As I’m sitting here this morning, sipping my coffee and browsing through the cycling groups I see post after post of people excited about yesterday’s official arrival of Spring. And I get it - while I ride year round, and enjoy outdoor activity in the winter, I also enjoy its ending and transitioning into the warmer months. I like the see the budding of flowers and leaves on the trees, delight in the return of the trilling of the Red Wing Blackbirds.
But Spring is a fickle season here in northern Illinois. Yes, the warmer weather it brings means lighter clothing, and of course the days are getting longer. But here this is also the season of wind and rain. For cyclists who ride around a full-time work schedule, riding can be somewhat catch-as-catch-can, and we have now entered the season where those moments of “can” have a high probability of presenting with rain driven by 20-30 mph winds.
That was the case this past week - which, in fairness, was technically still in the winter, but it had sure been feeling like spring the couple of days before. Thursday rolled around and insisted on pelting the windows, the house, the yard, and the entire countryside with rain flying sideways, striking like bullets. And that leaves one looking out the window wistfully, pining for the trike out in the garage.
It’s pretty tragic, right? Am I overselling it? Maybe just a bit.
In some ways those longer days will help, and with the addition of the time change sunset is already after 7pm (seriously - why do we keep doing this to ourselves every year? The days actually get longer on their own, without jacking up our sleep schedules... but I digress), and as the temperatures get warmer into the evenings the riding opportunities expand.
So I remind myself of those things, and that this windy, rainy period is really a short period of time in the grand scheme of things. But it’s hard to keep that focus when your window for getting out on the wheels is wiped out by the weather, and you are pining away...
Yeah - overselling it just a bit. And besides, it’s gonna be sunny with a high of 60° today, with no rain in sight. Better to stop winging take the opportunity when it comes.