This Ain't Spring!

Spring arrived at 12:15 pm on March 20th as the sun crossed the celestial equator. Usually this means warmer temperatures as the flowers start to push through the soil and the trees start to bud and bloom.  Not this year though, the coming of spring was just the eve of yet another nor'easter. The fourth of the month. March came in like a lion and kicked our ass all month. Warm weather is no where in sight. The blooming trees have been broken by the wet heavy snow that fell over the last few weeks. My dogwood tree is decimated with half its branches gone.The flowers that were pushing up hoping for warm sunshine have been crush by over a foot of heavy snow.

This is the time of year where I can usually start building some more miles in and even start riding after work. The only thing I'm building up is my upper body as I have literally shoveled tons of snow off my driveway (heavy snow is approximately 20 pounds per cubic foot so a 10'x10' driveway with a foot of snow is a ton and my driveway is 40 feet long!). Of course a snowblower would make the job easier but the snow has been too heavy and wet for me to use one. Then after the shoveling there is the clean up of the fallen branches and we are not talking about a bunch of small sticks I'm talking 4-5 inch thick limbs of pine and oak tress.

You would think that all this snow would prevent me from riding but it really didn't because the storms happened in the middle of the week and with the higher sun angle that spring brings there was enough melting to make the roads almost safe. I did spend one weekend riding in Tyler State Park but then I was out on Jim''s ride by the canal and Laura's ride out of MCP. Jim's ride was ball numbingly cold and Laura's was just a little warmer. With the right cloths you can ride in these conditions and get some miles in but it is not very enjoyable riding. The snow can make for some nice scenery but...

 I will be happy when this shit is behind us and I can loose the tights and heavy jacket and feel the sun on my skin.