Shake-out Cruise

I usually think of my first ride of the year as a "shake-down cruise."

It's a shorter ride designed to find out how the bike feels and what kind of work needs to be done on it before the serious riding starts.

A "shake-out cruise" is harder to gauge because you never know if this ride is the final one of the season.

It is October 20, so it will be a while before real warm days return, but with the promise of Indian Summer, maybe another ride is possible.

The sun was shining yesterday morning - making it more difficult to tell from inside that it was only 35.

But with light winds and a warm sun, my bike called me.

This weekend is also one of the last opportunities to enjoy the fall colors, so I grabbed my camera, threw on my Badger Hoodie and hit the road.

Almost immediately, I could see cloud cover approaching (below), which altered my plan from a long ride into something shorter.  The goal became to get around 20 miles in and see as much as possible before the scattered showers arrived.

Cool is one thing.  Cold rain is not any fun and at my advanced age now, something I try to avoid on the back of my bike.

I rode out to the Pope Farm Conservancy, not too far north of us to take a couple shots from the highest point in west Dane County.  The clouds providing a dramatic backdrop.

Then biking back into town there was some bright splashes of color in the sunshine.  While not intentionally mapped out this way, the number of hills to climb helped keep me warm and I only felt a few drops of rain before getting back inside.

It's been a fun year of riding - hope there is at least one more day to get out - but if not - I'll be anxiously waiting to ride again in 2014!