When we bought our house in Wisconsin in 2009, we did so in the knowledge that we'd never spend the whole winter there and ten years later, we never have, instead spending the coldest months of the winter in Fredericksburg, TX.
We typically go down between Christmas and New Years then return the first week of April. Usually the weather here is decent enough until then that it's tolerable.
But not this year. I don't know if my ability/desire to tolerate the cold is decreasing as I get older or if it's the case that I know I've got an alternative so why suffer?
I was set to do a 200K brevet yesterday that started in Fennimore. I drove over the night before and spent the night in a hotel. This despite the fact that it was supposed to be cold and windy the next day. The route went South to Galena, IL for 65 miles then returned straight North to Fennimore.
I got up the next morning and checked the forecast: winds out of the SW gusting to 35 MPH with a wind chill in the mid-20's. The warmest it was forecast to get (wind chill) was 38 degrees and the wind was actually forecast to reverse in mid-day so that there'd be a headwind both ways.
God hates randonneurs.
I decided that didn't sound like a whole lot of fun so I didn't ride. The next day was a little bit warmer and not quite as windy with a high in the mid-40's but I still couldn't bring myself to go outside so I did 32 miles on Zwift. It's forecast to be somewhat warmer tomorrow so I'll see if I can bring myself to get out and ride.
