brrrr!

the weather forecasters dropped the ball on this one. there was only a small chance of precipitation and light winds. well, we encountered a stiff headwind along with snow, rain, and sleet. still, after waking up to snow covered grass, nine of us braved the elements and met at andrea's house in novi. the ride started off dry but cold with the winds laughing at us as we headed north and west towards kensington. the pace started off easy, but as soon as we hit the dirt roads, the fasties took off. the first two big hills on buno rd. kicked my ass. it was very impressive to see soupy power up the hill on his big geared ss, macromius hammer out of the saddle on his ss, lee spin by me on his fs, and erin spinning like a mad woman on her carbon hardtail. poor ol' me was thinking the activites during the week cashed my legs out. i pushed on. by the time we regrouped at the edge of kensington, large, white, fluffy snowflakes were descending upon us. i felt good when we hit the hills at kensington. i just find a comfortable gear, get in a groove and spin my way up the hill. pain is good. the view over kent lake was spectacular. foggy, snowy over the chilly waters. that's what riding is all about. miserable conditions brings out the beauty of the ride. it still wasn't enough to keep us out for the full route. most of the group split off at the ilra/kensington crossroad but the "hardcore" riders, soupy, myself, lee and mike decided to head into island lake. it's funny that i say hardcore because we rode about a half mile in when talk started about turning back. the winds had picked up, it was a mix of rain, sleet and wet snow and we were wet and cold. the lure of beer back at andrea's was too much so soupy locked 'em up w/ me on his tire going 16mph. um, that was a wake up call to say the least. we pull a u-ey and head for mt. trashmore. the rest of the ride back to the house was punishing to say the least. more hills, more dirt, more sleet, and more rain. what a great way to spend a saturday!

after we got back to andrea's we had post-recovery food of champions. beer, bbq chips and nacho dip! you can't beat that! not even with a stick of slim jim.

ride stats
ride time 2:10:30
total distance 31.7 miles
avg. speed 14.5 mph
max speed 33.1 mph