In Between Times

Yesterday it was very spring-like. Today? Ahh.......not so much! This is the "in between seasons" time that kind of drives me nuts, but yet it offers a lot of hopefulness as well.

Breezer. Mud. Spring.

I tried to see if I maybe could get a bit of trail riding in yesterday along Black Hawk Creek in the Green Belt. Maybe things would be cleared up and solid? (Hey, one can hope, right?)

Of course, being that it was "in between season" the trails were muddy on top and frozen underneath. Pretty messy, and I didn't stay out all that long.  The WTB Bronson tires seemed to "float" up on the stuff really well, so I didn't do the "pizza cutter" and rolling wasn't all that bad, just a big mess.

And that's the thing when it gets like this. The Green Belt will recover, sure. No big deal there, but the bike goes through a year's worth of abuse in one ride. Chain suck, grinding mud through the pads and chain. Blecch! Then you get to go home and clean it all up. Takes about as long to clean up as it does to ride.

It's the price you pay for muddin'. And of course, you probably just can't go out and do a mud ride in most places. That's as it should be. Here the Green Belt will change and the traces of my ride will be gone , most likely after the next thaw, and certainly by the time the next rain comes. Flood plain and all, ya know.

Gettin' the wheels ready to roll.

So a lot of things are about to get rolling along soon with this change in season. Testing stuff, riding, and going places will all be on the agenda soon.

I've got wheels to set up, tires to get set up tubeless, and swapping of parts to accomplish. Bikes will be readied, chains will be lubed, and riding kit will be sorted.

In the short term, all I can do is prepare and wait for the weather to finally break into drier, spring time patterns. I know this year should be a lot of fun. After the Renegade Gents Race in April I'll be all done with racing for awhile, and "fun" will be on the agenda. I'm looking forward to lots of that.

I know the calendar says February yet, but March is coming, and right around the corner we'll be heading straight into the summer before we know what hit us. Seems like that is the way it goes when you are out having fun on a bicycle.