Happy New Year! Pt. 2

New Year's day I rode down to the local Brethren church for a traditional New Year's meal: pork and sauerkraut. I also had mashed potatoes, applesauce, a roll and a piece of angel food cake. The church uses the monies raised through the pork and sauerkraut dinner to fund their youth programs and various other church-related needs.

I had never heard of pork and sauerkraut as a New Year's day tradition until I moved out here about six years ago. I don't know if it's a German tradition or specific to the Pennsylvania Dutch, but it's supposed to bring good financial luck in the coming year. I hope so, because I could use some financial luck these days!

It was foggy starting out:

After my meal I rode over to the park to take some pictures, most of which didn't come out very well. Here's two that were ok-- a picture of my bike at the park (of course a picture of my bike, lol) and one of the stone lion:

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

What's that picture up above? It's the tail light on my bike. Yes, I went out for a ride just after midnight to ring in the new year! There was a mix of snow and rain and the roads were a little slippery, so I just rode up and down my street. Still, it was a great way to start 2010!

I've only made one resolution for the year: my goal is to ride 2010 miles in 2010. That's about five and a half miles a day. I definitely think this is a reasonable goal. I'm riding at least three miles a day even in the cold weather-- and sometimes I go as far as 30 miles! In the summer I'll be riding even more.

Finally a resolution I actually have a chance of making a reality!

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.

So I've been riding my bike every day but haven't been doing much picture taking. Part of the reason is that my biking has become more utilitarian rather than leisurely. I still ride for fun, but much of my biking time is spent going to and from work, the gym or downtown for errands. I do try and add in some extra miles throughout the day, but I don't seem to have as much time for stopping to take pictures.

I did have a scary experience earlier this week. Not every road has a large shoulder-- in fact many of these country roads have no shoulder at all. I was riding down a road with a small shoulder when a tractor trailer drove by-- this isn't a busy thoroughfare by any means but big trucks and farm equipment travel down it frequently.

Anyway, the trucker didn't see fit to move over even one foot and practically sucked me under the wheels. As it first came alongside, the air pushed me out to the right but as the truck pulled away the air sucked me towards the trailer. I got a first hand experience in drafting! Very scary and also eye-opening in terms of how oblivious some drivers can be about bicyclists.

16 miles

It was kind of dreary when I went out this morning-- and cold. The sun was trying to break through the clouds, though.

I prefer grey, rainy days myself. Then I can indulge my morose side without having to listen to people constantly tell me to cheer up-- they just chalk my gloominess up to the weather!

These kinds of days make me feel creative. Note I said make me feel creative not actually be creative. Someday, though!

I rode downtown for breakfast and then on to the countryside around Lititz. Nothing particularly exciting happened, no kissing teens sitting in the middle of the road or Amish kids driving buggies while texting on their cell phones, but life around here can't always be that thrilling!

After riding to work in the afternoon my total mileage for the day is 16. Not bad!