Dark, Wet, Cold … You Know: “Normal”

November 4 is the last day of the year whose average high temperature is 50° or more. We didn’t get there yesterday. We didn’t get there today either. In fact, we haven’t seen 50° in West Bend since October 28. This week we will struggle to stay above 40°. And it was no gentle transition from warm to cold: we were in the 70s as recently as October 21.

I rode outside on only 3 occasions in the last 11 days, including today. I would have liked to be at the Estabrook Park cyclocross race in Milwaukee yesterday, but I wasn’t willing to endure the rain and mud. Today I used a backup wheelset on my cyclocross bike for a 90-minute ride to, around, and then back from Kewaskum. Washington County is applying a new layer of fine gravel to the Eisenbahn State Trail, starting at the south end of Sandy Ridge Road (pictured above) and going all the way north to the Fond du Lac County line. The work is supposed to continue through November 14, closing that part of the trail between 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. each day. This morning I found everything open from the north end of Sandy Ridge to the county line … but it’s Sunday. And don’t worry: I was a good boy. I stayed off the closed section of trail and took Sandy Ridge itself. I often go that way, as the road rejoins the Eisenbahn after climbing a little hill that I like.

By next Saturday I will be 3 weeks removed from my last cyclocross race, but I still plan to line up for Tough Udder CX in Dousman. And I want to do the FatKats CX race in Sheboygan Falls next Sunday. Both of those races are new, and it’s always cool to check out new courses. I’m past the point of expecting good race results, though, and my long absence from competition won’t help. I will use the indoor trainer to keep my legs moving this week, but whether my cyclocross season continues is all down to the weekend forecast. At the moment, that forecast is not very encouraging: highs in the mid-30s both days, with a chance of a little snow from late Saturday into early Sunday.

On the way back from Kewaskum today I passed Sunburst Winter Sports Park, where a pre-season ski swap had just begun. A parking attendant tried to wave me in from Prospect Drive, asking whether I wanted to trade my bike for some skis. I declined.