Winter Scenes

It has been usually cold over the past couple of weeks. I did get out for a short mountain bike ride with some of the braver members of the posse on the first weekend of the year. It was just below freezing with 20mph+ winds. We decided to ride from Princeton to Griggstown along the Raritain trail. It has been a while since I did this part of the trail. Not much has changed and it was really too cold and windy to stop for any pictures. I turned around at Griggstown and headed back while the rest of the group when on to get a few more miles. On the way back by the top of Carnegie lake the wind actually blew a tree across the path. It was too big to move by myself so I broke a few branches off it and pushed my way over it. It was a cold ride for the first ride of the year but at least I started to get some miles in. 

It was too cold on the Wednesday after to do a ride either mountain or road so I took a hike through Allarie state park which is close to where I live. There was still some snow on the ground for a storm earlier in the week that dropped about an inch of snow on the ground. I did a 4 mile hike around the Allarie village and along the river and ponds and stopped for a few scenic shots along the way.

There are actually more paths in Allarie than I thought there were so when it is too cold to ride I will probably come back here. I have started to do a little more hiking to supplement my biking as I do enjoy getting out in the woods.

Walking among the snow covered landscape is a good distraction from normal life and I hope to someday get that perfect snowy landscape picture but I need to find the right location and conditions. I also tried to get a picture of a snowflake when we got some snow. It's not easy to get a picture of an individual snowflake but I had a couple of ideas of how to get one.  My setup didn't work that great but I did get one okay shot. I still need some improvements to my setup and I don't know if I have the ability to get a good snowflake shot with the equipment I have but it is fun to try.

This past weekend it was warm enough to get out on the road for some more miles. I might be able to get out again this weekend but then it looks like an arctic blast is going to come down and make it unbearable to go outside for a while. It's always tough to ride in the winter but will get out for a ride with I can and when I can't just enjoy the scenery until it gets warmer.