Summer in...March?

I can't say anything about the last 2 weeks of riding other than that it has been great. The temperatures have been between 50 and 75 degrees, very little precipitation, and the bike is humming. The strange part: its March. Last year at this time we were still under feet of snow, the roads were icy, and it was an un-wunder-winterland.

I get to cross the Mississippi every day on my commute and the river is a great marker of the seasons. Typically this time of year the ice would start to break up, forming weird puzzle patterns of ice, water, and snow.  Biking along the Mighty Miss in the Spring will also often include a fair amount of fog as the water warms and the cold night air makes mist come off the water. The year 2012, however, has been more impatient: we went right into summer. No icebergs, slushy slow thaws with slick morning black ice, or freak snowstorms. I am a skeptic of the 'season skipping' theory but I have to admit the sudden appearance of open water on the river makes it feel like May.

The sky was gorgeous this morning too.

It's amazing how much more of the weather you notice biking. Since any change in the weather impacts how you ride, you pay so much more attention. This year, it has just been a gorgeous show.