Today the season changes. Spring at last!

I thought this would be a good day to go for the March photo of the Fox River Trail Boardwalk. Besides adding one photo each month, I thought it would be interesting to have one photo for each of the 4 season changes.

The problem is that I rode right by without stopping. What was I thinking? I’m sure my mind was wandering somewhere, but not strategically planning for the photograph.

By the time I realized the miss, I didn’t want to return. After all, I can ride again tomorrow, the first full day of spring.

The photo above was taken at Glacier Cone Park, looking up the hill. Not a hill I would attempt to ride with my road bike. But it is a nice hike, and if you are into geocaching, there’s a little adventure here.

17.03 miles today. 134.88 miles YTD.

In great contrast to the earlier rides this month, today was warm. The temperatures went above normal last week, but I was out of town and unable to ride.

So when I saw that the temperature was going to get near 70 degrees today, I knew I would have to carve out some time to ride. After all, it would be back down in the 40s tomorrow.

I had other obligations during the warmest part of the day, but it was above 60 when I got out. It was nice to wear a single layer of clothing, a long sleeve jersey and shorts.

The photo above is taken looking south along the Cushing Park Trail in Delafield, Wisconsin. This trail connects the Glacial Drumlin Trail to the south with the Lake Country Trail to the north. There were a good number of walkers on the trail today and a few other bicycles too.

I rode for nearly two hours, making this my longest ride of the year so far. By the end of the year, this ride should be considered about average length.

24.92 miles today. 117.85 miles YTD.

The primary factor necessary for a winter bike ride is dry roads. I rode February 28 because the roads were dry, and there was a chance for snow the next day.

It did not snow on March 1, so the roads were still dry. I took the opportunity to ride again. And, since my schedule allowed, I was able to ride again today. Yep, you guessed it, the roads are still dry.

Apparently that will all change tomorrow. Snow and ice are on the way.

It’s rare for me to ride three days in a row in the winter. My last trifecta was October 25-27. Those 3 days I logged more than 92 miles, whereas this 3-day streak totaled just over 37.

Twice before, I actually rode 3+ consecutive days during the season of winter. These were March 16-18, 2012 and  March 15-19, 2011. The latter was a 5-day winter-riding streak!

This time of year, I can feel the 37 miles in my knees. Three short rides and yet the muscles around my knees are telling me its enough. So sad to start over every year. But that’s what we do.

14.37 miles today. 92.93 miles YTD.

Today was 10 degrees warmer than yesterday, 26F instead of 16F. In the upper-20s I don’t have to have foot warmers to ride. Good thing, since I used my last pair yesterday.

The other modification I made today was that I went back to sunglasses, no cumbersome ski goggles.

With these two wardrobe changes, my face started out cold, and my feet ended up colder than yesterday. But it was a nice ride on a sunny afternoon.

The photograph is at Sunset Park. The sign says that the park is closed November 1 to April 1. That means we have one more month until this park, and its restroom, is open once again. To me, April 1 is when the bicycling spring arrives.

It’s interesting that yesterday I could not get to this park because the trail was covered with snow past an earlier point. Today there were patches of snow before the park, but easily passable.

I rode a little past the park before the snow patches became uneven and a bit icy. That’s when I turned around.

Today’s ride was the shortest of the year.

11.31 miles. YTD 78.56 miles.

It’s cold out there. It was 16F when the ride was done, I think a little colder when I started an hour earlier.

The photograph is me with what I was wearing before the ride. I was a little optimistic about the temperature. By the time I had ridden 3/4 of a mile, I turned around because 3 body parts were already getting too cold.

1. My face had too much exposed skin, with sunglasses not keeping the cold wind away from my forehead and eyes. I swapped my glasses for an extremely old pair of ski goggles.
2. My hands were already chilling. I took off my lobster gloves and put on leather mittens over some thinsulate knit gloves.
3. I was already losing heat with wind blowing across my torso. So I added a windbreaker beneath my bright yellow outer shell.

With those three changes, I was quite comfortable, even after an hour riding in the cold. The toe warmers attached to my Smartwool socks did an excellent job keeping my feet warm.

As chilly as this February was (more than 10 degrees below normal), I am still a full month of riding ahead of last year. I ended last March with 65.63 total miles YTD.

Today 11.42 miles. YTD 67.25 miles.

That’s 7 years of riding, at least once each month, on the roads in Wisconsin. Yep, that includes the winter months. The streak began in March 2008. I met the 84th consecutive month today. During that time, including today, I have logged 23,094.03 miles.

Much like January’s final ride, today’s was a moment of opportunity. Though there’s much work to do, none of it was time sensitive this afternoon. So a little shuffling was in order.

The temperatures are in the upper 20’s. That’s warm enough that my clothes were sweated up pretty good by the time I got home, yet cold enough that my feet were thoroughly chilled.

While on the ride today I passed by the Fox River Boardwalk just like I did a couple week ago. I had the idea that it might be interesting to capture the same view each month this year. Since there’s no guarantee I’ll get another February ride, I’m featuring that image today.

There is more snow on the ground today, but the sky is only most cloudy instead of overcast. So the image is a little brighter and there’s a noticeable shadow behind the building.

14.12 miles. YTD 55.83 miles.

There was a brief window of opportunity. The weather was holding. I had an opening on my calendar. Time to squeeze in a quick ride because, this time of year, you never know when the conditions will be favorable.

This was my shortest ride since last February 19, but an hour in the cold, with many layers of clothing to keep warm, is better than looking through the window wishing I could ride.

The photo is the Fox River Trail Boardwalk looking north from the parking lot on Sunset Dr.

11.16 miles. YTD 41.71 miles.

Wow, I have ridden every day this year so far! OK, this is day two.

It’s winter out there. The sun was behind clouds and all vegetation is brown. Not the prettiest site along the trail.

But I saw this one little bit of contrasting orange and had to get a picture. Too bad it’s a misplaced road construction cone.

I decided I should get a ride in today because the weather is turning tomorrow. It’s going to get ugly as mixed winter precipitation moves in.

When I started the ride it was 33 degrees. I wore lighter weight gloves and one fewer top layer than yesterday. At first this was OK.

What I failed to plan for was the dropping temperature. At my half-way point (Wales), I notice drops of ice on my bike frame. It was 29 degrees when I got home.

With the lighter weight gloves, my hands were cool, but not cold when I started. But as the temperature went down a few degrees the tips of my fingers got really cold. I had to place one had at a time in my back pocket.

Fortunately I could warm one hand faster than the other hand cooled, so I eventually got ahead of the icy fingers.

15.16 miles. YTD 30.35 miles.

It was about 26 degrees outside when I started. Not cold enough to freeze the water sloshing in my bottle, but cold enough to accumulate ice where the water splashes.

Pavement was clear and dry. My first thought was to take the Glacial Drumlin Trail west to Wales and back.

Very soon I realized how strong and cold the wind was, coming from the west. While I typically ride against the wind when leaving home so that I get the benefit of wind on the return trip, I decided to go east toward the GDT trailhead. Then I turned around and went west, part of the way to Wales.

It’s always a challenge figuring out what to wear in the cold weather. I was uncertain about the warmth of my choices so I didn’t want to end up with frozen toes too far from home. With the route I chose, I was never more than about 3 miles from a warm house.

I took my road bike today, thanks to the Pedro’s Bicycle Tire Levers that I received for Christmas.

On my last ride of 2014, using my own bike, I got a flat rear tire. I knew that using the tire levers I had would not be worth the effort so I called for a ride home. (Last time it took me 20 or 30 minutes to change the inner tube because my levers kept bending.)

Instead of changing struggling with the tools I had, I decided to ride my wife’s bike for the final ride of 2014. I figured I’d get better tire levers before Spring.

With these new tire levers I was probably done in 5 minutes. Piece of cake getting the tire over the rim, both removing it and putting it back on. Ah, the right tool for the job!

While on the trail I noticed these birds sitting on a wire. It’s cold, it’s windy, and they’re sitting there completely exposed. Doesn’t seem like a good idea to me. Then again, I’m out riding in this creating my own extra wind chill.

15.19 miles.