January | 2016 | Steve Tilford

Or woods, just depending on where you happen to be. I woke up to -20 and now it is -15. I think it is going to warm up to -8 this afternoon, so I’ll wait until then to venture out for a dog walk.

Dennis’ ski race was a success yesterday. No one with much frostbite and everyone seemed super happy at the finish.

I did ski up to the Firetower food stop, but got there right after the last competitor went by. Jeff Bradley’s pickup was having a starter problem so I got to help them out pointing out the starter to bang on with a hammer. That worked, which it will 80% of the time initially. It would have been bad having his truck stuck up on the Birkie Trail at -6.

I skied back down to the Birkie Ridge parking and it was way colder. It was headwind and mainly downhill. You know it is not the temperature, it is the wind. That is so true. Standing around at -20 when it is calm is no problem. As soon as you add the slightest amount of wind, it gets ugly.

Today is the last day we’re spending up here. I’m heading back to Winona tomorrow morning and then driving back to Kansas. It is only 7 degrees there right at the moment, so it isn’t that much warmer. The weather doesn’t look that great there the next week. Mid 30’s and a little snow. But it is winter, so what should I expect.

I’m kicking around trying to do the Fat Birkie. I don’t have a fatbike, so I’m going to have to borrow one. I talked to Scott Daubert and he said he might have an extra race bike laying around. It’s 6 weeks from now, so I have a while to figure it out.

My ribs are a mess. But I’ve been riding the trainer over an hour a day the last week and my ribs aren’t getting any worse. The thumb is just broken, which is business as usual.

Okay, football yesterday was depressing up here. Kansas City got beat, then the Packers game was a disaster for Wisconsin locals. That was a good game, right up until the end.

Alright, I guess we’re heading to Seeley, the Sawmill, to clean up a little and then are going to snowshoe out to new land George bought. Maybe George will fire up his wood sauna. Last time I was in that, it was over 220 degrees. That would feel pretty good right about now.

The trail was nearly perfect yesterday.

Sawmill Saloon yesterday. Getting ready for the Packer’s game.

The snowmobilers take over.

The trophies for the race yesterday.

Yesterday was the last day up in Cable for a little while. I didn’t really plan on staying this long, but I didn’t really have anything else to do in my current state. I did ride the trainer everyday for over an hour. Yesterday I actually rode it nearly 2 1/2 hours, pretty hard, which is usual for me. I broke it up into an hour in the morning and then an hour and a half in the afternoon. Both times I pushed the pedals pretty hard.

I think the high yesterday was -8 or so, but it doesn’t really matter. It was cold. Between trainer sessions, I went with my friend George, over to his property where he has a wood fired sauna. It was great. Super hot and fresh snow to roll in. Pretty invigorating. We stayed there for close to an hour. Trudi and Dennis snowshoed for the same time, with Hawkeye, so they had a great time too.

I’m heading to Winona again for a follow-up dentist visit. Then we are heading back to Topeka. The dentist appointment is an hour earlier today, so it is a way early start. I’m not even sure Alley Cats coffee is going to be open in Spooner when we go through there. I’m hoping it is.

It is still close to 7-8 hours from Winona to Topeka, so we won’t be getting home until night. It is going to feel pretty balmy there compared to the crazy low temperatures here. It is supposed to be in the upper 40’s on the weekend in Topeka, which might be short and short sleeve weather, considering. Considering that is a 75 degree temperature increase from this morning.

Okay, I’m not too creative this early. Once I get the first part of the trip over, maybe I’ll post something a little more interesting.

Pretty cold after I started driving.