I also had a great ride today! After a couple weeks of "iffy" weather, this weekend surprisingly cleared up and warmed up.

It was a brisk -3C/26.6F with a light, white frost over everything, but blissfully ... brilliant sunshine and no wind!

I also chose a route to start my ride which I had not ridden before and it was well worth it. The road didn't have much of a shoulder, but there was practically no traffic, so that was good. And the road took me up and down some rolling hills through very pretty country. Most of the trees have lost their leaves already, but the ones that still have them are almost florescent orange, which stands out against the backdrop of the dark green pines. Harvesting is under way everywhere, so the golden fields are dotted with bales and lined with windrows.

I thought I was working quite a bit as I rode along. I knew there were some small hills, but even on the flat bits I felt like I was still putting in a lot of effort. I even debated about checking my tires. Then I reached the top of another little hill ... stopped to eat an energy bar ... and looked around. I had reached the top of an incredibly long climb! No wonder I felt like I had been working so hard - I'd been climbing the whole time!! Gotta love those false flats.

But what a view!! I looked out over those orange and green trees, the harvested fields, the rolling hills in the distance ... all the way to the Rocky Mountains on the horizon! I've never seen them looking so big and so white from this far away before! The sun was glistening off the freshly fallen snow. They were beautiful.

I rode toward them for the next 10 kms, but then sadly had to turn. However, the rest of my ride continued through lovely fall scenery.

The temperature warmed up to 12C/53.6F ... absolutely gorgeous for this time of year!

When I rolled in 8 hours and 45 minutes later, I had completed my October century - 101.5 miles. A great way to celebrate Thanksgiving!!!