First Ride Of 2014

You can ride through Regner. Other parks … not so much.

Today in West Bend we reached 45 degrees, making this the warmest day of 2014 and our first day above freezing since January 13. I did a slow 15 miles on my mountain bike. The Eisenbahn State Trail is open from Paradise Drive to Barton Avenue. Other paved trails and park paths are hit-or-miss. Unpaved trails? Forget it. Maybe by this time next month. True mountain biking trails might not open until April. Looks like we get another 40-and-sunny day tomorrow and I expect to be out there again getting filthy from tire spray. Our weather was so cold for so long that the ground will remain frozen for several more weeks and there won’t be anywhere for the snow to melt except into the streets. Thursday is supposed to bring freezing rain and high winds, and then we go back to single-digit lows for a while. But I am happy to have gotten out for the first time since December 28. Any ride outside—even a slow and sloppy one—is better than a bike trainer ride in the home gym.