Yay! A week of over 50°f! Saturday, I finally got out of the house on my bike. I was going STIR CRAZY, I tell you! Road salt be darned! It was warm enough I didn't even need gloves, except along the Confluence Trail, next to the Mississippi, which is still packed with snow and ice, so the wind packed some extra "brrrr" in that area.

River of Ice

The ride seemed mostly dry while I was riding, but after I got back, I noticed the bike, and my back, was a sloppy mess of salty mud splatter. yech!

IT was almost 50* here so I did my 2nd trip on the MTB. The roads are fairly dry except the sides where the run off of snow melt is. After riding Friday in the snow and today the bike was filthy so I spent some time cleaning it and servicing the drivetrain.

Potholes are abysmal and it will be some time before I take the road bike out.

amen

first outdoor ride of the year this morning 43°F and sunny, albeit with a frosty wind still. And things are looking up for the next 2 weeks!

Having been a winter hiker and camper I like cold and snow. I also ski cross country which, ahem, requires snow. I went on a short ski tour today at the local state park which was not so enjoyable as walkers had chopped up the trail into an unpleasant mess. Driving home past the Coggeshall Museum Farm, that maintains some farm animals, including a huge ox, some sheep and others to demo how the ancestors lived and worked has a long line of Maples on their entry drive which have been tapped for maple syrup, a sure sign of winter's end. By traveling north to Vermont or New Hampshire, 4 hours, I could extend winter another 6 to 8 weeks but I'm ready to get back on the bike.

Everything is lubed, new tires installed, and spokes polished. The fly in the ointment is the first long ride, which for me is 40 to 60 miles, is really gonna hurt. I'm looking forward to it.

I am SOOOO looking forward to warmer weather. I think I'll have to wait until April in Vermont.

I have been out 3 times since it wormed up here in KC. Very good to get out.

It got into the 80's on our ride Saturday and the high 70's on Sundays ride up GMR/GRR but a tad cooler at the summit of the Ski-Lift climb (some snow still melting).

Forcast to be in the 80's this coming weekend too.

Rick / OCRR

88F in the shade right now with humidity up.... Weather people are saying possible 90F.

Can't wait around any longer for the warm weather to come to us, so we're going to go find it. Hitting the road and heading to Sanibel Fla tomorrow.

jealous, I took my winter wiper blades off today

Riding vintage studless to work today, late shift so I could take a longer route by the fjord. It had been below freezing during the night but was dry and safe all the way. Such a relief to not hear the studs on dry tarmac.

Make sure to pack the Speedo.

It is warm enough for the commute to work in the morning but because of an early day light savings switch (thank you GW Bush), it is pitch black. I need a bit of daylight to see the black ice. This weekend, I will my commute route in the day light and see how much ice I have to avoid. Am I the only one that thinks daylight savings sucks? I thought the invention of the light bulb would have put an end to the nonsense.

I switched the tires yesterday. I didn't feel like driving to Florida on winter tires.

That would be one way to have the beach to myself.

Heads up everyone in the North-East, another cold air mass is a possibility shortly. Jet stream waves look to be letting another blast your way by late weekend. Hopefully, the Weather Channel has this one wrong.

Bill

I celebrated today by rolling up my sleeves.

Just today I was struck by an idle thought that punctured my balloon of joy over the onset of Spring.

I was thinking "Finally, things have thawed out! Now I can go outdoors again!" I looked out at my leaf-covered lawn and untrimmed rose bush, and the horrid thought struck me! YARD WORK!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mrs. Grouch and I took a short ride from Edwardsville on Sunday. I thought everything would have been melted off but the bike trail was still pretty slushy/icy.

My daughter and I tried riding out of Collinsville, IL on the Madison County Trails on Saturday but there was too much ice in places. We gave that up after about 10 miles and drove up to Edwardsville where we rode on the nice roads up there.

Yesterday I got in 51 miles on the MCT wearing shorts and short-sleeves as it was mid-sixties. The ice was all gone on the trails.

I, for one, like daylight savings time. My commute to work starts at 5:15 AM so I'm riding in the dark no matter whether daylight savings is turned on or off. However, on the other (afternoon) end, I like having more light in the evenings so I can do . . .

as David Bierbaum would say.

Rick / OCRR

It has been a tough year weatherwise, with cold and snow east of the continental divide, and drought and excessive heat to the west. The daytime temperature may come close to 90F in my beach town -- not good news before the spring equinox, with the fire season still months away.

Had my first ride on Tues though it was a little sloppy with snowmelt....today it was 60F, dry and just what a roadie dreams about all winter. Had my first 20mi and all in my world is well.

In the past couple weeks we’ve had occasional days into the 40’s and the road glaciers have retreated off the shoulders to the curbs. Two days ago a day-long rain has washed the visible salt off the road, and yesterday was sunny, but in the 20’s. For me a dry, salt-free road is the incentive to bring out my pristine CF road bike with clipless pedals, not ridden since January 1. Temperatures don’t matter.

Of course today, when I have the chance to ride, it’s back on the beater with studded tires, because freezing rain is predicted.