Chilly Willy Ride

We had the day off Thursday for Thanksgiving so decided to head out for an afternoon ride to try and get the two covered bridges we missed on our Thanksgiving Day Ride Through the Woods last year.

The day dawned with temperatures below freezing, but by noon had warmed up to a balmy 45˚F (7˚C).  At least it was sunny.

We dressed in layers.  I finally put the quilted liner and rain liner in my Rev'it pants and the heated jacket liner in my riding jacket.  I felt quite like a penguin waddling out to the bike and hefting a leg over, hence the Chilly Willy title for the post.

Our first stop was for fuel a mile down the road.  Unfortunately they were a little busier than anticipated  so a wait was in order.  My left earplug wasn't seated right, and for this reason I took my helmet off to take them out and put them back in while we waited.  I thought the guy filling up at the diesel pump an island over was going to swallow his gum when he found out it was a girl riding Max.  Troubadour laughed mockingly in his helmet, I could hear him through the Senas.

We rode down Bellfountain Road then turned west on Highway 36 towards Triangle Lake.  We stopped at the lake to use the facilities and take a small break.  We managed to find a spot of sun to park the bikes.  We weren't there 5 minutes before the sun was behind the mountain and things turned a smidge cooler.  I did manage a few pictures.  The lake was beautiful.  Smooth as glass, and begging me to take pictures of the reflections.

After a brief respite we pointed the bikes west once again.  We had to watch out in the corners to make sure they were just shady and wet, and not icy.  The highway department/county had doused the corners with anti-freezing crud and so the bikes were getting a little coated and I was hesitant about slippage.

We found the Lake Creek, aka Nelson Mountain Covered Bridge, built in 1928.  Hard to believe we've ridden by it dozens of times, but never noticed it just off the highway.

Further west we headed towards Deadwood looking for the Deadwood Creek Covered Bridge, built in 1932.  The map was at home so we relied on Troubadour's sense of direction.  Good thing he knew approximately where it was.  We turned north onto Lower Deadwood Road and approximately 5 miles later was the turn off for Deadwood Loop Road and the bridge.  Luckily there was a sign indicating the bridge location.  It was a half mile stint down the Loop Road; a wet, packed earth road. The wooden bridge deck was slippery as hell so we rode over it to the gravel just beyond before parking.

Notice the difference in lighting between the two bridge pictures.  The Deadwood Bridge was nestled in the foothills and the fog was rolling in.  We quickly took pictures and turned around while dodging an overzealous barking dog from the house next door that thought he either wanted my left footpeg or front tire as a snack.

We backtracked to the highway and found a sunny spot to stop and quickly eat a protein bar.  It was getting late in the afternoon and we needed some sustenance in order to make it home without stopping again.

The above picture, was the last picture of the day.  It's the bend in the road where we stopped for our snack.  Notice the change in color/change in texture of the roadway in the shadows.  Most of the afternoon we were dealing with those changes and coming out of the shade to blinding sunlight.  It was easier heading home when the sun was behind us.

With no more stops along the way, we managed to outrun the dark, barely, and rolled into the driveway at 4:40 pm.  Feet were cold, fingers were cold, nose was cold.  Did I mention we were cold?  The thermometer outside said it was 44˚F (6.6˚C) when we got home.  Combined with the windchill at 60 mph, I knew why we were chilly.  Troubadour mentioned we may need to think of a warmer Thanksgiving tradition.

The weather has been a little odd lately.  It is now 55˚F (12˚C).  We finally awoke to temperatures above freezing this morning.  It is unusual for us to have freezing temperatures for days on end in November.  The forecast is for a wintry mix of snow next week.  If it does snow, it won't stick, which is nice, but they are also forecasting lows of 18˚F (-7˚C) by Wednesday night. Chilly Willy indeed.

- Au Revoir

“Why are you crying?" shivered the otter. "Because I am cold!" shouted the gnome. "Then why are you shouting?" chattered the otter. "Because," yelled the gnome, "when I shout it gets part of the cold from the inside out.” - Stephen Cosgrove, Gnome from Nome

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