Good Busy

Stop, paint, drive to the next intersection, stop, paint, drive to the next intersection ...

This was a good weekend. And thanks to my strange work schedule, perhaps it’s not over yet: I’m free on Mondays until late at night, so there’s a better-than-average chance that I’ll spend some time on the bike tomorrow. But even if I don’t, I will remember this weekend as one that was full of cycling in several forms.

On Saturday I did a respectable 30-mile road ride, then returned home just in time to watch streaming coverage of the Sunny King Criterium from Anniston AL, pro women first and then pro men. Entertaining stuff, but really just an hors d’oeuvre for this morning’s Paris-Roubaix. That’s my favorite pro race, and this year’s edition did not disappoint.

Paris-Roubaix ended shortly after 10 a.m., leaving me with the rest of the day to fill with my own cycling activities. Knowing that it was going to be a dry day—and knowing that I can’t always count on those—I was determined to prepare the roads for Cheesehead Roubaix, now just 3 weeks away. Jeff Wren joined me and we knocked out the route in about 3.5 hours, which is roughly how long it takes to ride those 63 miles! But stopping at every intersection to paint logos and directional arrows is tedious work. And it was work that alternated between hot and cold: with a strong wind from the southeast, we were toasty as long as we were a couple of miles inland, but chilled when we were close to Lake Michigan.

In West Bend the temperature reached 73° this afternoon, just 3° from the all-time record. It was our warmest day so far this year and our first 70° day since November 17. Starting at 5:30 p.m.—love me some Daylight Saving Time—I spent an hour working on mountain biking skills at Glacial Blue Hills. It was my first time on singletrack since the WEMS race at New Fane on September 17. The long layoff and my relative unfamiliarity with the trails was evident, but at least it was a step in the right direction as I prepare for the mountain bike racing season.