the first ride of spring-maybe

[marni]

In the past two days the morning high at ride start time has gone from 46 to 66 with the daytime high yesterday of 87. Iam sure this is a false spring but I will enjoy it anyway.

Today in spite of gusty winds in the 15 -20 mph category I rode in what felt very much like being indecently exposed. Instead of wool underlayer, long sleeved jersey, wind jacket, Buff, long fingered gloves, thermal tights and wool socks, I wore a simple mesh underlayer, a short sleeved jersey, shorts, normal socks and normal fingerless gloves without a head layer under the helmet. I felt nude and remarkably thinner and lighter although it didn't seem to help much on the overall speed.

Signs of spring from the road include acacia trees blooming, willows greening, redbud out full, ashford pears are nearly out full, Hawthorne is starting to bloom, evening primrose and purple vetch and alfalfa are in quantity along the hedgerows and the first of the prickly poppies and indian paintbrush are there as well. Didn't see any bluebonnets and would be surprised if we see many this year because of the severe drought for the past three years, but one can hope.

So on the way home, somehow, by the grace of the biking spirits, I actually had a tail wind for about 7 miles. It would have been more like 9 miles of tailwind had I actually realized it was a tail wind and gotten out of trudge agaist the wind aero position and sat up to catch it.

Sigh.....

[SheFly]

Sounds divine! We got a foot of snow here yesterday to celebrate the onset of spring. Got out to ride in the woods one time before it come, but that will be it here for awhile. Roads should be ok, but temps are only in the 20s to low 30s with a windchill.

Where's that groundhog?!?!?!?

SheFly

[AppleTree]

Sweet!

[Jo-n-NY]

Nice Marni!!! I expected temps in the 40's on Sunday so my friend and I decided to head out on our first decent outdoor ride of the season at about 11:00 when it "should" have been warmer. Well we got in 29miles but the temps never left the 30's and we were in a head wind heading home. As always in cold weather mainly against wind, my fingers and feet were frozen the last 5 miles from home despite my Gore windstopper gloves & toe warmers and all the other cold weather gear. I am glad we did the ride, but if I heard the actual temps and wind before hand I would have went on the trainer so I am glad I didn't know before

[thekarens]

Hey Marni, I know it's spring because of the constant dripping nose on Saturday morning rides :-)

Are you riding the Bluebonnet Express? I'm working it as a corner monitor.

[marni]

Hey Marni, I know it's spring because of the constant dripping nose on Saturday morning rides :-)

Are you riding the Bluebonnet Express? I'm working it as a corner monitor.

nope, sorry, I have wracked my IT band a bit so am taking the weekend off- have fun monitoring. The SAG guy is getting up at 5:30 AM tomorrow to drive SAG for the Schlumberger Education Expedition which is down in Missouri City. Riding buddy Len is riding the two of them back to back. she's younger and stronger than I am. Hope we get to meet up on some other ride.

[shootingstar]

I had a day off today to deal with electrician, then the tax authorities (which was fine after all) and then a lovely ride that was cold (-10 degrees C) with a 25 km. head wind that made it colder. went to a bakery where I talked with the bakery owner how her retail street ( in a historic area with is getting slowly gentrified) could be improved for more business by slowing down car traffic and making pedestrian experience more enjoyable if there were traffic lights.

A bright day, sunny. Yes, not warm enough for budding flowers but still a great sign of spring in our part of Canada.