the biggest of the small

Fairbanks doesn't really have mountains like some parts of the state (think Juneau), but it does have hills, and today I rode the biggest of them, Murphy Dome. It was overcast, about 32 degrees, and fairly breezy, which is to say it could be one of the last nice, warm fall days here. Our summer was beautiful (I wrote a story about it), but it left in a hurry. As a fellow reporter said, it left without giving us a chance to say goodbye. Daylight is disappearing, too, at the rate of nearly an hour a week. I had an early meeting Friday, and when I got out at 9, the sun was just coming up and it was 11 degrees. So today seemed nice.
The ride was about 2300 vertical feet on a rocky dirt road covered with increasing amounts of snow. The top is right at treeline, and today the wind was howling and it was quite a bit colder. Coming down into a headwind, fast enough for it to be exciting, with cold fingers and toes, let me taste a little bear meat, which is good to do once in a while.
"Riding in the cold builds toughness," my friend used to say.
The round trip was about 27 miles.
Anyone else dealing with frozen waterbottles yet?