Get 'em in while you can....
 

The morning sun is beaming in through my lounge window here as it rises over Bailey's Harbor on the Door County Peninsula.

It's a crisp 28 degrees with a few scattered clouds, and the prospect of temps soaring to a balmy 37.

I'm suited up and ready to hit the road by 7.30 am. I'm thinking of a nice long ride around the Southern Door Peninsula, hugging the Lake Michigan shoreline and then heading across northern Sturgeon Bay and over to the Bay of Green Bay. Sixty five miles or perhaps significantly longer if I take the Ahnapee Trail down to Algoma.

Yeah, I'll be riding when the snow falls, but it won't be like this. I'll ride today without a care in the world. Traffic will be light to non-existent with only a gentle breeze from the West. Riding in the snow requires more concentration and comes with more risks. So I'm viewing today's ride as perhaps the last opportunity to blow out some dust and get in a long-distance route before snowfall.

Is anyone else having similar thoughts and making plans for a longish ride ahead of the impending winter conditions?

If so, please share your thoughts, routes and planning....let's see what you have in mind for the next week or three before it hits :)

Winter is fast approaching so I probably wont ride unless we have one of those gems where it hits 40-45deg. Snow is in the forecast tomorrow and all of next week. Maybe if I can find a mountain bike for next to nothing. I knew I would regret selling the one I had.

I was on the road at 4:30AM this morning. Temp high 20s, nice full moon Only a few miles, and would have liked to go longer, but I had to be at work by 5:30AM.

I gotta give you guys credit! I think last Tues might have been my last road ride in WI this year. It was about 50 and very windy and I enjoyed every minute of it. Lucky enough to be heading south in about 4 weeks . . . then I plan to do some riding nearly every day as well as swim in the gulf and long walk-runs on the beach. We're supposed to get snow on Monday, darn, sold my snowblower!

Well, my Friday ride was cut short due to a bout of cold feet. The literal kind :(

Made it to McDonalds in Sturgeon Bay where I warmed myself with coffee and an egg McMuffin :)

Thought about going into Dunhams Sports in the same block and buying some new boots/shoes so I could complete the planned 100m ride, then decided to call it quits and head home. Got back with 58 on the clock.

And, right on cue.....we have snow today. :(

I can feel my brain molecules tying themselves in knots....or whatever they do when I'm about to go in to a winter slump.

Darn it.

I thought maybe with global warming that winter might skip a year. Guess not.

I'm hearing ya! Never ready for winter! Time to visit the local YMCA on a regular basis. And wait for warmer opportunities to ride outside. Yesterday it was 70 F. Today it is currently 43 and falling fast to the 20-30 daytime highs for the foreseeable future. Here in SC Nebraska, the winds can often be the determining factor on whether to stay inside or not. I'm toying with the idea of an off-season tour where I would only ride in the direction of the wind. Comfortable enough at 20 degrees on up. With the prevailing North winds this time of year, there is a good chance I would end of in the deep south. Guess that would be a win/win!!

Yep. Maybe you could take up sailing!

It wouldn't take much of a breeze to blow my sorry ass into warmer weather. :)

I've been psyching myself up for 3 months....buying warm clothing....a fat bike....planning the winter trails.....then the first snowflake comes along and I'm crying like a baby again.

Man Up!! (shouts to himself).

My last ride was last week. I'm all in, inside that is. Yesterday we had a good 3" and today a bit more. Winter is here, no getting around it. Ugh.

Sad that when I lived in Door county, I wasn't a rider. I've been back, albeit not recently, to do the Ridges "Ride for Nature".

After two long rides over the weekend, I squeezed in a trip to City Hall to pay my water bill after work yesterday. It's stupid, I know, but it's one of those monthly excuses I've built into my life to get me out of the chair and into the saddle.

The Arctic Express hits down here tonight, so I'm probably done for a while.