(Not a self-portrait)
We didn’t have a White Christmas and Lake Montclair wasn’t frozen as it was last year, but it was cold enough for a frost and for the dog’s water dish to freeze over. These ominous signs, combined with reports of snow to the north, indicate the depths of winter are not far off. I waited patiently for the sun to heat things up a few degrees and set out in the late morning to review the Christmas landscape.
One nice thing about being a dedicated cyclist is people give you cycling-related presents at Christmas. Today I tried out some new cycling gloves (pictured at right) and some wool socks (not pictured) which my loving daughter gave me. Both worked well – the gloves too well, in fact. I’ll need the temperature to stay around freezing, else my hands will fill them with sweat.
There was little evidence of Christmas on my standard 17-mile loop. There was only one bicyclist – a young man riding a mountain bike that was much too small for him. Vehicular traffic was much lighter than normal, which is difficult to capture in a picture. I did spy a nativity scene at the Christus Victor Lutheran Church on Rte 234, which was a pleasant reminder of the day’s meaning.
Here’s hoping you and yours had a very Merry Christmas. I now patiently wait for the days to grow long and the sun to burn hot while I make do as best I can with my new winter gear!
P.S. This is my 250th post on this blog. I’m glad it fell on a special day such as this.
There And Back Again 
Merry Christmas! 250 on the 25th! That must be significant. I’m sure you’ll get to test out your new equipment at the proper temperature all to soon.
I suspect you are right, although I hope you are wrong!
And you can’t even lose much weight by sweating through your hands.
I’m glad you got a pedal in, it was too windy for fun here. Congratulations on the 250th.
We don’t want to be focusing on water weight anyway. Today was the windy day in this part of the world.
Glad you got a ride in. Almost got to come back to Quantico but I was in Mayport Naval Station and had to finish up an audit so one of my colleagues went back to finish some of the buildings. Don’t know if he finished all of them. Cycled in Corpus Christi Naval Air Station and I was able to ride in my sleeveless jersey and I even got rained on and did not get cold. Wool socks are great in the winter! Getting room is the shoe is the problem but I find wool socks with a windproof sock liner are really good.
Sleeveless jerseys in December. That’s the style! The wool socks worked pretty well, even though they are quite thin.
Merry Christmas! Congrats on 250! I have a similar pair of gloves, I think, which are wonderful in freezing temperatures, like you said, but a little overkill when sunny and cool. Guess I’ll need to ask Santa for an in-between pair next year.