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.

Varied terrain, white knuckles

We received a bit of snow this week, at the very end of winter. This was forecast to be the storm of the year: 12+ inches of snow, 20mph winds, slow commutes, mass hysteria. It turned out to be a bit less than 4 inches of thick, sloppy snow, all of which made for a quite unstable riding surface.  The first couple of miles I ride are on street and the route was gross slush with hard chunks of ice frozen to the pavement. When it is like this I will usually ride on the sidewalk and stay as far away from cars as possible. The snow was so wet today that this wasn't an option unless I wanted to push the bike the whole 8 miles to work. I didn't leave early enough for that so I rode out in the lane in the tire tracks which were pretty clean.

I got through the white knuckle part and made it to the West River Parkway trail which had been plowed at some point during the storm.

I ride fatter tires in the winter but not "fat" tires and you can see the difference in this picture. The weaving dark lines are from what are probably chubby mountain bike knobby tires. They break through the snow to the pavement but in the process push the bike all over the place (notice the crazy weaving). The wide, straight, and light colored lines are from true fat tires - 4" wide wheels probably from a Pugsley or Mukluk. These babies go straight as an arrow; the rider was probably sipping coffee too. I might have to get one of those...

I passed some of the Minneapolis park staff plowing a narrow detour on the trail with snow blowers.Who can complain with hand grooming?

I made it to work fine, slower than usual but in one piece. Had I taken the bus or driven I would have wondered how it would have been and would have missed the exercise and fresh air. Despite the negotiating of the route and occasional trudging I didn't regret riding, just that a fatter bike might have made it easier.