Sunday, February 23, 2014

Springlike

After months of cold and a bunch of snow, we finally caught a break today, mid 50's and sunny.  I had to go into work to get my act together for the AIPAC Policy conference that starts loading in next week so I decided I would ride in.   I have not been on the bike much lately, I just can't deal with riding the trainer, so I opted to take the Gwynns Falls Trail.   It was pretty clear, there's a lot sand/salt on the roads from the snow, but the trail doesn't get serviced so it was mostly clear.  

I got to the site of the construction from a previous commute and they have definitely made some progress, I had to use the new pedestrian/cycle bridge this time.


That is where the torn up bridge used to be, quite the construction project.   A little further out I got signs of our 14" of snow from a week and a half ago.


The trail was pretty clear up until the last little leg that leads to the shop, at which point I was confronted by this.   Not happening on a road bike with slicks, so I stopped and put on my sneakers and hiked the rest of the way in, luckily I wore my backpack so I could bring something to where at the shop.


At the shop this guy was out enjoying the sun and a snack, pretty fat for a post winter squirrel.


I spent 4 hours getting my act together at the shop, then headed for home.  I took a different route to avoid the hike-a-bike section and went through Druid Lake Park.   The lake is still half frozen, and most of the birds seem to prefer the frozen part, but there were a few that bolded the water part.


Then it was back to the house.  Man am I out of any sort of form, this was a bit of a wake-up call for me, time to get back on the bike regularly so hopefully these updates will come a little more frequently.  Of course we are supposed to get another storm starting tonight and then snow on Tuesday/Wednesday so I will have to take it as it comes for a week or two more.