Out like a Lion

For the past few years, it seems that the old saying about March no longer held true: instead of being a month of strong ups-and-downs, it seems that March has been a peaceful month, leading steadily into April with the strong weather waiting until April was full upon us. But not this year!

As I rode to work this morning, straining against a constant, strong, and gusting headwind, I put together in my mind that the last week of March has been anything but peaceable and pleasant, slowly leading into April. Usually, the ride to work isn't such a chore. It may be cold and it may be blustery, but it's never really that difficult and the wind (whether at my front or at my side) is usually never much of a concern. But the past couple of days (and especially today) have been different. Instead of merely heading into the wind, I've had to fight it -- with the resulting minutes added-0n to my trek to work because my ride is slowed to such an extent (a nearly 5 minute slow-down today!).

Add to the dumping of snow this past weekend, the strong winds the past few days, and this has definitely been March going out like a Lion!

Although it was snowy . . . well, slushy . . . Saturday was made for a bike ride. No right minded driver would be out in such horrible weather. After all, who wants to slide into a tree with a vehicle you can't control on an icy street, when you have no direct contact with the street and no "real" means of controlling where you go?

So, after we went to see "Monsters & Aliens" (which is a good kids' movie, but not such a great "adults-with-kids-movie," it was time to go out and see what the weather was really like! And, what it was "really like," was not bad! I wished I'd started out earlier so that I could have gone at least 10 miles -- instead of the puny two.

But then, it was good latte ... and I was about the only person on the streets at this time of the day in the Slush Storm of 2009 . . . except for another cyclist whose tracks I followed as I was heading towards the Coffee Shop, and which I saw tethered at Blue Moose.

After the snow

After predictions of nearly 10 inches of snow, with actual snow fall closer to 5 but the day of rain and sleet making it more like 5 inches of sleet, today was a wonderful, incredible, Spring Day!

This morning, we started out with a chilly (37), snow-filled, cloudy, day and ended up with an incredibly sunny, warm (52), dry-streets, nearly-all-snow-on-the-lawns, afternoon. Yesterday was more filled with worry about what the day would bring, or how deep the snow might be; today was filled with wonder at how fast it disappeared.

There were a few casualties of the ice-and-then-snow storm; but few and far between. One tree we came upon looked like a wooden version of the Peparcokkar belief that if you tap a Swedish Ginger Cookie just right, it should break into the Trinity (and there would then be good luck)



Others merely looked like broken trees.

All in all, it was a beautiful day. Wonderful ride, and wonderful sun. Ah, Kansas. You never know what's going to happen with the weather, but it will always be sunny after the storm...

A good challenging ride!

A great ride home today...well, home and to the Bike Shop to pick up a new special bike for my step-son -- which was closed much to everyone's dismay (although, while biking there, I realized that it closes at 6:00 pm on Fridays).

A great ride home; but challenging. My regular ride to and back from work is a nice, pleasurable few degrees up and down both ways. The trip I took this evening was much hillier and much more taxing (which is a good thing). On top of the ups-and-downs of the Nall Hills, I also had the North wind against me much of the way -- and at between 15 - 25 mph, that was quite a bit of additional energy (over the regular trek). I needed to make up for the miles I've lost sitting out the past couple of weekends -- not to mention that I seriously doubt I'll get any miles in tomorrow, what with picking up the bike that we tried to get today and the predicted "up to 9 inches" snow they were predicting for tomorrow afternoon at evening news time today!\

Maybe I'll get some miles in tomorrow anyway; if for nothing else than to get that every wonderful Roasterie Latte :)

Now that was a long respite!

Wow! I didn't realize it had been as long since I'd last posted! Two months (almost exactly)! But . . . there's been a lot going on in that time, much to do at the office, and a whirlwind of activities that have kept me from posting (not to mention that I keep forgetting my passkey and then don't have enough time to work with it). Be that as it may, it's amazing that as long a period as has passed, the immediate past post could have been the title to this posting: "Kansas Weather never means quite so much...."

The past week has been great cycling weather! (Especially considering what a cold Winter it has been!) But, being Kansas, there's always that, "gotcha" weather: Yesterday morning, nice, cool, dry; last night, chilly, rainy; this morning, damp, cold (with a hint of something floating in the air every once in a while); and tonight? Tomorrow? Wintery mix? Snow? The predicition is for up to eight inches of snow on the ground by tomorrow night, with rain and mixed-rain-and-snow-and-sleet leading up to it. But then, it might be 50 tomorrow. After all, the snow and rain and "wintery mix" was supposed to have started this morning at 3 oclock am -- but it didn't and, in fact, the ride in to work this morning was dry (well, damp, but only on the pavement and in the humidity -- not by actual precipitation).

And so it goes; it's Kansas after all!