Sick of snow.

This was Fox Lake Road yesterday.

Actually, it was okay to ride, and in fact quite passable (I rode it in reverse, which is definitely the easier way—but still a strenuous climb). My ride on Tuesday took me through some other seasonal roads, which were interesting, to say the least. I took a tumble on one of the icy parts and my knee is a little sore because of it, but I'm otherwise no worse for wear.

I'm really liking the Moose Mitts.

Thanks Marty for letting me borrow them!

I'm definitely going to be investing in a pair of these next winter. It was about 35ºF and I was able to ride with fingerless gloves, which was very nice.

In the mean time, I'm hoping it starts to warm up here soon. I want warmth so badly. I've been planning a trip to Florida some time in May, and it can't come soon enough.

Southern Links Trailway

...Or at least that was the goal on Thursday.

Before indulging in St. Patrick's Day festivities, I decided it would be a good idea to embark on a 60 mile road ride. The goal was to ride from Hadley to Columbiaville on the road (approximately 20 miles), and then ride from Columbiaville to Millington via the Southern Links Trailway (10 miles), and then back. All was going swell until I actually reached the Southern Links Trailway:

Which, to my dissatisfaction, was still thoroughly ensconced in snow and ice.

For the record, it was 67ºF on Thursday. Too warm for legwarmers...but somehow, ice? I decided to bear onward, but after about a quarter mile of the ice-snow mixture, I'd had enough. Also, I fell over and decided staying on the planned course wasn't worth struggling the remaining 19.75 miles and risking MORE ice down my pants.

The skinny cross tires were just not up to the job.

So I took an alternate route. I headed up north along some roads, saw the Columbiaville Trike Guy:

This guy is ALWAYS riding a trike around Columbiaville, even throughout winter. I see him every time I work at the Columbiaville branch library.

I ended up riding around the Lakeville High School in Otisville, then made my way back to Hadley. Total trip (with a few laps of the driveway at the end for good measure) was 50.1 miles. I ended the day with a beer (well...a lot of beer...) at Sherwood Brewing Company with some friends.

The perfect post-ride snack.

Bike bike bike.

Bike bike bike. Yoga yoga yoga. Music music music.

Rinse, repeat. So far I'm liking spring.

Hooray for longer rides!

Hooray for not getting dropped on group rides! (The plan from TrainerDan™is working!)

Hooray for the wonderful taste of beer after a few hours in the saddle!

Hooray for iceless dirt roads!

Hooray for mean people honking at you when you're climbing a hill!

Wait...scratch that last one...

Almost all of the snow and ice is gone again, and I'm feeling good about the upcoming season. It's time to start planning out the races.

These are a given:

Logsplitter (7/16)

Ore to Shore (8/13)

Iceman (11/5)

These are the other races I'm considering:

Barry Roubaix (3/26! Soon!)

Tree Farm Relay (7/23...need a team!)

Stony Creek XC (8/28)

Addison Oaks XC (9/11)

Grampian Challenge (10/1)

Six Hours of Addison Oaks (10/8)

Suggestions? Recommendations? I can't sign up for all of them because I'm a poor librarian, so I want to narrow it down to about six races this year. I really, really want to do an endurance race, but I'm not going to commit to 6 Hours of Addison until later on in the year when I know I'm up to par.

I have a feeling I will be, though. I'm already in better shape and weigh less than I did at Ore to Shore last year, and my pace then was more than decent. Plus, my cross training with yoga is working out great. I haven't had any soreness post-cycling since beginning yoga, and I can feel myself getting a lot stronger and more flexible. However, after nearly falling asleep during shavasana after yesterday's ride, I'm thinking it's a good idea to stagger cycling and yoga so they're not only two hours apart.