Damn. Oh well, it's nothing unexpected for this time of year.
Here's a few more pics relating to posts that were made over the past couple of weeks...
The morning of Me and Matt's frigid ride down through Connecticut. Grey skies and not many folks out and about.
The Vanilla Bean, in Pomfret. They had a nice warm fire going, and we didn't mind at all taking over the cozy little area, with the couches, coffee table, and bay window.
The fire was great, but we wanted to hasten the whole "warming up" process. What better way than to have a big fire on the outside, and a little fire on the inside?
We made ourselves totally at home. I even kicked off my boots to let my toes join the party. They were snobs at first (they were so cold, I couldn't feel them), but they soon...'warmed'...up to us.
It wound up being a great ride and a great day, even if there was more snow and cold waiting for us outside. The ducks even came out for their obligatory cameo picture, but you've already seen that one, so let's move along.
The other nice ride was this past Saturday when I logged some last minute miles before the snowstorm arrived. Remember that stone arch bridge that I'd spotted in the woods when I was out riding with Nellie and Scott, about a month ago? I figured it would make a decent destination to snap some pics, so here you go.
It's pretty cool to see this thing out in the middle of nowhere. Ok, it's not really in the middle of nowhere - it's just off of a main drag, but to see it tucked into the woods, serving nothing more than a wooded path...it's pretty easy to just imagine it being out in the middle of nowhere.
The bridge is built deep down into the ground, so as to offer as little disturbance to the path which crosses it.
Very serene, and scenic, area.
Great arch work...but wait a minute...
Looking closer, I noticed that there was no masonry at all. This is a pure arch, nothing but stone pressing upon stone, to support both its own weight, as well as the weight of the ground above it, as well as any vehicle (or persons) crossing it.
Yep, sure enough; back up on top of the arch, there are gaps between some of the stones and you can see right through to the water passing underneath. Very, very cool!
I had to snap another closeup pic of the archway. Nothing special had been done to denot the keystone, but that made it all the better in my eyes. Just a simple, well constructed stone arch, with no fanfare.
I wonder what structure they used to support things while they were building this? Did they have to divert the stream at all? Where did the stone come from? How long did it take to construct the arch? Somewhere, someone has those answers, but that someone isn't me.
The temps, already quite cold, were continuing to fall and the roadways were getting slick. I'd already felt my rear tire do the slip 'n slide thing a couple of times, so I figured it was time to call it a day. I eased out of the iced over spot where I'd parked and set my front tire toward home.
The day's mileage was a tad over 50 - not a lot, considering I'd been out for almost two hours, but the riding had been slow and measured (especially around corners, due to the road conditions), not to mention I'd taken a detour to check out a very cool stone arch tucked away into the woods. All in all, I counted it as a good ride.
Now it's 2013 and I have yet to get any miles on. (Yes, it's only January 2nd, but I can already feel the walls closing in...) I kicked around the idea of taking a spin around town yesterday but there are too many ice patches out there, not to mention there's enough salt on the roads to rim the margarita glasses in Mexico.
Hold on...I chose not to ride because of the road conditions? Could this mean I'm beginning to act more intelligently? Hmmm....that wasn't one of my New Year's resolutions...I'll have to knock that crap off.
Here's hoping everyone had a great Christmas, and that 2013 is your best year yet.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
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