Summer Weekend in February

A small but smooth group for the ad hoc Saturday Winter Ride Series ride.

What a difference a week makes! The weekend weather was looking to be good, and since we had cancelled the two prior weekends because of the freezing weather I decided we should try for a "make-up" Winter Ride Series ride on Saturday. With the forecast calling for unseasonably warm weather and barely any chance of rain, I figured we should do the longer 77-mile route up to State Line, with a return route via Sie Jenkins Road, South Choctaw, etc. 

Saturday morning turned out to be foggy but warm - like in the 70s before dawn. Still, it being February, I had a hard time accepting the fact that it was really so warm. I pulled on the sunscreen arm sleeves and put a pair of knee-warmers that I knew good and well I didn't need into my bag before I headed out for the northshore. The drive across the lake was pretty foggy, but once on the northshore it was clear and considerably warmer than it had been over the water.

I was running early, unlike Thursday when I'd been 15 minutes late for the levee ride, so of course I was the first one to arrive at the Lee Road ballpark where I was pleased to find the rest rooms open. There were a couple of forgotten shirts and a basketball on the court there, so I walked over to pick them up. Right in the middle of the basketball court I also picked up two rather soggy dollars. Karma! Eventually people started to arrive, but by the time we headed out there were only six of us unless you count Boyd who had started early and planned to latch onto the group somewhere around Enon. Despite the overcast sky and lingering fog, it warmed up really fast and even the sunscreen armskins were feeling hot before we'd logged ten miles. I was feeling pretty good all day and with only six riders the pace was mostly brisk but steady. There were a few faster segments in the usual places, of course, so I got in a pretty good workout, mostly thanks to Sean who kind of dropped the hammer a few times during the ride. I ended up with 78 miles or so and was pretty tired by the end, but felt like it was a good solid ride. Candy had gotten her second COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday, and was kind of under the weather on Friday, but by the time I got back Saturday afternoon she was more or less back to normal.

Waiting for the flat to be fixed

Sunday was another warm day, and I rode out to the Giro Ride with a nice tailwind. The Giro group had apparently been huge on Saturday, but Sunday's group was more typical. Unfortunately, we didn't make it past the Casino bridge before someone flatted, so everyone waited up on top of the overpass until they got it fixed. My plan for the day was to stay out of the wind and take it easy, which turned out to be a fairly simple matter. The pace never got super-fast, so sitting in the group was relatively easy. Still, by the time I got home my neck was killing me. I guess it got stressed out on Saturday. Anyway, I ended the week with something over 300 miles in the book, so I shouldn't be complaining.

Giro cool-down on the lakefront

It looks like things will be returning to normal March weather by Tuesday, after it rains of course. Situation normal.