Just like summer

And suddenly it was summer.


One week ago there was so much hail that it looked like snow on the ground here in the Milwaukee area. Today, 80 degrees and sunny. Such is life in SE Wisconsin in April.

Sunny
80 degrees
Windy, 15-20
41 miles, Wales



Today brought back a lot of summer riding memories, from using sun tan lotion for the first time this season and drinking warm water from the bottles to typing this post in the screen porch after finding a pair of shorts to put on post-ride shower. (I had to go into the basement to dig up some summer clothes)


I'm nothing if not all about the ceremonial so to mark the first ride of the new season with bare arms and legs I wore my new Italia jersey for the first time today, a Christmas gift from riding bud "der Jan".

Like worms coming out of the ground after a warm summer's night rain, people packed the paths, their bright-white legs all at once being exposed to sun for the first time this year perhaps.


I rode west to hook up with der Jan who had his fancy new bike out today. Together we went into the wind all the way out to Wales where we took a short break. 


Funny thing is it seemed like the wind was still pretty much in our face coming back as well. How exactly does that work?


On the way back it felt good to ride a little hard tempo on the Glacial-Drumlin trail. Between that stretch and another later in the ride on the New Berlin trail where I pushed it a bit I was able to find the edge of pain and being more tired than I should be. It's early in the season so there is only so much juice in the tank to use.


Speaking of using juice, for a while there on the way in we were riding behind a guy with a motor on his bike. Goofy thing...and certainly stinky to be behind.


It was fantastic to to feel warm again. I can not begin to tell you how much better I always feel on a bike the warmer it is. I was pleased with the effort today for sure.


Now if only the warm air was here to stay.

Season Miles: 289