Nice … For A Change

Riding counter-clockwise on this route made for a tough headwind on the way back home.

Today we reached 50 degrees for the first time in 2014. In fact, we briefly touched 54. Even with a pretty steady 12-15 mph wind that sometimes would gust above 20, this was by far the nicest day of the year. The brilliant sunshine and dry roads were a bonus. I outfitted my cyclocross bike with a set of road tires and enjoyed a 28-mile ride that included the last 5 miles of the Cheesehead Roubaix route. I might be out there still if I had not been hit with hunger pangs so powerful that they almost made me nauseous. And I had a big lunch today, so I don’t know what that was all about but this would have been a good day to have a Clif bar in my jersey pocket.

We still have not put winter behind us; today was a beautiful aberration. A snow shower is in tomorrow’s forecast and we’re expecting a high of just 18 on Wednesday. My Raleigh is still hooked up to the indoor trainer, and it will remain so until at least the middle of April. Last spring I did indoor trainer rides as late as April 10. You may recall that spring was not especially nice in 2013. It would be foolish to hope for anything better coming out of this winter. But today, at least, we got to feel good.