Spring comes to New Jersey

From daffodils to an all-day snowstorm and all in a twenty-four turnaround. Needless to say without studded tires or a ski on the front fork there was no cycling today. Twenty-two miles on the trainer looking out the gym window at a scene similar to this one (off our back deck). I really hate that trainer and am so ready for a bit of sunshine and warm weather. This is New Jersey - who knows what tomorrow will bring?

Finally spring...sort of...

Actually my first day out on an actual outdoors road was yesterday. My seven year old grandson was visiting and brought his bike and wanted to ride with Papa. It was about 40 degrees and the wind was somewhere in the 20 mph range but the chance to ride bikes with a grandson is not something one turns away from. So out we went, Timmy on his little one-speed and me on my all-terrain cross trainer. He is flying just about as fast as his little legs (but unlimited energy) will carry him while I am following keeping an eye out for errant vehicles and some of our senior neighbors who might have been so rash as to use the same sidewalk that Timmy was maneuvering. We did about 5 miles which Timmy quickly translated into 10 and, of course, made a point of telling his mom that he was pretty sure he could beat Papa. In the final analysis perhaps the most fun riding partner I could find...
Today started with sun and cold but by 10 o'clock or so it had warmed up to maybe 42 with little or no wind. Time to go and see what I could do after a very long layoff....First lesson of the day: an indoor bike does not in any way resemble a real road. I have been pretty religious about hitting the gym 3/4 days a week but real pavement, real wind and real hills are entirely different from pedaling in front of a TV blaring CNN news. But I am not complaining...it has been since December that I have been out and it was a treat to get out and be moving again. Within half an hour the sun went behind cloud cover and the little breeze started acting like a bit of a northwind but no matter. I waved to passing joggers, other cyclists and even a couple guys on Harleys. I saw one robin who apparently didn't get the memo that more snow could come tonight and tomorrow and the photo I took above is the one example I saw all day of spring flowers - mostly it was simply a bit of green trying to poke above the ground. And oh yeah...44 miles at 15.6 pretty good for this year's inaugural ride.

P.S. to St Paddy's Day

This is the photo I meant to add yesterday. This view from our back deck has been far too frequent over this past winter. We were truly spoiled last year with little snow and lots of riding days - a riding day defined as temperatures in the forties and light winds. The good news is that this morning, Monday, the sun is out and the snow is almost gone, hopefully not to return. And all we need now is one good rainstorm to wash all the salt off the roads...The bike is ready to go and I am really tired of the view from the stationary bike.

A cold and snowy St Paddy's Day

I might have thought that by the 17th of March we would be seeing a bit of early spring. However, it is not to be. Six weeks ago the groundhog came out on a sunny  morning, saw his shadow and raced back into his hole thereby condemning us to another six weeks of winter. On Friday I pulled the bike off the hooks in the garage, cleaned and oiled the chain and was ready for a real outdoor ride yesterday. The morning was gray and cool and by noon-time we had a driving snowstorm. There was nothing to do but to head over to the gym, hop on the stationary bike once again and watch the snow accumulate outside the window...oh well.
On another note I have been quietly obsessed with how and when to complete my interrupted cross-country adventure (or misadventure depending on your perspective) for the last couple of years. This past week I finally called Tracy (owner of CrossRoads) to see if she could squeeze me into the group riding this year. The plan is to journey to Marysville Ohio (last stop before the Harley caught me) and complete the adventure. I have about 1100 miles to go and I simply cannot feature entering the old folks home a few years from now and thinking that I didn't finish - and I'm sure a wheelchair would not make it happen. And to make it even more attractive I learned that two of my colleagues from the original crosscountry and the Maine-Florida will also be doing the ride. So I am waiting for word that they can get the logistics worked out so I can start training and get properly "psyched" for the trip.