Flirting With Spring

(It wouldn't kill you to read something other than cycling blogs.)

Decent weekend, wasn’t it? We got into the 50s and had plenty of sunshine, but we also had an abundance of wind. That’s not uncommon at this time of year. It was limiting, though: I rode far fewer miles than I would have otherwise. I’m also still limited by the snow and ice that lingers on many of our trails and park paths. I’m really looking forward to a firm, dry Eisenbahn State Trail, as its unpaved miles are essential to my training.

For several of my friends, this weekend was the start of the road season. Until this weekend they were training indoors only or riding fat bikes on snow-covered mountain bike trails. My ride this afternoon was my 9th, and it got me to 200 miles, year-to-date. Those aren’t boast-worthy numbers, but they do put me about 10 days ahead of last year’s pace.

My Sunday began with Stage 1 of Paris-Nice on NBC Sports Gold, and I’m looking forward to daily coverage for the next week. Typically regarded as a Tour de France scouting trip rather than a major objective in its own right, Paris-Nice is going to get some extra attention this season because it’s the only option. Fear of coronavirus has decimated the spring calendar in Italy: no Tirreno-Adriatico, no Milano-Sanremo, no Tour of Sicily, no Strade Bianche, no Settimana Coppi e Bartali. Italian racing is closed for business until at least the beginning of April. We'll see if some of the events get rescheduled, but things don’t look good.

On Friday I posted my tentative 2020 calendar and, as you can see, it’s pretty light. This is starting to look like a high-mileage spring and summer followed by a (hopefully) long cyclocross season. And the full cyclocross calendar probably won’t be out until May at the earliest, so it could be a while before I know how I’m going to justify my USA Cycling license. Keep checking back. The calendar is always a work in progress.