Hot storms in the summer time

It has been cooking in Minnesota lately, and I don't mean on the grill. The temperatures have been warm and the air really humid. I need to set some context before I state the actual temperature, however. Minnesotans are known to put on shorts when the temps hit 50F (not pretty, by the way) and start to complain at around 85. We are just not used to hot weather. Still, we have been pushing the upper 90s and may even go over 100 tomorrow. This means the morning bike commute will leave your author a sweaty mess by the time he gets to work.

This morning, there was some additional interest on the bike trail: tree damage from a strong cell of thunderstorms that moved through this morning.

Most of the damage was to small branches. There were a couple of large branches torn down and one or two whole trees. The storm wasn't exceptionally strong so I assume these had weak spots in the wood.

This one was laying across the bike trail on the West River Parkway along the Mississippi. I had a brief bit of panic when I realized the trail was completely covered and I didn't have both hands on the handlebars while I tucked the camera in my back pocket. Some would suggest stopping but there isn't much sport in that. I did manage to get around the tree and just chalked this up to the hazards of working on the blog while out on the road. Oh, and of being impatient.

By the way, the city of Duluth, to the north of us, has had some huge flooding this past week. Doug, at MN Bike Commuter, has pictures of some pretty wicked road washouts from the flood. If you like the topic of winter bike riding, I recommend Doug's blog. He tries it all and posts some great pictures. But for now, it's summer.

30 Days of Biking - Favorites

I bike to work daily and am happy to report I have kept this up pretty much every day since last August. This is fun for me and I don't think of  it as an accomplishment since I get exercise, enjoyment, and time to listen to podcasts. There are some things I enjoy in particular every day, regardless of the weather. One of those is that I get to bike over the Mississippi and see the river traffic.

Sometime in late March, the University of Minnesota rowing teams come out and practice in the morning. I have different routes I take but at this time of year I like to ride on the West River Parkway which runs down at the level of the river for part of its route. It is hard to see the rowers here but there is one rowboat and a motorboat with a coach following the crew. The undulation of the water was really cool this morning, too.

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.