Getting Antsy

Earlier in the month of Feb, when it looked Springlike.

Yesterday I was chatting with a co-worker who is entered into Trans Iowa V9. She was concerned that she hasn't been able to get any quality, long miles in outdoors. It's been hard here since we've had a few disruptive bouts of significant snow, icing, and a few outbreaks of bitterly cold temperatures. In stark contrast, last year was idyllic in February and many cyclists were recording big miles by March for the year.

I know several riders have been sneaking in some miles for racing this season, but many are having difficulty getting into a level of fitness they feel comfortable with in order to do well at T.I.V9. There have been a few drops, some of which I am sure are related to the lack of mileage, from the Trans Iowa roster lately. I suspect to hear about more, to be honest.

As for myself, I am getting ansty to get out and start putting on some big miles as well. Certainly, I have been "out there" doing things on my fat bike, shoveling snow, (hey! it is exercise!), and doing the snow shoe thing Saturday. But nothing beats a good, long gravel road ride, or a few hours in the woods riding a mountain bike. I miss it and want to get out there sooner than later. It's March, and we have more snow than ever, and the Renegade Gents Race is in a month!

I might just ride the Vaya, but I am not sure I want to do that if I have not had a chance to dial it in just so before that ride. Heck- if we still are coming out of Winter then I may be choosing to ride a fat bike. Especially if the roads are soft.

It'll be awhile before this all melts.

And riding mountain bikes is becoming a big, big necessity now with my gig at TNI. That will get alleviated a bit if an upcoming trip to El Paso comes through and then I'll be getting my desert riding thing on. I kinds of don't want to go, because I have so much to do here, but I kind of do. If it does come through I'll be hitting up that East side again and I have a specific ride in mind for two different rigs I have to take down.

But if it doesn't come through I'll likely have to put the mtb stuff on the back burner until well into April. Snowed again last night, so Winter isn't about to let loose its grip on us anytime soon, apparently. The gravel roads will clear up first, and so I bet there is where I will be getting my fix at first. Time will tell.