Flag Pedals: But, it snowed! So? Night ride!

Yes yes, we got some snow that stuck around, which means that notorious Arctic Snow Snake is back. Looks like this year it made friends with a rabbit:

So, I've been spending some time in the garage, instead of riding my bikes. Warranted, I think, because it's been getting down to 0 at night.

Besides, when I find myself in the garage, sometimes cool stuff follows me out:

Plant benches. For, y'know, plants.

Block of oak at the beginning...

And end.

It doesn't need the lathe to keep spinning! (Though it did stop just for the camera. Or, did the camera stop it? Hmm...)

So, obviously, I haven't been doing much riding, besides the old back and forth to work. It sort of stinks, as I've been itching for a long-ish ride, but haven't felt like riding in temperatures where water not only freezes, but sublimates fairly fast.

So why, then, did I find myself riding Bi out to Lake Mary this morning, at 5 AM, with the temperature hanging somewhere around the range of 3 to 4 degrees above Absolute Zero? A ride that I did mostly without headlights, because the full moon was so bright?

Those aren't rocket boosters lighting up the guardrail, just Bi's tail lights.

Well, I'll tell you:

Yeah... a total Lunar eclipse will get me out of bed at 4:30 on a Saturday morning, on a bike, and riding through negative eleventeen degree air to a good spot to watch the moon slip into Earth's shadow. Because of the timing, the sky was brightening with the rising sun as the moon was obscured, so that by the time the moon went into totality, it completely disappeared. No classic eerie red glow, it just faded away, which happened just before it slid below the trees.

Blurry, but it's the last sliver of light before the moon disappeared. You see it, right?

At this point, I was freezing from sitting still for the better part of 30 minutes, and I'm pretty sure that it was cold enough to make the camera operate at peak efficiency. The ride home was long, slow, and full of "Do I still have toes/fingers?" thoughts, and Bi had a layer of frost by the time I got home. But, it was worth it to watch the moon move into the shadow of the Earth. Especially since the next total lunar eclipse is supposed to be in 2014. Which would make this the last total eclipse before the end of the world, if the Mayans are to be believed.

Yeah, it was worth it. That's a ride I'll not soon forget.