It’s February! Wow, that was quick. It seems that the older I get the faster time flies, and while time might be irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, the faster Spring gets here the better, as far as I’m concerned. I just checked the Garmin archives and the last time I went for a “dirt road” ride on a bicycle was over two months ago, around Thanksgiving.
It’s already Groundhog Day, which falls close to the exact middle of winter. On the plus side, we only have six weeks until Spring. The downside is that the seasons don’t necessarily align with the calendar. We’ll have to wait and see if the Groundhog sees its shadow or whatever to know what we have in store.
“Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.” ~ Charlotte Whitton
But today, the temperature’s in the high fifties with the wind gusting to two miles per hour – time to go ride. Plus, the next three days are forecast to be in the sixties here on the High Planes, so hopefully, I will get even more time out on the gravel. Lately, I’ve spent more time baking than biking. It’s sourdough season, and I’ve been searching for the perfect blend of wheat berries to create magical loaves of bread.
Until today, all of the bike mileage I’ve been getting this winter has been in the basement on the trainer, and it has not been enough to deal with all of the not-so-magical carbohydrates from the bread. That’s the problem with Winter; our bodies are programmed to store a healthy layer of fat, just in case. The cure for that is Spring (six more weeks) and plenty of dirt.
The forecast suggested the sun might come out today at 2 p.m., which was also the warmest part of the day. So, I headed out on Double Cross at around 2 p.m., but the sun never came out. It did shine weakly through the clouds every once in a while, but it never generated any of the extra heat I was hoping for. It was fairly comfortable, though, with the wind suit in the light breeze.
I had the roads pretty much to myself. It felt good to be out there breathing the clean air, even without the sun. I’m sure I’ll get another opportunity with some sun in the next few days, and riding out on the gravel is a lot more exciting than logging miles on the basement bike. Today’s route was fairly flat, with only two crossings of Willow Creek, but I managed to get my heart rate into zone 4 for a good bit of the ride.
I spend most of the basement time in zones 2 and 3. Spinning the pedals and going nowhere is not very exciting, it is warm, though, and you don’t have to worry about getting run over by a tractor. I do it to maintain conditioning through the long, cold winter and to burn off some of the bread.
I just checked, and Punxsutawney Phil has predicted six more weeks of winter after waking up and seeing his shadow on Sunday. Hopefully, there will be some mild days like today interspersed so I can get out there and explore instead of just spinning my wheels.