December 28, 2021- Got the GOAL miles in before the end of the year and the ugly weather to come!

 

As per the last post we both needed only 10 miles to break 1800 for me and 1500 miles for Jo for 2021. Well the temps have taken a dive and the winds are now brisk and CHILLY! Still the day dawned sunny and would very slowly work it way up to 40 F so we headed out late morning to "get them miles" in. We need to do a Food Run on Weds., Thurs. is suppose to have HIGH WINDS and Fri.-Sun. well a Artic front is coming in with possible SNOW so it was kinda "now or never" for us! 

We headed out to ride one of our favorite trails, started south on the Palmer-Mesa Greenway to the Spruce St. bike lane over to the Midland Trail heading to Manitou Springs. Wow, should have worn the full fleece jacket instead of just the lighter fleece vest's! Oh well we endured the chill and stopped for our usual, brown bag lunch at the swimming pool park. One great thing about Mantiou Springs, they keep the rest rooms in the parks open ALL YEAR (Hey Colorado Springs are you listing??) and at this park they have electric hand dryers so we used them to warm up the "fingers" and pulled out the heavy winter gloves for the ride home! LOL, I tell ya, that wind direction changed to a headwind no matter which way we rode and it got stronger towards home. 

Still "goal accomplished" and whatever few miles we get before New Year's Eve will just be icing on the cake as they say!! Hoping for a WARM 2022 but it's starting off REALLY COLD! RATS! Happy New Year's to all from us! BJ and Jo :)

Accomplishing a GOAL for the YEAR!

 Well the year 2021 in all it's insanity is coming to a close very soon! Jo and I have been very lucky with the weather from October to December this year! I should be able to break 1800 miles for the year and Jo should break 1500 miles for the year, not bad since she had a 2nd. Heart Attack back in June and another hospital stay for a wicked reaction to a "Diabetes Medication Change" back in August!!

We plan on getting the last "10 miles of rides" we need, tomorrow Dec. 27th. The "fly in the ointment" is that we've got possible VERY HIGH WINDS (possible gusts up to 80 mph. by afternoon) so if we can get out a bit early, even if it's pretty COLD in the early mornings this time a year in So. Colorado we can both make our mileage goals! If not then we will do our best to get it at the upcoming, Thursday or Friday! The also over 100 days of bike/trike rides for the year! Why do we miss so many days, well we also do a LOT of WALKING so we have to share the days!  

We will report back if the goal get's accomplished by the end of 2021, we want you to have a Very Happy NEW YEAR'S and the BEST year of your lives in 2022! RIDE as much as possible but ENJOY the rides you do! BJ and Jo Ondo :) 

December 14, 2021-The "take a hike" ride, LOL! ;)

 Jo had a heart doctor's appointment at 11:30 AM. on the 14th. so she told me to "go take a hike", LOL, I decided to take a RIDE instead! ;) I headed south then west on different bike lanes here in Co. Springs with the goal of heading up to the "Starsmoor Center Cabin" in North Cheyenne Canyon. Stopped at the Sacread Grounds Coffee Shop and stopped in to eat my brown bag lunch and get a glass of unsweet iced tea. Bought a Latte for a lady solder getting ready to go back to work at Ft. Carson! Headed up the canyon to the center, alas it's closed due to the major road construction heading up to Helen Hunt Falls up the canyon.

Decided to head back to town and thru America the Beautiful Park to the cargo elevator that takes you up to the Sky Bridge at the Olympic & Paralympic Museum downtown. Took a couple of photos and one at the USA sign outside. I then rode over to the bike lane on Pikes Peak Ave. to pick up the Shooks Run Trail heading north and back home. 16 miles total, it started out WINDY and gray but about 11:30 it cleared out and was sunny and warmish for the rest of the ride. A very enjoyable ride but I did miss my favorite riding buddy, Jo! 

December 4, 2021-We rode the "Chasing Santa 15K Bike Ride and Event

 Jo and I have wanted to ride in the yearly, Chasing Santa 15K Bike Ride, held ever December to support "Christmas Unlimited" (Toys for poor kids) but it's quite expensive at $40 EACH!! Well due to a minor problem at a ALS support event back in March, the organization that runs that ride/race event also does Chasing Santa and they gave us a FREE entry to the December event!!!! YA! :) So we headed over to the Fontenaro St. trail head for the start, 9AM and it was cold, not even 30 F yet but not to bad in the sun! We picked up our "FULL" Santa Claus Suits and put them on and got ready for the start. The ride goes to the turn around point at the Buffalo Lodge Bicycle Resort in Manitou Springs, they served up mini waffles and hot coco or coffee. Then we headed back to the Start/Finish area for the drawings, they had a few odd vendors of bike and running related items on hand too. We didn't win anything which is normal, LOL! Here is a "very short" video of the START of the Ride! 

Here are a few photos of the start/finish area of us in our costumes. :)