I love fires. Especially when it is cold and snowy out. But, I can gaze at them anytime. So, here’s a little fire to start off with.

Last night nearly made it to early this morning. I think I crawled into bed around 3:30 or so. It’s amazing how much stuff you can do between 11 pm and 3:30 am. 2 hours of snowshoeing and 2 hours of laying in the sauna took up the majority of the time. Amazingly, I woke up feeling okay this morning.

The Kansans were the last men standing and the only ones to complete the snowshoe/sauna saga on New Year’s Eve. The Russians and Wisconsinites didn’t last the evening. The snowshoeing was awesome under a full moon. We didn’t even come close to having to turn on headlamps. It is strange seeing your shadows snowshoeing at night in the woods. We only made it to the cypress ridge with minutes to spare. I am a stickler for time, but it didn’t really matter. We had a few bottles of champagne to attend to before the 45 minutes back to the sauna. The sauna/snow combination eventually became a competition like a lot of other things. I can’t name an exact winner. Everyone had their moments. I’m not sure how the rules came about. It seemed like the longer one stayed buried in the snow, the more points were scored. After 30 seconds or so, it didn’t really matter how long you were down. You were pretty numb by then. I think maybe it is good for immunity training. At least that is what I was telling myself at the time.

Since I can’t use my back for much, I decided to drive back home to Topeka and hook up with Michael Aisner (Coor’s Classic promoter) who is town to see Tom Schuler’s grandmother, Ella. She is 112 years old and is 23rd on the list of oldest living people on the planet.

I went by and visited her a couple weeks ago. I helped move her out of her house into assisted living when she turned 100. Michael is drawn to stories like hers. It should be fun.

It isn’t going to be over 20 for a high for almost all of this week. But, it is 19 below 0 in Cable as I post this, so maybe 20 above is just fine. A 40 degree difference.

Midnight-New Year's Eve. Deep woods, Cable Wisconsin.

Michaeal Aisner at my house this morning.

And Tom Schuler.

Caught in the act waxing.

Hawkeye bugging Bromont.

Dennis with Hawkeye (11 weeks) and Ella (going on 17 years old).

You know that saying-It is just like riding a bike, you never forget? I’m not sure if I agree with that. I was riding indoors yesterday. Twice actually. And either it wasn’t at all like riding a bike or I did forget. I nearly needed to get a tape measure to set my seat position. I changed it at least a cm between riding in the morning and riding in the evening. I can usually feel if my seat is off even less than that.

I have a normal pedaling style that comes naturally, usually. When I was pedaling during the first hour, I found myself having to consciously think about pushing down and pulling up. It was almost like when I ski. I needed to concentrate on each pedal revolution. That’s not right. It was annoying and unsettling.

I started thinking that perhaps I had regressed to what I think most triathletes feel when riding. Or, someone who has never had the luxury to spend most of their lives on their bikes. It is so easy for me to glance at someone riding down the road and tell how much he is in tune with his bike. It’s as easy to me as telling what color jersey he is wearing. I can tell you if a guy is a “professional” cyclist just by the way he carries a bicycle up stairs. Or wheels it across a driveway. This might even be easier than when someone is riding.

I admit, this has been the longest time period that I haven’t ridden in a very, very long time. But, I didn’t feel anywhere near “right” yesterday riding. At least the first time. It got a bit more familiar the second hour, but not familiar enough.

This has been the worst winter weather in Kansas for as long as I can remember. There are very few times here that it is nearly impossible to ride outdoors. This is one of them. And, by the way the forecast looks, it’s going to staying this way for at least another week. I’m sure after a few more hours on the ergometer, it’s going to start feeling “right”. Then I’m going to go get on my bike and it’s going to feel all wrong again. Go figure.

Tom Schuler's rental car parked in front of my house. Maybe this is how they teach you to do it in Wisconsin. My street is one of the clearer streets here in Topeka.