Trail Day for Sassypants

After hitting near 70F/21C last week, winter returned with a vengeance this weekend. We all woke to temperatures of 15F/-9C, with the wind still howling — putting wind chill "real feel" in the low single digits 1F/-17C.

But the good news was it would warm up to 36F/2C. Toasty!

Except that warm up didn't happen.

Now what?

But loading the MTB should be a hint.

Ms ZZZ Sassypants does not know
she's about to get a real treat.

Stay home?

No, that's not happening either, at least not for Z-Dogg (aka ZouZou Zena Miss Sassypants Leashbuster Gigantor) and me — we have to get out.

So ... 23-27F in the relative shelter of the trees will have to do. There's plenty of sun; and March sun is usually a lot stronger than the January kind.

The Sass is ready to roll.

Yep ... waiting for the weather to warm up tomorrow was NOT an option, by then it'll be Monday, a workday, and no daylight hours to ride the trail. So ... ride today or enjoy the cabin fever — no thanks.

 Arriving at the parking lot, it was a lot colder than I even thought it would be. Just nasty sub-zero, and only one other rider. Normally the place would be packed.

 A 15-25 mph wind was blowing right in the driver's side door -- glad I got most of the cycling clothing on already. That's key with an impatient pooch; when you arrive at the trail: she just wants to go, go go! ... and you don't want to be changing into riding gear in this kind of cold if you can help it.

Otherwise, it was perfect weather for a dog with a built-in warm winter coat and who likes to run with the bike. As for me: four layers (polarmax; heavy duty short sleeve jersey; medium fleece and Fox Racing camo mesh lined convertible shell jacket).

 It took nearly 7 minutes of good pedaling to thaw the fingers out, but by the end of the ride, it was like a sauna in all that gear.

After the first lap she was ready to run off the leash again, and as you can see in the video, Miss ZZ Sassypants is an excellent wheel-hugger.