SUNNY BUT COLD JANUARY

So the second part of January brought lots of sunshine for the lengthening daylight hours. They say this is the driest January we have had in 40 years! But, it also brought low temps and heavy frost through the night and into the early morning hours. If I wanted to ride my bike (I did) I would have to wait for much later than usual for that frost to not be an issue for a tumble from my bike, and then skirt around lingering frost in the shady spots.

Waiting until 11:30 or 12:00 was ok even though the temps were still in the higher 30s (up from early morning 26-32)! I think the coldest I started riding was 37 degrees and it went up to 41 while I was riding. I have lots of really good cold weather gear and not only was I not at all cold on these rides, I truly enjoyed the crisp cold air and the bright blue sky. It was a real treat for January to have all the bright color emerge from the monochromatic gray days. The only drawback was feeling the need to get home before it got really cold again and threatened some icy conditions, thus shortening some of my rides.

Mostly I did my usual routes from home and enjoyed the cold surroundings.

Someone was having a birthday to be celebrated.

As I rode through and around the airport I gave another goodbye to Jimmy Carter as our country, state and county flags flew at half mast.

I extend my ride by avoiding this part of the trail but now I took that part of trail as a way to shorten today’s frosty ride. I found a ton more graffiti than I recall from my past rides here. It is a part of the Interurban trail that is near the High School and many times there have been groups of some students sitting in the middle of the pavement (a good reason to avoid this part of the trail). They barely would move out of the way for a cyclist (me) to get by. They were not mean or threatening, but enough of a nuisance to not be a good part of my ride. It is easy enough to avoid by taking a slightly different route. Today was free of sitters as it is cold on that pavement 😉.

On the last leg of this ride I stopped at the local park for a rest room break and to have a snack (cold weather makes me hungry). I was intrigued by this little girl who was not only drying off the surface of the slide for a trip down on, but when finished she looked ALL AROUND for a trash can to deposit her used paper dryer. Many kids would toss it on the ground and forget about it. There is no trash can anywhere here so she took it to her dad who was off to the side. I was not at all surprised that she took it to her dad, but that she first searched so diligently to properly dispose of it was endearing.

The following day did not have such bright blue sky but the sun continued to shine its diffused rays through the high dusty clouds. Susan and I had a delightful, if noisy, brunch with the SOTF at Maltby Cafe. That place is always crowded and though today was no different, we enjoyed being together with friends sharing time, stories and laughter. Our meal was good and those humungous cinnamon rolls they are famous for did not disappoint. There were 10 of us at brunch and two of those rolls were enough to feed us and have some leftover to take home.

After the brunch Susan dropped me and my bike in south Everett for a ride to home. The first part of the ride is one I don’t do very often as I don’t meet a past friend there for riding anymore. It was a nice change for me to ride a bit different route from my neighborhood roads.

First is a little trail off the road that I had learned about. Looks like a dead end, but there is a short path that has allowed me to avoid some traffic.

The trail takes me to the other end where I join pavement and turn onto the road up there at the stop sign.

The remainder of my ride was on familiar roads that I ride a lot, and of course that often means meandering through the airport. This time some tail wings caught my eye. More color.

<A BRIEF INTERMISSION FROM BIKE RIDING>

Keep in mind the earlier photos of the crashed in Honda Fit. But in case you forgot ………

This morning I had a routine medical appointment that Susan agreed to drive me to. I got all my bike riding gear put together and ready to literally jump into, like a fire fighter does, and was ready for riding once we would return home.

After my appointment, and ready to pull out of the parking lot, Susan asked if we could “briefly” stop by Lynnwood Honda before going home just to do some “research”.

I don’t think I need to say more —- we bought a new car.

We are not even positive yet about the state of the Fit, but a text informed Susan that after dismantling it they found significant damages to the rear structure of the Fit. They would have to submit info to the insurance company and wait to see what they would say about it. We were thinking “totaled” but not yet sure.

We spent hours at the dealership, and even stopped for a late-ish lunch on the way to the bank before actually purchasing the car. I drove the new CRV Honda home from the dealership and it was like driving a true luxury car compared to the little Fit. I love the Fit and hated it getting destroyed, but I am sure I will adjust to this new, bigger, safer and more luxurious (to us) vehicle in time.

AN ASIDE is that it was a beautiful day to miss a bike ride, but I am not sorry to have had to do that as this weather will continue for several more days, and a day off is good for me.

With this current event, I will post this page now but continue on for more January and into February (already?) for more adventures.