough flats that Red Leader ran out of tubes and I had to drive to Sacramento to fetch him. He started carrying his street shoes with him for the next month. A talisman against flats.


Seven rides in September (we resolved to exercise more frequently) with an average distance of 19 miles. One of those was a 8.9 mile slog up to Beales Point.


Nine rides in October (8 for Red Leader). Average of 19.4
My solo ride was from Hazel over to the Capital Air Show. Really fun. I parked bikes with SABA for a few hours, then wandered the airshow in the cool drizzle. Riding back, the detours from traffic control meant I rode a considerable distance further on 5 lane roads, but I was liberally bedecked in hi-viz yellow, blinking lights, and flags, so it was not too bad.


And one in November. So far.



#452 for me and #246 for Red Leader


Somewhere in this back-log mess, my on-board odometer rolled over to 7000 miles. That does not seem like much to me, but at least I noticed it.


The weather is about perfect for riding, as long as the rain stays away. We are nervously anticipating the time change, when our afternoon weekday ride will have to start an hour earlier. Good thing my work schedule is part time and Red Leader has piles of vacation time he must use (or lose).

Two For

Rides #429 and 430  / #223 and 224

Very hot on June 25th. Really awful. But we rode anyway. I can't remember a thing about it. Thank goodness for Strava. If not for Strava I would have no way of figuring out where I rode when.

Then there was the Sunday, July 10th.
Why such a big gap? We were off at a music workshop for a week. Also, when we were home it was hot hot hot.
We decided to ride on the north side of Lake Natoma then out to Elmanto and back to Folsom via the south side. A nice 21 miles. We were moving (for us) pretty fast. Red Leader pointed out that it was his fastest time for that route (by a few seconds). Thank you, Strava.

See, Strava = memory.

Braincells, PHAH.

TaterTOT

June 19th - 22nd 2016

Rides #425-428 (me) / #219-222 (him)

In early summer for the last 10 years, a bunch of recumbent riders have descended on a little hotel in Kellogg Idaho to ride around on a long bike trail and generally have fun.

This year, we finally made it!

By standing Red Leader's (my husband's) Gekko trike (folded) on end, and lashing it to the grab bars, we fit everything in the back of the SUV. Lunch on the first driving day at Black Bear Diner. YUM.

We stopped off in Corvallis to visit with The StepSon, his wife, and their two little dogs. Great pub grub at Block 15 Brewing Co.

Next day, arriving at the hotel in Kellogg, it was like someone kicked over a nest of recumbent riders. Trikes, bikes, and people everywhere.

It was a bit overwhelming, so Red Leader and I went for a little ride up the trail to shake off the 2 days of driving.

Red Leader in yellow Sunday evening on the trail

The next day, we rode with the group (as much of a group as a bunch of independently minded folks can be) to Mullan, the easternmost end of the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes.

Swarm ready to leave for Mullan

Red Leader learned to stop in the shade and eat some raisins. This was RL's longest ride ever at 38 miles. GO TEAM.

I'm melting!

Mullan trailhead

The next day, it looked like rain (it did rain in the morning) so we drove to Wallace (we'd ridden through it the day before) to play tourist.

Railroad museum, silver mine tour (interesting - the mine never produced anything, but was eventually turned into a class room for aspiring high-school aged miners.)

Humongous drill

Ore cart loader

Big metal thing on a chain that drags rock and mud out of the way

Larry, our retired miner guide, unloaded an amazing amount of information on us, including operating mining equipment for us. He took a picture of us in front of the fake entrance to the mine. Tourist-ing is fun!



Lunch at the Blackboard, where I took a pic of the kitten drawing to remind me how patient Red Leader has been with my hunger-induced brain-fades.

Art at the Blackboard Cafe

We went out for a short ride, late in the afternoon, west on the trail. No pictures of this. The trail in this area has informational placards about the (former) mining industry here.

The next day, our last day of riding, we drove with a subset of attendees over to Harrison to ride west to the bridge, then back.

Ready to leave

Some folks went on to Plummer, but I demanded ice cream (think kitten) so we turned around. Huckleberry and Caribou Track ice cream for lunch. YES. I'm ON VACATION!

We packed up the next day and drove home, stopping off at a nice Super8 in Klamath Falls.

The last day, we had great views of Mt Shasta from US97.

Home, home again

#439 / #223

We started earlier (much earlier than Red Leader would normally prefer) today. It will be hot hot hot.
It was under 90 our entire ride, but not by much.

Red Leader stated that 20 miles seems like nothing much now. I suggested we shoot for 20 on weekdays, and 35 on weekends and see how that goes.

We might ride at night later this week (something I'm willing to put up with to avoid frying like an egg on a griddle).

Two notable sights today.
Super Fast Squirrel: the squirrel attained 12mph along side Red Leader. The poor wee beastie was just trying to get back into the weeds while avoiding the madly spinning Wheel of Death beside him.
and
The Incredible Paceline o' Legs: a trio of roller bladers in a perfectly synchronized pace line, pushing along in step. If they had not been in step, they would have fouled each others' skates.

Two June Rides

So, I was so wrapped up in prepping for riding in Idaho (see next post), that I neglected to write about these two local rides.

So, here goes!
#423-424 / #217-218

9th June, a cool afternoon ride along the American River, Folsom to Sunrise and back.
I suppose I should look up the official name of that place we turn around. I mean, "The porta potties and the water fountain" is not very clear, now is it?

onemomentplease

Ok. "The parking lot off Elmanto." There, isn't that better?

12th June, Beals Point.
It was hot, we did it anyway. Red Leader commented that the hills seem less troublesome than before.
I agree.
We should toss this ride in every once in a while for strength. All you who do thousands of feet of climbing for a ride may move along. Nothing to see here. Move along, move along.

May is Bike Month roundup

IOU three posts. It is hot and my brain melted. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

22nd May
#420 / #214
Really nice in-the-groove ride again. AND (news flash) Red Leader's longest ever bike ride. 33.5 miles. So proud of him.

25th May
#421 / #215
Ugh. I just could not get those pedals moving around. Did I do too much? Probably.

30th May
#422 / #216
AND WE DID IT. Red Leader and I both met our pledged miles for May is Bike Month. 200 miles (well, a little more). Next year, I'd like to try for 15 logged rides in May. That's just 6 more than we did this month.
Today was hot hot hot. So RL dragged himself out of bed a bit earlier than he might on a vacation day, allowing us to finish our ride before 1pm. Most of the the time there was a nice breeze, but some of the short hills on the American River Trail were just little bitty bake ovens.
The American River Parkway was jam packed with people. Kids, families, a pair of sisters(?) who happened to ride our same route at the same time and showed up as part of our Strava reckoning. Plenty of other two and three wheeled recumbents. Various rafting parties doing the rubber centipede thing smack down the middle of the paved trail.
Intoxicating smells of barbeque wafting from every park.
We are grilling tonight.

CU - three weeks until Tater TOT! WHOOOO!

Turk-lets. Gob-lets, poults?

#419 / #213

Thursday, 19 May

Another lovely day on the American River Trail, filled with wildlife.
Baby turkeys were seen: my husband, Red Leader, speculated that they would be called  Turk-lets. I voted for Gob-lets. A post-ride consultation with a dictionary yielded 'poults' as a general name for immature fowl. Our designations were better.
Then, there was another edition of Suicide Squirrel. I came as close as I ever have to clobbering one. I missed. But because I missed I think I noticed the face I made. If I'd hit it, I would have no recollection of any facial gyrations on my part . I didn't brake, I didn't swerve, I didn't stop pedaling. Instead, I tilted my head to the left, scrunched my mouth, and clenched my nostrils. Apparently, that was enough to cause the squirrel to teleport out from under my trike.

CU and may your rides be critter-safe.

Caterpillars on Parade

#418 / #212

Woolly Bears were all over the pavement today.

Thursday's cloud of contentment had dissipated today. I stopped at William Pond and Red Leader went on. I just could not get warmed up. The beginning of the ride felt like the end of a 30 mile ride.
Anyway, Wednesday should be better!

Rubber side down

Happy people

#417 / #211

Thursday, May 12th

Today, as Red Leader and I cruised around Lake Natoma and up to Sunrise and back, I could not but help notice all the happy people out on their bicycles, and tricycles. No unicycles (GET OUT THERE, single-wheel riders, you've wrecked my little word-picture).

The riders on their aero bars hunched over did not look particulary happy, except for one guy singing along to some music as he sped along.

Then there was the Cloud of Sound in a different fashion - probably the loudest bike I've ever heard: bangs, rattles, rumbles, squeaks, high-pitched tinging like when one tries to get the happy couple at a wedding to kiss. And the dude bombing along (he was moving fast) amidst this sound cloud sported a truly enormous beard. He also had a truly enormous grin.
We saw him again, near the end of our ride.

I was rolling along in my own cloud. Well, two clouds - one of pure pink and blue contentment (contentment must have a color, don't you think?) making a Venn diagram with the cloud of bugs which joined me whenever I slowed down significantly. So my pretty contentment-cloud was covered with bug-parts, like your windshield would be in farm country on a spring evening.

Anyway, it was another great ride.
Hope to get out again on Saturday for a 30 miler.

CU

MIBM El Dorado Edition

#416

Tuesday, May 10th 2016

Took a quick solo spin up the El Dorado Trail to Government Center for the May is Bike Month kickoff.
Again, the only recumbent there. Spent some time answering questions. The Dude in Charge (sorry, don't remember his name) recognized my ride from past years.
Picked up my free t-shirt (orange in the logo this year, matches my bike!) and rode with the mob back down the hill.
I coasted pretty much all the way to Weber Creek, then chugged up the concrete section, then back to where I had parked off of Missouri Flat Rd. Much of the rest of the mob rode back up the hill for the free lunch.

CU

Bluebirds and happiness

#415 / #210

Sunday, May 8th

It finally stopped raining, so we rode down to Alphabent to get my shifting looked at.
Other Shop Dude fixed it right up, and also used the compresser to blow a lot of dust out of my brakes.

The shop has a bluebird, with 5 babies, nesting in an outer wall of the shop. Mrs. Bluebird perched for an instant on Red Leader's flag pole.

A nicely shifting bike is a happy thing.

CU

Rolin' on a Tuesday

#414 / #209

May 3rd

Our usual Tuesday music meeting was cancelled today, so we snuck out for a quick ride - about 15 miles if memory serve me correctly (I'm imagining memory in a formal suit, spotless white gloves, and carrying a silver tray). Anyway, we rolled back into the garage about dusk, HUNGRY.

I resolved to get to the shop on the weekend and get my shifting looked at.

Comfort is not a four letter word

#413 / #208
Sunday May 1st

May is Bike Month!

Red Leader and I rode 25-26 miles today, taking advantage again of the annual one day rural county road closures in Sacramento County.

I rode 8/10ths of a mile further than RL because I was trying to find the people who had signed up for my Meetup ride. I never did find them among the chaos of an overfull parking area, construction, traffic, and lots and lots of other people looking for THEIR groups. No, I'm not with the Sierra Club. Thanks.

I got Red Leader to sign up to log his miles, and we had fun reading the QR code at the Engergizer Station with our smartphones. For some reason, loading and using a QR reader made his Strava app stop working, but his Garmin heartrate thingy made a fine  back up for mileage.

We answered the usual questions about our trikes. Yes they are comfortable; yes you are welcome to exhibit a tinge of condescension from the lofty and uncomfortable perch of your arse-busting wedgie; yes - it looks easier but, like many things in life, you get out of it what you put into it; and 'comfort' is not a four letter word. Someone riding around on a laid back machine is not 'cheating'. We have exhibited learning behaviour, thankyouverymuch.

Apparently, a slight facial sunburn (sweated the sunscreen off) makes me a bit cranky.

Rain in the forecast for the week, but I hope to get the rest of my 50 pledged miles in anyway.

CU

What the Heck

#412 / #207

'What the heck' Think of all the possible meanings different inflections can yield. 

Today, an adorable little girl added a question mark AND an exclamation point upon seeing us rolling by on our splendid recumbent trikes.

Enough philosophy. 

Our ride today was our usual 20 miler along the American River from Folsom to Sunrise and back.

Ooops, I did it again

I have been remiss in blogging. So here's ANOTHER annoying catch up post.

March 26th
#405 / #199
25 miles
Red Leader and I saw every kind of critter except bunnies. Snake, lizard, butterflies, birds, squirrels, coyotes, turkeys. Roadies. ha ha.

March 31st
#406 / #200
20 miles from Folsom to Sunrise and back. This time, to mix it up, we went out on the north side of Lake Natoma and came back on the south. This is becoming our usual weekday afternoon ride.
Happy 200th ride, Red Leader!

April 3rd
#407 / #201
Down to the shop (Alphabent recumbents) from William Pond. It was really good to catch up with everyone there.

April 6th
#408 / #202
A measly 9.7 miles in Folsom.  But still fun!

April 11th
#409 / #203
20.6 miles - our usual Natoma ride. Good to be back on the trike!

April 17th
/  #204
I was busy at a doll show, so Red Leader racked up a ride of his own. OF 30 MILES! So proud. It turns out my suspicions of a covert resolution may have been correct. Also, this weekend we would normally have participated in Bike Around the Buttes, but a communication snafu killed that. (Even after living together for decades, we still sometimes fail.)

April 20th
#410 / #205
Another Natoma ride

April 23rd
#411 / #206 
30 miles, this time I came along with Red Leader.
Now, I'm all ambitious and am hoping for a 40 mile ride before we visit Idaho in June.

We are going to try for 2 rides a week. 20 miles on a weekday afternoon, and 30 miles on a weekend. Fingers crossed!

Bugged

#404 / #198

23 March 2016

We rode about 20 miles today, along the fuller-than-in-a-while-OMG-it-has-actually-rained American River.

Bugs

Bugs hitching a ride on my jersey. Bugs inhaled. Bugs bouncing off my nose. Bugs behind my glasses.

Anyway, it was GREAT to be back out again, despite the bugs and my seasonal allergies. The new tires continue to perform, our trikes are holding up well (did I just jinx that?!) and we are looking forward to a few more sunny days this week.

CU

We rate, turkeys don't

#403 / #195
March 2nd

So, there Red Leader and I are buzzing down the American River Trail, and I'm admiring the cute border collie/aussie/some-dog-that-takes-a-lot-of-minding that is staring at the turkeys beside the path. The owners of the pup are not minding it very well, so once Red Leader cruises by, the pup loses interest in the birds, and trys to visit with me.
People at dog height are better than birds you can't reach, anyway.
I _had_ been paying attention, and slowed way down, since the unmindful people were perched ½ on ½ off their skateboards and I had a vision (which did not come to pass) of a dog, leash, human, skateboard, trike trailside pileup.
We went about 18 miles, enjoying our new tires, and a moderately sunny afternoon before the rains scheduled for later this week.

thatisall

Twofer, four-fer?

January 20 #399 / #190
January 25 #400 / #191

February 10th
#401 / #192
I don't remember where we rode, but I do know I forgot to turn on Strava that day.

February 21st
No ride, tire blowout and much fun at Alphabent
My tire blew out while I was not paying attention. I was not riding at the time, I don't think. I'm sure I would have noticed thump-a thump-a thump-a.

Anyway, got new tires all around for both trikes. Trying Schwalbe Trykers. Very nice tires! Red Leader got wire bead and I got folding bead (Shop Dude didn't have enough wire bead to go around for both trikes.) I don't think I'll be going back to Scorchers.
Shop Dude (owner of Alphabent) fixed Red Leader's magic spinning boom problem by drilling and tapping three holes and screwing it in place. If RL gets the boom to move after this, he needs to go hire on with Marvel as a new superhero: Boom!
SD also painstakingly replaced the steel wear plate (my name for it) that is part of the folding frame of both our trikes. It is a wear plate for the locking lever. Mine gave up completely.

February 23rd
#193
Red Leader went solo, as I had more mechanicals.
Did I take the time to put the seat on my trike and take a quick spin around the block while at the shop on Sunday? No. No, I did not.
So, my chain tube had come loose and was all jammed up in the suspension/sway bar things my overly complicated (only when things go sideways) and utterly lovely (most of the time) German made trike.
The next day, Wednesday, I drove over to Alphabent and had New and Improved Shop Minion (Guido, who has been there for quite a while) fix my chain tubes. I never would have figured it out myself. Go New and Improved Shop Minion! That is too long. Oh well.

February 25th
#402 / #194
TOGETHER AGAIN!!
20 miles, some at blazing fast speed. Still enjoying my newish heart rate monitor, got it into the pink zone (red is the highest, never gotten there - am I too mellow?).
Up and down the American River Parkway from Sunrise to Watt and back. About 20 miles.
The Trykers are very grippy - make cornering even more fun. I like them very much and recommend them for trikes.

And now I'm caught up.
That is all.

The Stare of Approval

#398 / #190

Red Leader and I took advantage of another rain-free afternoon to head out to the Sunrise area of the American River trail.
On our way back, having talked suspension with random passersby, we encountered an elderly fellow, with a cane, hobbling along the trail.
I slowed way down, as it was unclear which way he would go next, which gave me and Old Dude the opportunity for a short conversation, "Don't get a speeding ticket!" 'I never do!!" Smiles all around.
Driving home, RL asked me what the old fellow had said. Red Leader had also received what he interpreted as a glare and a pointed finger.
I declared it a Stare and Point of Approval.

But, then, I suppose I'm an optimist.

Two for Tea and Tea for Two

#397 / #189

There was no tea drinking. But there was shopping after.

Red Leader and I decided to go around Lake Natoma since it was 60 degrees and somewhat sunny today. Yay!

We went counterclockwise from the Folsom parking garage. The back of my right knee likes bicycling, but I clobbered it in yoga this morning (I forgot to be careful) and it is sore when walking.
But bicycling is FINE.

We stopped by Mikes Bikes in Folsom (where Bicycles Plus used to be) to get some Specialized footbed shoe inserts for Red Leader. And I got a new pair also, since I've been informed they need to be changed out every year. Not every 4 years.

Oops!


CU

No soggy doggy

#396 / #188

Friday, January 8th

I whipsawed poor Red Leader by announcing I didn't want to do hills, then picking a hilly route. Well. Kind of hilly.

9 miles in Empire Ranch (Folsom) mostly bike trails.

Overcast, but not too cold. I dithered about wearing arm-warmers but, knowing there was a long slow climb coming, decided not to wear them. Glad I skipped them.

I did stop at the top of the hill to put on a vest over my shirt and jacket. My sweaty self would get chilled bombing down the hill otherwise.

Here's our ride profile (Strava)

About 3 miles of up up up then WHEE!

Don't know when we will get out again. It is raining and Red Leader has a cold!

CU

End and Begin as You Mean to Go On

#394 / #187

And ...

#395!

Red Leader and I took advantage of the slightly warmer weather the last day of 2015 and went up to Roseville to see if the hill-shaving-fairies had been as active in Roseville as they had been in Folsom.

Red Leader decided perhaps Local i-1 (Fairy Union chapters are imaginary, you see) dispute and the hill-shaving-fairies had been on strike.

We did a little bit of Miner's Ravine Trail, and all of False Ravine Trail. Red Leader's right knee was troubling him so we turned around and went back.

One kid exclaimed, "Dad! Are those racing bikes!?" Child, child, child. It is the rider that makes the race, not the machine.

Today I proved that aphorism by creeping up various small hills in Folsom at about 3mph. It was COLD!

A few rides back, I had finally tried out my screaming yellow neoprene shoe covers from Aerotech Designs (well made, un-logoed bike wear. Google them.) Well, I wear my bike shoes ridiculously loose, otherwise, my feet ache and tingle. The shoe covers (XL) were snug enough that my feet were warm, but squashed. Today, I reverted to my previous method of wearing sandwich baggies over my socks. Should have worn warmer socks. Feet were a bit cold.

And my route took me up and down Folsom Crossing, where the chill of my sweaty self rolling down the hill at 25mph was too cold to endure. So I turned around and went back, stopping at the crest to don a fleece vest and a windbreaker in addition to the two wool shirts (lightweight, but ... wool ...) and wind-blocking jacket I was already wearing.

I scooted down East Natoma street, with the here and gone bike lane, chanting "Thanks, Thanks, No Thank, WTF!!" as cars passed me mostly NOT obeying the 3ft rule. Come on people, there are two motor vehicle travel lanes along there.

Anyway. It was a good way to end a year and start another one.

Here are most of the titles I considered and discarded for this post

Twofer
Happy New Year
Brass Monkey
Thanks, Thanks, No Thanks
The Incredible Disappearing Bike Lanes of Folsom, California
News Flash! Hill-Shaving-Fairies Strike!

CU