No riding Here!

[Surlygirl]

"and its Still beautiful and sunny out here in Albuquerque. But ya'll jinxed me - the high today is only gonna be 51 and tomorrow its only gonna be 48!"

Oh that is so sad Corsairmac. You're breaking my heart. We haven't been above freezing for the last 12 days. It was 3 degrees this morning when I took my kids to school and that's without wind chill, not to mention the snow up to my bum. I need spring bad.

[sarahfixit]

Yeah, When I was out for some flying lessons yesterday morning it was 2 deg! Then today it was 40. Of course that meant I had to go riding today

[Surlygirl]

Wahooo Ladies,
Its suppose to be 51 here today. It's that February tease when you think maybe winter is on the way out. HA. I'd ride but there is so much snow piled along the roads it makes it kind of dangerous. There is nowhere to go when some idiot decides to fly by to close. But look at that blue sky ladies. I think I'll head out and get a good dose of Vitamin sunshine.

[DeniseGoldberg]

I actually rode yesterday - Route 125 in Andover is pretty much clear, although the shoulders aren't as wide as they should be. The other roads though were a totally different story - what a mess! Narrower than normal, and covered with puddles that unfortunately weren't just water but included a large dose of sand and salt.



Here's what my poor bike looked like when I got home... needless to say the bike was cleaned and relubed before I hit the shower!

It was a great feeling to be out on the road again, and I can't believe that I'm actually seriously considering heading out again today. I think I'll just ride up and down route 125 a couple of times - that way I might be able to get a ride in without trashing my bike again!

[massbikebabe]

Yup, just a teaser...but what a great weekend...

I didn't ride though because the shoulders are still so narrow and the water/re-freeze/ice still makes me a little nervous. I may put the mountain bike in the car and do a country road ride tomorrow. I have to take it slow because I am still recovering from the most nasty case of bronchitis...yuck!

karen

[Selkie]

I feel your pain here in the DC area. For the last 2-3 weeks, we've had a couple snowfalls and cold temps (highs in the 30s). Yesterday, it went up to the 50s so I took my bike out to my favorite paved trail. Unfortunately, it was icy every place there was shade. Not fun. I'd get going, feeling good and then encounter a big stretch of rutted ice pack. I stuck it out about 45 minutes then turned for home. It hasn't rained since our last snow so there is sand/salt all over the roads, too. I live in a urban area and riding on the road is not pleasant due to rude, unsafe drivers who have zero respect for cyclists (I saw the aftermath of a cyclist getting hit by a car so I'm wary of risking any real road riding around here). Hopefully, we'll get some rain this week to clean everything up and the temps will stay about 35 degrees. Spring can't get here soon enough.

Denise---I hope you didn't drink out of that water bottle!

[DeniseGoldberg]

...Spring can't get here soon enough.

Denise---I hope you didn't drink out of that water bottle!

Suzanne -
Nope - once the water bottle had a coat of sand and salt I gave up on it. Luckily it wasn't that warm, and I had a good drink from a clean glass when I got home!

Today was a different story though... it was a good 10 degrees cooler than yesterday, but that wonderful sunshine pulled me and my bike outside again. This time I stayed on route 125, which although it carries a bit of fossil-fuel vehicle traffic has a wide shoulder which was clean and dry. So I did an out-and-back ride with a few repeats of some sections of the road. I was happy since I was out on my bike, and my bike was happy since I stayed on dry pavement!

I'm with you though - the real spring can't get here soon enough!
--- Denise