Late in the season

Bicycle fitness fades really rapidly, I have read that you lose 50 percent of your fitness with one week off.

An  examination of my bike log reveals that I had 8 days off since my last ride and in fact I had one ride in the last two weeks.

Well, the end of the season does seem near.

It probably arrived today.  But for whatever reason the ride I took today did not feel quite as much like the last ride as the last time I rode on the 15th.  My bicycling fitness was somewhere near but a bit less than 50 percent of what I had a month ago.  It was hard.

I go on and on about gear but the complete truth is that about 50F has been my cutoff for at least a few years.  When I last rode the temperature was more than 50, the continuation of a warmer than average November.  But since then the weather here has been awful.  Today conditions crept back to at least normal.  The sun came out, the wind was light, almost calm.  I have the gear.

And there is something exhilarating about being out there when your senses tell you unmistakably that it is COLD.  Today was COLD but I layered up and I was never uncomfortable.  I was never warm, but I was never uncomfortably cold.

Perfect.  Latest in the year ride since November 30, 2011.

But it is very clearly almost over here.  Winter is nigh.

I have in years past featured Sheldon Street, the street with only oak trees on the boulevard.  It makes a nice photo when very late in the year Sheldon Street still has leaves when all other streets have only bare trees.  Well, just a tiny bit from completely bare but even Sheldon Street admits that it won't be long now.

My idea was to wait to start today until after the day had had a chance to get closer to the high temperature for the day to try and be riding with maximum warmth.

This photo is taken after about 5 miles at the Cattle Barn.

2:26 in the afternoon and only 41F?

Well, if that was it at 2:30 pretty clearly it wasn't ever going to be warm.

But with a light southern breeze my goal was to get a photo of the Falls with ice.  I know it has been cold enough and I know there is still plenty of water going over the Falls, plenty enough to produce ice.  We have seen some nice photos of the Falls with ice but never one taken by me while I was sitting on my bicycle.  Conditions had conspired to make this photograph possible:  Minnehaha Falls as taken from the seat of my bicycle.

So I got the photo I wanted, I had a pretty nice ride, what could go wrong.

Well, on November 24 if you start late and if you are determined, despite lagging fitness levels, to ride the full "standard" mileage, you may discover that you will have to face "issues" as you try to get home.

When I crossed Snelling on the way home all of the cars had their headlights on.

Oh, oh.

But it isn't far from there and I got home with adequate light.  This doesn't qualify as a sunset photo because it was taken prior to the actual sunset.

The camera date stamp says this photo was taken at 4:23pm.  The location is the cul de sac in front of our house.

Riding this late in the year allowed me to get some interesting numbers but . . .

I need something to post tomorrow, and

That's about enough for today anyway.

Statistics will wait 24 more hours.

For some reason this one felt less like the end of the season than that last ride.  Partly this is because the forecast for tomorrow is for similar temperatures and wind direction and velocity as today albeit also calling for an absence of sun.  Right now another outing seems at least possible, if not probable.  I am willing to predict that NEXT Tuesday (December 1) will be a day which everyone, including me, declares as a day which came after the conclusion of the outdoor bicycling season.

But today?  A plenty nice enough day for a bicycle ride is what I conclude.  Although the two other people I saw out there riding while I was out may be the only two other people in the entire city who agree with me.