May rides, may they all be wonderful

[emily_in_nc]

Just heard on the Weather Channel that NYC was 90F yesterday. Much hotter than here in Florida; we were something like 82! So, I can see why you're getting such above-normal temps, Crankin. I suspect they won't last for long in New England.

We are supposed to hit 90 here in central Florida for the first time this year tomorrow. I am not looking forward to it. We've had really nice weather for the past month-ish. Still not too humid or hot, but that is about to change. It's May now, so not at all unexpected. This is the latest we have stayed in this area (due to my orthodontia), and I'm not really looking forward to it, but hopefully I'll be acclimated. And at least there's a very nice pool for cooling down after rides!

[north woods gal]

Sheila, good for you on the road biking. I really like the idea of mixing things up on the types of biking, but not sure I'm up to contorting my body back and forth between flat bars and drop bars, anymore. These old joints get achy enough when I wake up in the morning.

My sister-in-law in Philadelphia reports 90 degrees, too. Were in the 70s, again, but that is also well above normal for us, too. All but a few isolated patches of snow are left, now, but it was only three weeks, ago, that we had the biggest snowstorm of the year with over two feet of snow still in the ground. About the fastest I've seen the snow disappear. Have to wonder what summer will bring.

Star is having a hard time adjusting so rapidly to the unusual heat. She still has her winter coat. She did find one lone mound of snow, though, and rolled in in it, giving herself a snow bath. Border Collies don't do well in hot weather so I halve to keep an eye on her..

No precipitation for awhile, now, so my trails are drying out, nicely. Did combo ride just short 20 miles, today, spaced out over several sorter rides on different bikes though out the day. Half road and half trail work. Best ride of the day was with the Surly ECR on a very rough and sand/gravel road. It's a nearby local road, though, not at all isolated, with several homes along it, so I feel very safe riding it. Nice practice road and a lot of fun to ride, because it changes all the time. Never know what to expect. It would swallow a skinny bike, even a drop bar gravel bike or a cyclocross bike, but the ECR just took it in stride. No fishtailing at all, even in the deeper sand sections. That bike is just about unstoppable.

Happy to report that we heard our first frogs singing, today. Our north woods are famous for spring frog orchestra music. In a couple weeks it will be almost deafening at night. Real north woods treat. Even better, a loon on our lake had been calling at night. Nothing for me is quite as beautiful and dreamlike as the call of the loon on a calm night. Such primitive beauty. If you've never heard loon music, your really missing something.

[Crankin]

Yes, the sounds of the "peepers" in our wetlands is deafening after dark. They were a little late in getting started this year, but they are full blown now.
So,the forecast looked like it would be raining both at the time I go to the gym and to work. But, I got up at 4:45 and saw it wasn't going to rain until 7, so I rode there, with my rain jacket in my bag (the class is over at 6:30 and it takes me 8 minutes or so to ride there). No rain, though. When I got home, I looked at the radar and now it looks like the rain is all south of here. It's warm, cloudy, and humid though. I will be riding to work in about 45 minutes, with the same strategy. If it's not raining when I leave at noon, I will take a longer route home, so I'll have 10 miles for the day.
Planning on a long ride tomorrow, where, I don't know.

[emily_in_nc]

nwg, I have only heard a loon maybe once in my life, other than on TV. I agree -- what a haunting and goosebump-inducing sound. I do envy you that!

When we lived in the woods in NC, we built a small garden pond, which the peepers found pretty quickly. It was under our master bedroom window, and on what we called "party nights", the peepers were deafening, and we'd have to wear earplugs. I loved hearing them, but not when I had to be up for work the next morning!

[Crankin]

Well, I can't sleep with the windows open, or I'll be in allergy hell. So, I don't hear the peepers in my bedroom. If the AC isn't on, I have the ceiling fan on, to keep me cool. It went on last week, and won't go off until the beginning of October.
So, it was spritzing very mildly when I rode into work. I wore my rain jacket, but I am not sure I needed to. I was sweaty a bit. It was actually raining when I rode home, but not enough to make me call my DH to come get me. It was a steady light rain, and because it's about 80 and humid, it wasn't bad, with the jacket. For 3 miles, I can stand it. I didn't take the longer way home, but I did take a loop around the village shopping area, which added about a mile. One good thing was, one of the streets I take on this loop was finally patched in several places. There were deep cracks and pot holes, going in the other direction, on a downhill, and some in the direction I was going. It's a pretty street, so I am glad it's fixed.
Last year I bought the Terry transit dress; I wore it to ride to work a few times, as well as just wearing without riding. I got so many complements, I bought the new Transit tunic/sleeveless top and wore it today, with regular leggings. Again, tons of compliments, and it wicked well in the humidity, while riding.

[north woods gal]

Glad to hear that others enjoy and/or endure frog music.

Crankin', your reports on commuting bring back so many memories of my commuting days, especially my commuting days in Chicago. I enjoy reading them. Uncomfortable humidity is one thing I haven't had to deal with this spring, yet, but it's shaping up to be a hotter than average summer for us, so it's probably coming.

As for me, having a ball riding my trails. After such a long winter, riding my trails without snow on them is almost like riding new trails. Still holding true to my combo riding goal of mixing up trail work with road work for the sake of being a better and more versatile rider, even though my heart is mostly in trail riding, right now. Figure for every mile of trail work, I'll do two miles of road work on a given day. So far, it's giving me a nice, but not exhausting, daily workout. The miles should pile up over the summer, though I may or may not keep a log. Haven't decided. The old mountain biker/utility biker in me just says get on the bike and ride. Forget the techy detail stuff.

[emily_in_nc]

Just to clarify, we heard the peepers even with the windows closed! And they were high-quality dual-paned windows, but the pond was right outside them, and those guys were deafening during mating season!

Did our usual ride yesterday (35 something miles), plus a few short jaunts around the campground on my cruiser bike to take trash and pick up a package in the office. Today is a day off from cycling, but we did do our usual long market walk this morning.

Happy Cinco de Mayo, all! We bought freshly made chicken tamales at the Mexican grocery store, and DH is making pico de gallo and chili beans. Yum. We would do this even if it weren't May 5th; it just happened to coincide with our planned dinner for the night.