So we had quite a bit of snow yesterday; I think the total was 11 inches. I tried to go out for just a quick ride around the neighborhood but it was far too slippery and I couldn't get any traction.

That didn't stop me from going out today, though! I rode to the Rec to work out, and that trip was mostly fine. Mostly-- I had to ride through so much slush that my butt was soaking wet and totally numb by the time I got there! But there were very few slippery patches.

I decided to go my usual back way home and that's where the trouble started. As you can see in the picture above, the back roads were still pretty snowy. It wasn't deep, but it could be slippery and I fishtailed around a little bit. One of the great things about crank forward bikes is that their configuration allows you to put your feet flat on the ground while still sitting on the seat. That was a tremendous help in keeping the bike steady.

The other problem was that the wind was blowing, and it was blowing hard enough to make it difficult for me to stay upright. Plus the snow was stinging my face! I really need to get a pair of goggles. I tried to get a picture of the snow blowing across the fields and roads-- it looked more like water flowing over rocks than snow blowing across the landscape-- but none of the pictures I got came out. Here's a picture of me, though, looking kind of chilly!

My mom is decorating her house for Christmas and I rode over to help her. My mom LOVES Christmas-- or maybe it's that she loves SANTA. She has probably like 700 Santas displayed throughout her house. No, that's not a typo; I really mean 700 Santas!

Her Santa collection deserves its own blog (and we're working on it!) but I took a few pictures of the first bearded ones coming out of their warm weather hibernation and decided to post them here. Above you can see the fireplace mantel and some other Santas on the floor. You never know where one is going to pop up, really.

Grumpy Santa and his strange yarn friend:

Patiently waiting to be uprighted and placed in just the right spot:

In bike news, I had a flat tire when I went to get my bike out for my Sunday ride to breakfast and it really put me in a grouchy mood for most of the morning. I had wanted to get a ride in before the rain/sleet/snow started and of course that went out the window. I bought some "fix a flat" foaming stuff and at first it didn't seem to work correctly, but now my tire seems ok-- knock wood. It's held air for almost eight hours now but tomorrow I'll know for sure if it sealed the hole. If not I have a new tube, but I've never changed a tube before and I don't want to test out my skills tomorrow-- I want to go for a ride!

It's cold outside! I'm not sure how cold, but enough to make my cheeks burn. Still, once I got going I warmed up-- except my cheeks!

I went downtown for breakfast, then off to the gym for a workout. After that I rode down to my mom's to see how her Christmas decorating was coming along, then off to Starbucks for a hot chocolate and finally, home. About 15 miles overall.

Often when I'm out and about on my bike people like to talk to me about it-- it looks different than a "regular" bike but it's not always clear ~how~ it looks different. I've even seen people putting their kids on it when it's parked outside the coffee shop. It doesn't bother me when that happens; I think it's kind of funny!

Hopefully I'll be able to get another long ride in tomorrow.