Mid-Winter Velo News

Today began a bike ride well before dawn.  My rides rarely begin that early and those few times are usually summer.  Today was near freezing temperatures with rain in the forecast for much of the next two days.  If I was to ride this weekend, the only possible window was before 9 am.  Cold and dark notwithstanding, I took the opportunity.  It's been three weeks since I rode. 

Olympia at 6 am is dark and deserted.  I had the streets and bike trails to myself.  The sky was overcast but not entirely socked in.  Most important, no rain was falling although the air was pretty saturated.  The Oly-Woodland and Chehalis Western Trails were almost indistinct in the dark.  I had no trouble following either although it required careful attention to avoid debris on the pavement.  My biggest problem was cold fingers.  I was otherwise warm enough to pedal hard but even a micro fleece liner under my cycling gloves wasn't enough.

The sky lightened up  within the hour and the pavement became more visible.  Farther north on the CWT, fog hugged the wetlands on either side of the trail.  All was misty and mysterious.  I returned through northeast Olympia.  Still no rain so I extended my route to North Point.  The first raindrops began falling as I turned south on Capitol Way, rolling through the still-empty downtown.  The rain wasn't hard enough to make me turn home so I made it to the Capitol Campus.  Then I headed home.  22 miles total.

Rain has been falling ever since.