Winter Views: Back Out There

Escape Route: Co. V-49 North out of Raymond, IA.

The forecast was calling for unusually warm temperatures and I was of a mind to get back out into the country again. It had been far too long since I'd done a gravel ride. 

Of course, there has been some brutally cold weather of late, and my moving gig did me no favors so that whenever it was nice enough out in January to go gravel riding, my body was not up to it. Well, both things were not excuses yesterday. It was warm enough, and my legs are almost 100% now. So, out the door I went after lunch to go for a short ride. 

Nothing too big, not yet, because I have to gauge where I am at with fitness and my knees, of course, which were the main issue before, hadn't been on an extended ride yet since I quit the moving job. I planned out a little loop for about an hour- hour and a half of riding out of Raymond, Iowa. 

That was a nice outcome of my doing "The Quest" in 2020. I found a couple great spots to embark upon gravel rides so I can ride different sections of Black Hawk County without spending most of my time dealing with traffic or spending a lot of time on the 'to-and-from' bits. The gravel parking lot at the softball complex in Raymond has proven to be an excellent spot to ride from to reach areas of Eastern Black Hawk County more easily.

Osage Road, looking East.

The high winds and sub-zero weather have conspired to scour most of the snow from the fields and into ditches.

I had no idea how I would find the gravel. Would it be soft, wet, and mushy? Maybe it would be still frozen up pretty well and hard and fast? Or I might find snowy patches with ice. I had no idea how it was going to go. 

Here the gravel was clear of snow and ice, and it was dry and dusty!

And here it was wet, mushy, and there was remnants of snow on the road.

Overall, the roads are excellent. I'd say that they are early March kind of good. A few wet spots, but mostly clear and free from snow or ice. Sure, there were a few soft spots and some water saturated bits, but really it was very good for February. In fact, I saw one big snow drift. One. That's really weird. Generally speaking we've had enough snow to have several five foot to over ten foot high drifts along the roadways. Not this year!

Oxley Road looking South

A barn near the banks of a branch of Indian Creek off Young Road

I had a few cars and trucks pass me by and all of the vehicles I saw were kicking up dust. They say Spring will be a wet one, and we sure could use it! I'm afraid that we just haven't had enough snow this Winter to put much of a dent into our situation. We were on the drought index in one capacity or another all of last year, so we are in need of moisture!

Looking off to the Southwest and Highway 20 from Young Road

Almost back to Co V-49 and my route back to the truck.

I was a bit worried that I had under-dressed for this ride. I wore a single layer on my arms (wool jersey) and a wool base layer with an outer wind-proof vest. Bib tights, Northwave Winter boots, wool socks, a pair of Winter Hand-Up gloves, and a buff under my helmet. But I was just fine, really. This is what I find funny, no matter how many years I experience it. 

The funny thing? Well, we've been through about a month straight of sub-zero mornings, brutally cold winds, and daytime highs in the teens. So, when it got to be into the mid-30's yesterday, with a 10mph Northwest wind, it felt awesome. Being accustomed to feeling those super-cold temperatures acclimatized us to that and then it gets a bit warmer and - you know- we Mid-Westerners start thinking it is time to ditch the coats and put our shorts on! 

All that to say that in the Fall I would have gotten frozen toes and would have wished for a long-sleeved wind breaker for mid-30's temperatures, but coming off that really cold weather meant that what I wore on this ride was fine. Totally fine. I still get a kick out of how that works. 

Can't wait to get back out there again......