It was freezing.

Lunch break before the ride started

Roadside Geology

This was a killer hill.

Refreshing water

It was freezing in the shade when we arrived.

We had strong chocolate martinis.

Pine forest

Blackhawk Lake. No Sunday pictures due to rain.

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We rode our bikes 5 hours and 10 minutes this weekend, 45.4 miles, with an average speed of 8.8 mph.

Friday after work we drove to Governor Dodge State Park. It was extremely cold, with a low of 35 degrees, which after summer feels too cold to accept. We set up our tent in the dark, and made velvetta shells and had some beers. Megan brought her 0 degree, giant synthetic sleeping bag which kept her very warm.  Saturday she didn't want to leave the bag. Finally hunger got her up. It was a very sunny and nice day, and warmed up to summer like temperatures again.

We arrived at Blackhawk Lake state park after a nice ride with huge hills, fall colors, lots of trees and rocks and streams, and then some boring parts with farmland. It was freezing when we arrived. Our site was wooded and behind a big hill so it had lots of cold shade.

We cooked more macaroni and cheese and enjoyed chocolate martinis. The martinis were so strong Megan wasn't able to do much after dinner hiking to see the lake (and it was almost dark anyway). So we turned in early to read books and sleep for 12 hours.

Sunday we awoke to gun shots and birds giving off loud alarm sounds. They allow hunting nearby, which wasn't very pleasant for us. Soon it began to rain, so we stayed in the tent until 11 AM. The rain let up some (being under trees, it kept dripping so it sounded like it was raining more when we were in the tent). We set off biking in the cloudy day, and soon it began to pour. It was awful biking and being so wet. Luckily after an hour or so the rain let up so we could eat some lunch, but still, wet feet are uncomfortable. The big hills did help us stay warm.

We arrived back at the park and were very happy to have a warm, dry car.

Thomas's highlights were the 100's of the wooly bear caterpillars crawling all over the roads and hearing the cayotes on Saturday night.