A Mouthful of Spring

As you can probably tell from the picture there's been healthy precipitation this spring. Normally spring is a season I avoid. I prefer not to be in the rain, I don't like to feel soggy, temperatures aren't warm, just not freezing, and the sun normally doesn't find its way through the thick cloud cover. Cycling to work has given me a slightly different perspective of spring and its storms.

Just as the rain suddenly washes away the snow and makes everything turn green, and calves and lambs and other sorts of tiny animal clones start popping up on fields, storms are preceded by unusually warm weather here in Utah. So as the temperatures hover around 40ºF rides start becoming very pleasant. Once I'm warm things are easy going and the largest puddles aren't half as hard to navigate as the tiniest ice patches. I can stop worrying about surviving the ride and focus on just enjoying it or making good time.

Except today. Late the previous day, before the storm, some rancher had driven his herd to the field across the road. I didn't see it, but it wasn't hard to tell judging by the layer of mostly dry cow dung paving that portion of the road as I rode by. Harmless, really, and part of the experience.

Then came the wet afternoon ride. The temperature was comfortable and the winds were low. The rain wasn't bothering me at all. But that patch of manure on the road— now rehydrated— caught me off-guard. See, I've splashed slush, mud, dirt, and in the worst of cases they all taste pretty much the same. This does not. I'm not partial to the taste of spring.

One Hour Forward, Five Degrees Behind

Last week the weather was perfect for a bicycle commute. It was over 35 F in the morning and around 60 F in the afternoon. It was so good that I put my cycling gloves away as they were no longer needed.

On Sunday Daylight Saving Time kicked in and we rolled the clocks forward by an hour. Today's commute was painful. Every mile or shifting started to hurt the tips of my numb fingers. I found myself stopping about every mile to warm up my hands, and since I was avoiding high speeds to decrease the wind chill I wasn't producing that much heat anyway.

The big difference? Last week I started my ride about half an hour after sunrise. This week I started it about half an hour prior. So in terms of the seasons rolling the clock forward by an hour rolled my commute temperature back by about 2 weeks.

Gloves are back out and I hope to put them away again soon.

Walked It!

Google Fit stats of my walk to work.

Today I walked from home to work for the first time ever! Here's a screenshot of the stats according to Google Fit.

I had been meaning to do this for a while but it's not at all practical since it takes 3 or 4 times the time I spend if I cycle the same distance. Nevertheless it felt great to get it done and I hope to be able to do it at least once a month, if not more often!

One of the advantages of walking to work is being able to take in the view in better detail. This time it meant ice all over. On some portions of the way the whole ground was covered in a thick layer that made progress slow.

View from the bottom of an icy hill.

Aside from impeding progress and making things cold, ice makes for some nice views that don't last that long.

Walking is one of those activities almost anyone can enjoy and few people ever do to its full extent. I highly recommend it!