Gravel Season Kick-Off

 In celebration of the twentieth year of this blog, I have a few tales to tell. This post is one of them. This series will occur off and on throughout this anniversary year, I hope to illuminate some behind-the-scenes stories and highlights from the blog during this time. Enjoy!

Over the past 20 years of blogging readers could generally start to see a switch to gravel rides during the latter parts of February as the years went on. This makes sense since the typical Iowa Winter is usually starting to let up on its grip on this area by the time February comes to a close. Sure, there are years where I have been out in January, but more often than not, it is mid- to late February before gravel season kicks off. 

February 2016

Many times I was sick during January anyway, so if it had been warm enough in January I wasn't able to take advantage of it. 

I love getting out in February when Winter is still hanging on but it is still warm enough to ride. The receding drifts  are always a pleasure to view with their wind-sculpted shapes which defy definition in words. The roads are often smooth and still firm with the frost yet to boil out of them. The Sun is getting higher in the sky and its warmth soaks into your bones as you pedal away the miles. February rides can often be really good. 

Maybe missing gravel for most of December and usually all of January is to blame for the joy I often feel when getting a February ride in. Being cooped up for weeks might do that to an individual that loves the outdoors and cycling. I'm sure that if it were possible to have a February conditions ride in , say June sometime, it wouldn't be so pleasant. 

Or maybe it would, An escape from intense heat might be nice to experience about then!

February 2017

Lately those drifts in the ditch and the usual February feelings have been missing. Drier than normal weather has plagued us around here for several years now in a row. We've had, as of this writing, four total inches of snow all Winter. (That may change as of yesterday's snow fall)

Last year we had one significant snow in January. About eight inches, as I recall. But that all melted away in three weeks and you'd have never known it had snowed at all by late February. 

But February is still cold and January this year was the coldest, they say, in eleven years. So, that still is a barrier to riding in a country with wind-swept plains and no cover. I still am waiting for those 50 degree afternoons with Sun and little wind to kick the gravel season off this year. When that happens, the blog will tell the story, just like it has for almost 20 years now.