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| Downtown Waterloo along the Cedar River |
The one thing about this time of year that is nice is that the tilt of the Earth's axis relative to the Sun gives us an advantage now. That more direct Sunlight really can be felt if it is Sunny. It also zaps the snow in short order. It doesn't even have to be above freezing either. Just close to it, and the snow melts like hot butter.
But Wednesday a cold air mass visited and the familiar bite of Winter's breath could be felt keenly on the wind. I rode to do a few errands and I was very glad I was not out in the country riding. It would have been miserable. At least from my perspective, it would have. Just layering up to be warm is getting old now this late into the season, so I guess maybe I'm just ready to move on.
The good news is that next week it is supposed to start acting like March again and be in the 50's. That will be nice, and maybe I can forget how cold a 'real feel' of 15°F is like until next Winter. I need to start getting rides out on the gravel on a more consistent basis now as I am scheduled to do the Gent's Ride this coming April 2nd.
That course is sixty-five-ish miles so I need to bag some longer rides soon. Temperatures in the range that they are in now? Not a good thing for long gravel rides. Winter, you are not welcome here anymore. Go home!
6 comments:
Ha ha ha, when you posted "Tuesday, March 01, 2022" I shook my head nope. Last summer and this winter season have been more difficult to live the way I do than the 2013/14 Polar Vortex winter. I almost bought a tent recently despite being a solid hammock guy due to the ever changing weather.
Also, RUSA (Randonneurs USA) just released an email about including gravel officially.
Guitar Ted with his Guitar pedals!
@teamdarb - I am sorry to read about your travails with this cold weather. I hope that the weather turns soon and this will all be a memory soon. But you were right to be suspicious of Winter and be thinking it would return, albeit briefly. Good news on the RUSA recognition of gravel. They really should be a leader in that regard.
@Jeff - You noticed! Thank you! Those were a gift from a reader here long ago. maybe it was you? I've forgotten.....
Greets GT, your guitar pedals led to finding this Craftsmanship Quarterly article (2016).
https://craftsmanship.net/from-bicycles-to-pedal-steel-guitars-one-makers-quirky-frontiers/
—it’s on Ross Shafer/Salsa Cycles
@Skidmark - Ross Shafer is a legend. I've read other articles about him, but that one is probably one of the best. Whomever got that interview got a rare look into Shafer. As stated in the piece, he doesn't seem to suffer inquisitive folk well these days.
Thank you for the link. I enjoyed that.
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