Tour de France

[Frank Pembleton]

(I think?)

well, with all the fanaticism in the world today-- being a fanatic about cycling is the least worrisome of the bunch.

...about the cold, not a big deal if you're used to it.

I was raised in a small mining town in Northern Canada where we played street hockey (some folks would call it brawling) until 10 every night in temperatures colder than -40.

The weather we're experiencing here in Edmonton has been surprisingly warm considering the amount of snow. I'll bet you there's at least 4 feet of it on the ground, yet the temperatures seem to average up to -5°C every day-- prime riding weather if you ask me.

I ride on the horse trails along the river, hard packed by both walkers and horses. The hoof tracks are pounded 6 inches in the snow and on warm days it'll drizzel a little rain only to have it freeze over at night.

-- so you can imagine how incredibly rough and hard the surfaces can get.

Like I was saying, I can't imagine myself riding anything but a full-suspension MTB.

The present weather forecast is a little out of the norm-- but the constant snowing isn't.

http://weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/city/pages/ab-50_metric_e.html

btw, good the hear your friends are clean.