Sunday, December 31, 2006

2006 bicycle mileage

I made it! I was able to ride six miles today to reach my goal of 2760 miles this year. Why this number? In 1993 I had ridden 2757 miles and since I was so close to that total the past few weeks I wanted to beat it.

I know... silly, pointless, etc. But it is nice to have a goal no matter how small or - in the larger scheme of things - meaningless. The act of striving for a goal sometimes is more important than the goal itself.

To reach my yearly total I rode 310 miles this December. This is my second highest total for December. The only time I rode more in December was when I was Australia and riding from Melbourne to Sydney. It is easy to ride almost 600 miles when riding in summer weather.

The road department made reaching the goal easier today. They plowed the snow off the highway and its shoulders. It was far easier to ride not having to push through the snow. Of course it wasn't perfect as parts of the shoulder had a thin layer of pressed snow. It wasn't near as slippery to ride on as ice but still I had to pay attention as I knew a sudden movement could cause my front tire to slip out from under the bicycle.

Riding on the slippery snow was a little more difficult because of the wind. It was from the west at 17 mph. Normally that wouldn't be a problem but as one leans into the wind to stay upright while riding, leaning further reduces the margin of error that prevents the tire from slipping.

But, no problems and no spills.

I was near my turn-around point when a man in a newer pickup stopped ahead of me on the highway. When I reached the pickup he rolled down the passenger window and asked if I needed a ride.

"No, I am just out for a little exercise. Thanks anyway."

I think I may have jinxed it today by writing on my blog yesterday about there being no wind recently in North Dakota. The temperature was 19 F but the wind had a bite and made it feel colder. I was happy I only had six miles to ride to reach my goal.
Now break out the champagne and "Happy New Year!"

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Year end snow

It snowed Thursday night. Lots of snow. Six to eight inches. It was a surprise as none of the forecasts predicted so much snow.

It is nice to have the white as it covered up the ugly brown and yellow. But I wish it would have waited a few days. I have a goal of riding so many miles on my bicycle for the year and I needed 29 miles to reach that goal. Snow - especially unplowed snow - will make that goal harder to reach.

I waited until Friday afternoon to ride my bicycle. I had hopes the roads would be cleared of snow. The highway and main arterial roads had some of the snow cleared, but the secondary roads and side streets still had all the snow on the roads.

The street that goes by my mother's house was unplowed. The traffic had compacted the snow and I couldn't make headway on the road. I had to ride the bicycle on the sidewalks in order to move. Fortunately everyone had cleared the snow from their sidewalk.

The highway was in as 'good of' condition as I had expected. The highway's shoulder had the snow plowed, but that was earlier before it quit snowing and I still had a number of inches of snow to ride through. Being virgin snow the bicycle tires were able to cut through, although at a greater effort on my part.

10 miles was all I rode and that was a workout. The temperature was colder with it being 14 F. I brought a camera along to take a few photos but that ended after a few photos as the fingers on one hand got cold after taking the glove off several times to operate the camera.

I needed both hands to grip the bicycle's handlebars to keep the bicycle on track while it cut through the snow so I seldom could shake my hand to get the blood flowing to my fingers. I could only sporadically slip my fingers from the glove's fingers and curl them against my palm for warmth as I needed a firm grip on the handlebars. That is why I only rode 10 miles.

19 miles left to ride.

Here are a few photos from my ride. Even with the snow clouds, it is a big sky out here.



This photo shows how under the snow one may not know where the road really is. This road was a one lane dirt track when I was going to elementary school back in the 1960s. Change occurs slowly in North Dakota as this dirt track was not made into a street and paved until the 1990s.

When I was growing up this dirt track was used to drive to school until a big snowfall came and buried it for the winter. Once dad was no longer able to "gun" his pickup through the snow, I was driven to school the longer way around.

I never remember dad ever getting stuck on this dirt trail, but I did have the excitement of potentially getting stuck before we reached pavement and a plowed street. The pickup's engine would roar and the tires spun as they dug through the snow. Each year the time we almost didn't make it signaled the end of using this shortcut.

This photo is of the highway north of town. I am standing on the highway's shoulder as I take the photo.

This highway goes to the air force base. Even though many of the air force personal are from places with no snow, don't you think it is a waste of money to have this sign telling people the road is slippery?

None of the other highways out of town have a similar sign.



Now today, Saturday, is another day. A couple of road graders came by late last night and plowed the snow off our street. By afternoon it was snowing again. I had 19 miles left to ride before the end of the year and off again I went.

The weather was nice by December North Dakota standards. It was 19 F but more importantly the wind was calm. Calm? Am I in North Dakota?!

Yesterday two streets where I had to ride on the sidewalk were clear of snow. Once I reached the street where yesterday they had been plowed, I found them in the same condition, partially snow covered. No matter, once I reach the highway the road's shoulders will be plowed.

Wrong again! The highway was in the same condition. I guess the State has decided to let the snowplow drivers have the holiday off work.

The highway was drivable as one could see the road surface where the right lane's wheel tracks were located. The left lane was snow covered and the road's shoulder had even more snow than yesterday.

On I rode.

It snowed heavily as I rode. The highway traffic was very light. What traffic there was drove far slower than the speed limit and mainly were in groups. Perhaps the drivers felt more comfortable driving near someone else in case of trouble. After all this is the countryside in North Dakota with little development around in case help was needed. Perhaps the drivers drove only as fast as the slowest driver as they were nervous about passing using the snow covered left lane. At the point of the "Slippery Road" sign I could only see one vehicle on the entire highway.

The quiet was the silence that comes during a heavy snowfall. It was primitive and a good feeling. Man and nature; where one must make an effort to accomplish something and where one needs to keep their wits about them and use common sense.

I rode further today. 13 miles. My average speed was 9.7 mph; a third less than my usual average of late. It took some effort to ride through the snow. Brakes were not needed as the bicycle would quickly slow and stop when I didn't pedal.

My mom had given me a headband for Christmas but I found yesterday that the colder temperatures and the breeze generated by my riding didn't keep my ears toasty warm. So today I wore my old ear muffs to protect my ears from freezing even if they are a fashion faux pax.

I also wore a pair of mittens so as to keep my fingers together and warmer.

Ear muffs and mittens... I am turning into such a girly-girl.

I also had to wear a pair of sunglasses as the bright snow was causing snow blindness on my post-cataract eyes. I didn't want to squint during my entire ride. Clint Eastwood can get away with squinting. A guy with ear muffs and mittens can't.

The ear muffs worked great. The mittens so-so. I needed my heavier winter-survival mittens as my fingers and thumbs were cold at times.

After I returned home I noticed part of my pants were wet from where the front wheel had thrown snow on my legs. Yup, I am a real fashion icon.

I had my brother take a few photos after I returned. I chose the one where I look the dorkiest as it makes me laugh and shake my head when I see it. Ah, well... I am warm and comfortable even if I look like a fashion disaster. You can see the snow falling as lit by the camera's flash.

I have six miles left to ride tomorrow to reach my goal. Hopefully it won't snow all night.

Here are a couple more photos taken today. Snow on the pine tree branches - a common sight in Montana; uncommon in North Dakota.




Finally, I included a photo taken a day or so ago of the Swan Range back home in Montana. Comparing this photo to the North Dakota photo, you can see why I live in Montana, don't you?

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Pickup game of hockey

The other night I passed by Polaris Park, the neighborhood park here on North Hill in Minot. As you can see, local kids are playing a game of hockey. Life in North Dakota in the winter. The sound of skates slicing the ice and of a hockey puck banging against the boards in the cold night air.

This is how life here in North Dakota differs from Montana as none of the Montana schools in the Flathead Valley have hockey programs or teams. Mountains equal downhill skiing. North Dakota flatlands equal hockey.

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

North Dakota sunset

You may remember my writing about a great sunset I had seen while bicycling last week. Since then I have taken my brother's camera along with me during my rides so I could capture another sunset like that one on film. Unfortunately I haven't been able to do so as that sunset was extra special and heavy with pastel colors.

I was able to photograph a typical winter North Dakota sunset. While I am disappointed I haven't been able to film one of the special pastel sunsets, this isn't too bad of a sunset.

A front is moving in with the promise of snow tonight. I won't have a chance to capture one of the special sunsets for the time being so I decided to post the photos I do have.

The first photo, which isn't that great, was included as this is the North Dakota version of pine trees and hills. This is about as close as I will get until I return to "my" mountains in Montana.

Lots of photos follow that capture the stages of a sunset. In other words, I was too lazy to cull the batch down to one or two photos. I merged a few photos so that explains the color change in the sky.

As the sun initially set I could see the heat rise from the fields causing the sunset to shimmer. By the time I finished taking the sequences of photos I was cold as the day's heat was rapidly leaving.

You'll notice the North Dakota state tree in a few of the photos. Okay.. I beat you to the joke about telephone poles.


















Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Trestle Valley bridge

West of Minot is a tall long train bridge over Trestle Valley. I had never been past the Trestle in all my years of living here and today I decided to ride my brother's bicycle out to this location and beyond.

I found that the road followed the coulee for a mile before the pavement ended. I decided to ride further. When the road climbed south out of the coulee I decided to continue on to see what was on top. Those who know me know when going somewhere new, I will go a little further, then talk myself into going a little further, then a little further. It is the "North Dakotan" in me, always curious as to what lays beyond the horizon.

The road continue on south and west. While I didn't expect another road soon that would allow me to return north as the coulee was quite large, I did expect to eventually find one, sooner rather than later. Just as I was about to turn around and head back on this washboard gravel road I came to a connecting north/south road, which I took.

A half mile or so later my only option was to again go west as the road north was marked as a dead end. The west road was no longer a washboard road, but it was only a single lane and the indications was that it was not heavily traveled.

The entire time I was on a gravel road I did not see or hear another vehicle and only saw a few far off groves of trees surrounding a farmstead. Otherwise the scenery was yellow and brown fields. It was all flat except for the coulee to the north I saw when the road would come nearer it.

Where am I going? I had ridden over a dozen miles out into the middle of nowhere on a bicycle. The sun would set in the not too distant future. While the temperature was in the upper 30s, riding out here the end of December might not have been the smartest thing to do. But then that's me.

Finally I came to another north/south road. After two miles I came to a paved road and I took it east until I came down a long hill and returned to the Souris River valley. Fortunately the wind was now at my back as I had traveled many miles, a lot of them on washboard gravel roads.

It got dark before I returned home. 30 miles was my adventure today.

Here are some photos of the Trestle Valley bridge. They were taken a few days ago when it was sunny. The sky clouded over today shortly after I began my ride. Snow is in the forecast.









From near the bridge, the view of Minot. Normal and zoom.

Monday, December 25, 2006

Souris River in winter

As you can see, we did not have a white Christmas in Minot this year. The only signs of winter are yellow grass, bare trees, and a frozen river. I may not have the snow of my mountainous Montana, but I do have blue skies!



Minot view

Last week I was able to get out and about riding my brother's bicycle. Here are a few photos of the Minot 'skyline' as seen from 16th Street NW. It does look better in the summer when the trees have leaves.


For the following photo I zoomed in little to show downtown Minot. This is no longer the central business district as that changed to the south side of town when the shopping mall opened in 1980.