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
The title of this post says it all.
I knew when I headed out that I didn't feel much like any sort of adventure ride today...
49 degrees
Cloudy
Light wind off the lake
11 miles on the Elm Grove Crit
...so I decided to stay near home and just do some laps. The problem was that I got a chill and just never warmed up to this ride...literally.
Working that third lap into a slight wind it seemed to cut into me through my ears and down to my toes. I knew it would be my final lap.
Some times it just doesn't work out.
Last year we had a fantastically-warm spring around here and I had many more miles in my legs by this point in the season.
Oh well, like the title says....cold disappointment.
Season Miles: 248
...no shortage of snot on this longer ride today on the Madone. A pesky wind off the lake left me glad I had layered up pretty well before heading out today.
44 degrees
Sun
5-10 wind
35 miles
I headed south to do a "Three Bridges" ride, taking my winter detour at the start because the entrance to the path is so mucked up with glass and rocks and gravel. I don't want my good bike anywhere near all that.
I felt good and was happy to be back on the 'real' bike. Imagine a bike actually shifting when you tell it to!
There is a nasty patch of ice at Wimmer Wetlands which I had to dismount for. But once past that it was clear sailing and I love the new blacktop in Root River Parkway, where it appears they have just completed a major tree planting project.
Sorry about the wind noise, but here is a little video clip of another sign of spring on this route...
That's right. One year ago according to my training log March really went out like a lamb with a high of 70 degrees! Awesome. Seems I was riding more last year at this time too, probably because the weather in general was more mild.
Today on the way back I tried something new, bypassing the Greenfield Park Golf Course path by going straight at the lagoon up to 124th so I could take the path that 'der Jan' showed me home.
Coming home into some wind drained my legs. Then I started to suffer. Then it got worse! Coming up a little hill to 124th both my quads started to knot up. It was so bad that I had to stop and get off the bike for a stretch and a rest.
No lack of hydration here, just a lack of miles in my legs. It's mainly the muscle that runs from the groin down the inside of the thigh to the knee that fatigues and cramps up. My right knee was gimpy today too. I suppose the cold air doesn't help these things when you are an aging wannabe.
Season Miles: 237
Well, as you can see I took the Hank Aaron Trail for a brief 18-mile ride today and the roof at Miller Park was open. Hard to believe that Opening Day there is this coming Monday already.
I wanted to see if I could replicate the new route that reader 'der Jan' showed me on Sunday.
I think I did pretty well, only missing one turn early in the route that put me a few blocks out of my way before turning around.
A nagging little east wind kept things a lot cooler than I would like on the way out. My issue with this route comes toward the end of the paved portion just east of the ball yard.
There is a section of gravel and mud that then leads to a short burst of pavement again as the trail ends and twists you up to the roadside.
I'd like to be able to take the path past Miller Park, but I don't see how to do that if you want to avoid that patch...which I do. If that thing gets wet at all it's a messy, slippery and dangerous section that I want no part of.
Perhaps there is a way around it earlier, but it seems like that would take the nice view of Miller Park away. The next time I ride with 'der Jan' I'll get him on the case and report back here.
Just 18 today, and it was on the old third-string Trek hybrid too! Still waiting for that cursed wheel/tire back for the Klein. If you missed the story, well, listen to the Tuesday PhilCast show to hear it all.
Season Miles: 202
Somehow I managed to get a little 17-mile ride in today, a day I never thought I would be out riding.
But "der Jan" dropped me an email asking if by chance I was interested in a short ride. He offered to drop by and help me get a new tire on the Klein too.
Although I had made a promise to my wife to go somewhere in the afternoon, there was a small window of time available. We went for it.
He showed me a way to head east, a new route that I will certainly expand and make part of my rotation this season. It's the Hank Aaron trail, taking me behind the Petit Ice Center, through Zablocki Medical Center and around Miller Park.
That's where we turned around today, but eventually he is going to show me how to make this a loop, or perhaps also expand to the east while heading toward the lakefront.
It was cold at 35 degrees, but I will say that under the right conditions it wasn't bad. Those conditions would include the sun being out, the nagging cold north/northeast wind out of your face, and tucked behind der Jan!
I had to laugh at my out-of-shape self toward the end. He was riding his single speed as training for the early racing season...and here I am turning 105 rpm steady and huffing and puffing on my fancy carbon fiber bike just trying to remain his wheel sucker.
I WAS vindicated however today when he admitted there is something odd about my wheel situation. I have taken a lot of crap for struggling to change my own tire/tube. But even he couldn't do it today. He ended up taking the wheel home with him so as not to eat away at the short time we had to actually ride. Priorities.
Season Miles: 184
Yes, I am writing this while back in my old summer position, on the wicker rocking chair out on the screen porch, post-ride!
I've got a space heater going and at 50-ish outside it is perfect in here for my first return to the place I so love after a ride...my little screen porch in the city.
Today being the only good weather day predicted for the week I took the REAL bike out. Yes, carbon fiber hit the wind for the first time in 2011 as I brought out the Madone. I figure all the rain Sunday washed away the road salt of winter. 30 miles-clouds-50-ish
The start was sketchy today. Here I am trying to remember all the things on the regular bike, things like how the computer works and the shifting and just getting the 'feel' of the bike back when I notice I am getting onto Root River Parkway out of habit. I don't want to be there! Duh. Let me explain...
You see there is STILL snow (or some ugly black form of it) blocking the entrance to the Oak Leaf Trail where I get on, so I had to detour around that. Seems I forgot that I had wanted to head west on the New Berlin Trail today. I knew my usual south route would end up being flooded and muddy around Wimmer Wetlands.
So I did a U-turn in the parkway and headed back to Greenfield Park where I jumped onto the NB path, which is clear and dry.
My plan was to head out on the nice flat route, avoid any climbing and just get up to almost Waukesha, where I figured the path would be flooded. I thought that would make a good turnaround point.
50 degrees and a nagging west wind in the face on the way out made it a little tough. Sunshine would have helped. NOW it comes out as I type this. The ride was all clouds.
I knew it would be fun to ride fast for the first time this season on this stretch coming home because there would be a little tailwind.
I also nailed it on my flooding prediction.
Here is a photo of exactly where I figured I would be turning around.
Now if you take a close look you will see a runner on the other side of the pond taking off his socks and shoes. As I paused for a drink he waded through the water in his bare feet.
We chatted once he got over to my side about how this same spot always seems to be flooded after any kind of heavy rain.
I have ridden through this before, but I did not want to get the bike into it this time around. I had it in my head that this would be my halfway turning point today and after our chat that is exactly what I did.
I like going fast.
Why does going fast have to take so much effort though?! My plan was to kick the Madone into the big ring where it belongs for the stretch and try to ride hard tempo for that entire flat stretch between Springdale and Calhoun.
Now when I say fast, that for me anyway means 20 mph, so I tried to maintain 20 mph for the run. I made it most of the time all the way, although it should never feel as tough as it did today. Such is being out of shape in March.
But as I often post here, "I'll take it."
The forecast for the rest of the week looks horrible with highs in the 30's and lots of rain...maybe some snow mixed in. One of these days winter will actually be done and the real riding will begin.
Season Miles: 168
So riders, lets hit the re-set button now that a new week is here.
As I type this update on Sunday morning the pitter-patter (is that how you spell pitter-patter?) of a spring rain hits my windows. No this is not good outside riding weather. But it IS good for riding in a way because the streets are now finally getting washed of the winter salt and sand.
The cold from hell that hit me last week and robbed me of my chance to ride in that fantastic mild weather lingers on today. This was a nasty sick for me.
And back to the weather, winter returns by mid-week. I see the high temp for Thursday is supposed to only be 33! Snow is possible.
However Monday should be dry and mild and my head should finally be clear enough to give a ride a try. I have been feeling very weak though, so I'll have to take it easy. But I'll try to get out there because it looks like the rest of the week will be more winter than spring.
I feel bad for all those robins that flew up here too early.
