Snow is your friend

I can be a bit foolish. I really thought that when Derek and I finished the January Century of our 1 century per month challenge we were on easy street. Ha! One and a half days before our last minute run at a February century (yes, we scheduled it for the 28th) we happened to get 6 inches of snow. I took the bus home rather than struggle through a ride home on Thursday night (the ride was scheduled for Saturday morning).

Derek e-mailed me Thursday late afternoon that he'd contact me Friday to work on a plan of attack. My response to him (Thursday night) was:

Leave early and stay late.
Yes we can.

Derek immediately responded to me:

we are on the same page.
-D

Wow! I think I'd be hard-pressed to find a more stubborn individual that was able to stick to the task. Derek didn't even hesitate. Our nordic heritage may be playing a role here (yes, we are in Lake Wobegon).

On Friday we discussed routes and because of the quantity of snow we were grasping for a route (with no agreement or argument), but then late Friday afternoon it was sunny enough that the roads were clearing fairly well despite the cold temperatures (around 16º). Thank goodness for that. We were able to plan on heading out of town 50 miles, have lunch and head back.

It was a difficult century for sure. Start temp at 4º with unknown road conditions, but the roads turned out to be pretty decent and the sun shined brightly enough that the afternoon was pretty speedy riding.

Mentally it was my biggest challenge yet, but we pulled it off and had fun throughout the ride. Good times.