January 12 and it's 58 F

 Another spring like day drove me out to Island Lake State Park, along with dozens of bike riders and outdoor enthusiasts.  I rode today from Dodge Park Unit #1 to the trail head via the roads in the park and hopped on the trail at the trail head parking lot, the photo to the right in the pines is in a section that I have dubbed "The Cathederal" and it ends at the Riverbend site where I joined back up for my return ride.  The site is aptly named for a big bend in the river, pictured above.

All in all it was a great day to be outdoors and I passed and was passed by scores of happy cyclists.  After the ride I loaded up my bike and took a cruise through Kensington across the freeway and there were scores of more bikers and walkers.

It's a rare treat this time of year and from the looks of the thermometer forecast I'll be back to the trainer next week.  I ordered a video to view while riding the trainer and will post a critique when it arrives, it should be some time next week.  I spent an hour in the saddle and covered a bit over 8 and a half miles.  In total I was outdoors for far longer than that, however with stops for photography and just plain horsing around it was closer to two hours.  Whereas yesterday I felt fatigued quickly, today I found that I was good to go.  From just a day of outdoor riding yesterday I could already feel more stamina today and hills were not as hard to conquer.

Just a couple of weeks ago the park entrance looked like this after we had our first big snowfall of the year!

My next post on this blog won't be from me but I have a Guest Poster who wrote a blog post on the subject of "What it was like to be new to riding."  Stay tuned!