damn good winter riding

i'm finding it tough to find more than 120' / day each and every day... but this is not the time for excuses. once this crap is laid-down, can move-on to the fun stuff, but that's still 6-8wks away. this week has been going pretty well, though. temps have been above 20, wind speeds below 20, was almost balmy on our night ride yesterday. it hasn't been over freezing since it snowed on sat, so very little ice and a nice crusty snow, good traction. technically the Fells are closed to biking jan 1st-april 15th - and i obey those rules - except when the ground is frozen rock-hard, then i think it's ok to get in there. the park should really be closed on a more flexible "mud season" schedule, but that would take too many resources to manage? take last yr for example, it rained for 20 days straight in May, there's no reason anyone should have been riding in the Fells, beating-up the trails w/that much mud. but, they were open and folks were riding and digging things up. common sense is hard to come-by sometimes. in jan, during the long thaw, saw all sorts of folks biking in the Fells, can still see their tire tracks frozen in the dirt. there are plenty of places to ride within 30miles of Boston when conditions are like that, but some folks just don't have any common sense or are too lazy to drive an extra 20mins... wow, where'd that soapboxing come from!?

i refuse to not get the hours i'm looking for this wk! - and everything is on-target. jenn and i have already planned the wknd, no reason why i won't get the rides in... and it's a good thing as the next two wknds are jammed-full of stuff. looking to get a real looonnng ride in soon. JB sent me info on this one - double century in mid-march? could be brutal. who am i kidding? it will be brutal! when done, however, it'll feel so right... what's worse, how much your ass hurts 8hrs into a ride like that - or thinking about how much it'll hurt for a wk leading up to the ride? guess it's best to just not think about it at all! be like buddha. accept it for what it is - damn good winter riding.