Yesterday, I went north to Jermain Park. Today, I went south. The nice thing about wander rides is that there are decisions to make along the way. Do I turn here? Do I go straight? Hop this curb? Go down that hill? Climb another one? Road bike rides are less interesting in that regard. Don't get me wrong. Road bike rides are fun in a different and meaningful way. But, somehow, wander rides make the Gypsy in me happy. They fill my soul.

Crossing S. Detroit instead of heading to ARlington as I would normally when I trek to the south, I made my way to Highland Park because I remember rolling down the sledding hill on one of my previous rides. There was sure to be an audience on the hill, since we had fresh snow. I cranked up the back side of the hill amazed that there was but a single family on the hill. Perhaps everyone is finished sledding for the year. Perhaps 15 degrees is too cold for sledding - though, somehow not too cold for biking. Perhaps.

I pedaled over the top of the hill, got out of the saddle, and shifted my weight back over the back wheel. This insured that, if I hit some deep snow, I wouldn't go ass over elbows over the handlebars. The family that was sledding let out a hoot and said something to the affect of, "Look at that crazy ass white dude." At the bottom, I crossed the distance to the skatepark where there were other kids playing with their sleds. Creative. They looked to be having a good time.

On the way back up the hill to the east of the skatepark, I had to walk the bike for a few hundred feet before climbing back into the saddle when I reached some snow-machine tracks that had been laid down before me. From there, I made my way through the neighborhoods surrounding the Toledo Zoo and then to Woodsdale which I used to get me across the AWT and to Harvard Circle. Once on River Rd., I remembered the awesome hills available behind Harvard Elementary, so I took a right and climbed into the neighborhood behind Wixy's Bakery. Shortly after that, I found myself back on River Rd. I got tired of riding on wet pavement on a bike that was built for snow or sand, so I made a diversion or two into the neighborhoods. First north, then south to one of my favorite overlooks where I took these pictures.

Then, south of River Rd. once again by Ft. Miamis State Memorial, where I snapped these pictures.

I stayed on River Rd. until I reached the little street that will lead you down to Sentinel Point. There, I snapped some more awesome pictures of the swollen Maumee River.

I tried to take the towpath further up river where I planned to cross under the Maumee Perrysburg bridge. No such luck. The ride along that stretch of river was nice. It was a snow-covered path with a few footprints, but no intrusions by the river, or the jams of ice. I took a picture at the end of the trail where I would have dipped down the hill to make it under the bridge. It was so flooded that there was no passage. Not even tempted to try. The panoramic picture I took at that point never got saved on my phone for some reason. Suffice to say, it showed what I just described.

After backtracking, I made my way to the west side of the towpath through to Sidecut Park. As I made my way down the far side I noticed some other fatbike had been there before me. It feels a lot like seeing a T-rex when you see another bike out on the road on a day like this. Seeing fatbike tracks... that's like seeing a Brontosaurus. I could see where the rider that preceded me had struggled in the slush that was about 3 inches deep - a combination of natural snow accumulation and slush that had been thrust atop the snow by passing plows.

The path beyond Ford Street was closed and I'm not a law breaker, so I made my way up out of the flood-plane and back into the retail area of Maumee. I stopped at Rite Aid and the Family Dollar at Gibbs St and The AWT. I was in search of some hand warmers to stuff into my boots. Strike one and strike two. No luck. That made my next few decisions easier. I was going to make my way home. My feed were just too cold.

When I got to 7th St., I had to stop and take a picture of the steam rising off the road. It was really cool to watch.

I only stopped one more time on my way home. I took a couple shots atop a snow mountain at Southland Shopping Center.

When I got home, I snapped a few more. This looks like a lot of ice buildup. I have to tell you, though. I stopped twice on the ride to knock off some of the ice.