bicycles,  Cityscapes/Urban,  Transportation,  Travel,  winter scenes

Drifting and Blowing

Blowing Drifting Snow
Blowing Drifting Snow

As I mentioned I was off line for a few days as I traveled with my sister to the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandle area for a funeral. We knew there would a storm moving through Colorado on Monday but felt it would be okay to travel.  We headed home on Tuesday morning thinking we would be just fine. As you can see we discovered some very high winds and blowing, drifting snow once we entered into the southeast corner of Colorado. These conditions lasted for about a hundred miles then we had much better roads and sunny weather to travel in. We just followed two semi trucks, figuring they knew what was ahead. The Fort Collins area receive 12 inches of snow. And, of course along with that comes the colder temperatures.

Bicycling in the Cold
Bicycling in the Cold

Yesterday morning on my walk to coffee I noticed this man riding his bicycle. That’s not anything unusual especially in a college town. What was unusual is the temperature was 1 degree. I’m layered and shivering while he pedals away. I prefer warmer riding weather. Different strokes for different folks. Stay warm.

Retired. Having fun with photography. Journal daily. Meditate daily. Learning haiku/poetry. Have a love for fountain pens.

12 Comments

  • oneowner

    1° is cold but on a bike at a good clip it feels like -15°. I like my bike for exercise but, in this area, I don’t feel it’s a good mode of transportation, especially if you’re carrying a backpack with cameras and lenses.

    • Monte Stevens

      I agree it’s good exercise, gets the heart pumping. It’s surprising the weather these people ride in. The cold is one thing but ice and snow is another. I have a backpack for riding and walking with a padded insert for my camera and two lenses. It works.

  • E.Brooks

    Driving in those conditions makes for a stressful and tiring journey. Glad you’re safe. I just can’t believe that bicyclist wasn’t cold…and if he wasn’t, I’d love to know what he was wearing (or drinking) because I want to buy me some. 🙂

    • Monte Stevens

      He may have had both, Brooks. 🙂 That is something you see in this area as people get out in the cold, snow and wet. However, he was a bit younger while we are a bit older and wiser.

  • Paul

    It’s funny. I sometimes forget that other folks actually have winter weather. We hear in the Carolinas, save for those in the mountains, have a very mild winter, thankfully. I just could not see biking in 1 degree F, heck, even 1 degree C, which is about 34 degrees F. 🙂

    Glad that you made it home safely and found a truck to follow. I’m glad that he was going your way!. 🙂

    • Monte Stevens

      I question those biking in winter yet think nothing of those who ski (cross country or downhill), snow shoe, snowmobile, ice skate or even those the bivouac in winter. It’s all perspective. And, there are those who would not do well in the southern states. Yesterday morning in this exact same spot I witnessed a falcon take a bird right out of the air then land in the street. Make sure it was dead then fly off with it. Nature as it really is.

  • Tom Dills

    I don’t miss roads that look like that! Glad you made the trip safely.

    That cyclist is pretty well bundled up, and while it’s been a really long time, I’ve logged quite a few miles on a bike in cold and snowy weather. As long as your clothing keeps the moisture away from your body and you have a good wind layer, you build up a lot of heat when you ride. And you don’t need a lot of clothing to be comfortable. Of course when you stop you’d better have another layer to throw on, or you’ll get cold in a hurry.

    Stay warm!

    • Monte Stevens

      You are right, Tom. Hikers and mountain climbers all layer when in high activity in winter. As for staying warmer, well we are already at 40 degrees this morning. I was awaken earlier this morning as the wind blew through a warm front. Have a super day!