Feeling Minnesota

Feeling Minnesota

Cloudy 40F, feels like 31F; winds from the NNW at 19 mph. This is the forecast for 9AM this morning. Hmmm. By noon it will warm up to a whopping 46F (feels like 38F) with the wind still aiming from the NNW at 23 mph. Hmmm, again. I really am in Minnesota. The really shocking thing is that the weather guy just nonchalantly mentions cooler temperatures. Not cold. Just cooler. This little California gal has decided that it is freezing cold. And she's met her match at any attempts at a road ride outside today.

However, I may be down, but never out. I've got a fancy, not frequently enough used mountain bike that is just beckoning me for a frolic in the dirt. So frolic I will! About 7 easy miles away from my house is this little treasure of a park with trails galore. It is full of white tail deer, wild turkeys (those big birds again), pheasants, big rabbits...I mean hares, (ha!) and just a plethora of other wildlife to keep me entertained. It is also sheltered for the most part from the freezing cold wind.

I've been told (by the locals) that I need thicker blood; that once my blood gets thicker I will be able to handle the cold better. I wondered out loud to Mike the other day about how long it takes to get thicker blood? Days? Weeks? Months? Maybe a year? He didn't know. I will say that Minnesotans are hardy. Chilly (COLD), but sunny days when I am wearing a long sleeved craft base-layer, sweater, vest, jeans and wool socks, I've seen folks come into the bike shop wearing a t-shirt and sandals. The shop is like just over a mile north from our house and if the wind is blowing from the north, even with warm gloves, my hands won't warm up for two hours.

Thin blood. With all the "cycling transfusions" of blood in the sport of cycling today, I wonder if one also can order, along with a high hemocrit request, a little thicker blood too? I'd joke more about this, but it really isn't funny so I won't.

Aw Jeez! (Do I sound Minnesotan?) My windows are even fogged up, it's THAT cold outside! Wow. Diane (Minnesota Mom) predicted it would still snow somewhere in Minnesota before the end of April. I think she was right. I'm sure that it is snowing somewhere in the State...

Yup! I am feeling Minnesota today...nice, clean, crisp and "cooler" Minnesota. Cooler than what? My freezer, that's what!! Yup, it's cooler than my ice cold freezer out there...so I am off for a long overdue mountain bike ride. And you thought I'd ride inside today! Ha!