Fortunate!!

 Last night we were blessed with about 3" of nice powder snow.  Add the current temp of 24°F, today would be a perfect day to ride.  That is all great, but it is the annual whitetail deer hunt here in WI.  Even though it is the week of Thanksgiving here in the United States, I have come to despise this week.  Despise would be putting it lightly.  One can not spend any time in the woods or trails without being dressed in blaze orange for the fear of wackos and stray bullets.  Even dressed in orange I don't feel comfortable riding a bicycle...I mean afterall, the bicycle is moving.  It shouldn't be that way.  I put a lot of the issues to the macho kill something mentality.  Brown it's down!!  Get that Big buck!!  That and greed!  Taking potshots at what they think may be a deer.  One of my cousins calls it hate your neighbor week...not too far off. Do not get me wrong, I agree with hunting.  Populations need to be controlled. And a meal of venison is delicious.  But the fact of the matter is the hunting tactics of many are something to be improved upon. Although this year seems to be safer than most.  

 A recent ride had me riding through the nearby Bird Sanctuary. 

 It is a very peaceful place. Serene.

 They have put in some new trails.  I am glad I had the fatty on this day!

 Nice remote trails.

 I was able to ride this ice...carefully.

 I snapped this photo a few days ago.  The geese were standing on the ice as the rest of the lake was freezing over.  Almost all of the lakes in our region are ice covered now.  

OK, after the opening rant, the best thing about this week is Thanksgiving.  Getting the entire family together to eat too much and shoot the breeze is PRICELESS!!  And I WILL eat too much. But that's OK!  I consider myself very fortunate.  Fortunate for family.  Fortunate for friends.  Happy Thanksgiving!!

Thanks for reading and the comments!

As always...

Lets get outdoors and have some fun!!

It's all Fun

 If you do not know by now, the 9:zero:7 has been the bike of choice lately.  If I had to choose one bike of the many I own, this would be the one. 

 On one day, I used the bike to get a few geo-caches that were behind this gate.

 Oooopps, looks like somebody forgot to lock it. I can't help but wonder if it was done on purpose.

 I came to this beaver pond where the trail crossed the creek that made this pond.  It was too deep to ride through.  I walked the top of the dam but had to hop on and ride the last 25 feet or so.  Can you say wet feet. Yep!!  I managed to ride through it, but the water was deep enough to where the feet were going below the water surface while pedaling.  Bad news because the high temperature that day was 18°F.  It was ok because I only had about 3 miles left to ride.

 Geo-cache in that tree.

 The ice wasn't froze enough to ride over this day.

During the last couple rides, the temperatures have been unseasonably warm.  Thats OK too.  It's all fun. 

Lets get outdoors and have some fun!! 

Loving the Entertainment!

 I was out for a 3 hour ride this morning.  Mostly two rut trails.  The above picture is at the Whitefish Lake boat landing.  The lake is over a 100 feet deep and will be the last of the lakes to freeze over in our area.

 The little ponds were froze this morning.

 This young Common Mullein was covered with frost, but the frost was beginning to melt from it as I rode by.

 This little lake is one of many I rode past today.  The locals call these potholes. I wonder if that is common in other parts of the world. It was completely iced over, but I don't think you would want to try to walk across.   

When I left this morning the frost was thick and the riding brisk.  It didn't take long to get warmed up though. On another note, I am toying the idea of partaking in a 5k on Thanksgiving day.  (notice I said partaking, not running)  SO, this evening I went for a mile long run...uuummm, should I or shouldn't I?  It will be a short window to train and I haven't been running lately. Although, it may work out good for me.  There are other family members doing it that would no doubt beat me to the finish and they could be there to cheer me on as I cross the finish. Or laugh, hehe.  It wouldn't be the first time I have been the entertainment.  Speaking of entertainment, the riding as of late has been entertaining. Perfect! And I have been loving it!

Thanks for reading!!

   Lets get outdoors and have some fun!!