My wife and I were gonna clean out the garage on 12/31. The kids were at gramma's house.
It was 40 degrees and the sun was shining.
We kept eying the bikes in the corner of the garage.
At noon I said, let's get something to eat.
My wife said, if we can get my bike started, let's ride.
I had put sta-bil in both tanks earlier in the month, and had tried to start 'em both. Hers hadn't started. That was a cold day.
Today her bike fired right up on the second try.
Rode to Arby's cause we had a coupon.
As we're eating she says, "I'm thinking let's take the long way home."
"Really?" I asked. "Won't you freeze?" She's more "cold blooded" than me; I figured if I was cold she'd be freezing.
"I'll be okay," she said, "I really wanna do this."
"You'll never catch me saying no..."
She had already plotted a brief tour of some of the more interesting roads near our house. A couple of S-turns along tree-lined roads, some ups and downs. Not much, but better than 96th street's 5 lanes of mega slab.
Piles of sand and road salt in every curve and in the center of the road. Residue from snow removal efforts of prior week.
The numbness of my hands started affecting my clutching ability. This isn't right -- I usually ride down into the mid-30's without much trouble. I guess a few weeks in a cage with the heater on have thinned my blood and made me susceptible to the cold again.
In the summer this ride wouldn't have merited mention. But to get any riding in during the dead of winter -- that's worth noting.
New Year's Day brought snow and cold, the bikes are back on their battery tenders. But at least we rode on New Year's Eve.
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