Winter Ride

Out for a February ride.
dwm photo

The calendar said it was February 19th - right there in the middle of winter and I felt pretty good in the saddle of my bike.

I usually don't ride in winter.

Then again, it's not usually 66 degrees (on bike computer, 62 officially) on February 19!

If you live farther south, of course, Winter rides in February is normal.

Early season rides can be difficult because of all the winter road grime in corners and along the side of the road.

If you drive in northern climes, keep that in mind when coming upon bikers - they could need more than their usual amount of space in case they need to avoid winter debris or potholes.

For this early ride I was thrilled to find all I needed to do was pump up the tires on the bike.

My ride headed west from home until it intersected with the Badger State Trail (photo left) and its 7 or so miles of paved path.

Judging by the crowd of riders, I wasn't the only one who didn't want to waste an amazingly warm February day.

The little rear-view mirror is quite the accessory, huh?

It crossed my mind that if February rides in Wisconsin is a side effect of a warming climate, that's a positive.

Granted, the other effects aren't welcome, and I'm OK with confining rides between April (March, if lucky) and October or November.

I suspect after this ride I won't get back on the bike until spring does arrive in a month.

So I'll take the 20 mile jaunt as my personal best for the first ride of the season.  Last year's ride in March was my previous best.