The second day of winter was only slightly cooler than the first one. When I got home from work (earlier than usual) the temperature was 72 degrees with overcast skies. The wind was from the west at 9 mph. When I finished my ride at 6:13 PM the wind had moved to the NNW at 9 mph. I noticed when I turned back towards home the wind was stronger and cooler. by the time I got home the temperature was 68 degrees. Tomorrow the first of two cool fronts is supposed to arrive. Thursday and Friday may be the only days I get to ride until Monday.

Since I got home from work early today I went back to my dirt trail for a portion of the ride. This time I had the 3 pound battery for my headlight on my rear rack since I thought I would not get back before the daylight disappeared. I did not get back until after dark so it was good to have the battery but you can sure tell it is back there when you are going over bumps and ruts in the dirt. The Motobecane 700HT MTB did great in the dirt but it was not that challenging.

A few minutes after I pulled into the garage at the end it started to rain lightly but not for long. The clothing lineup for the ride was a long sleeve jersey, road shorts (I assume these are worn each time in the past descriptions), and half finger gloves. The last 3 to 4 miles were a little cooler than I prefer since I was headed into the NNW wind.

The mileage report:

• December miles 184.86
• YTD miles 5118.18

12-22-2010 Ride Information and Map

Additional charts, weather and map.

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