Back in the saddle

I began February with high hopes of getting back into a normal routine. As I wrote before, I rode 21 miles on Super Bowl Sunday, and that had me planning to do at least 100 miles during the month.

But then February got all February-ish. It was cold, or it was raining, or it was cold and raining. Occasionally, it snowed. And to top it all off, I ended up nursing the flu for about a week. As it turned out, February passed by without me getting so much as another single turn of the pedals, much less 79 miles.

March, however, appears to be another story ... so far. I had three rides in the first week, giving me 31 miles for the month so far. That's not exactly a lot, I know, but it's more than February, and it's more than I've ridden in a week in quite awhile.

The previous Sunday, I did something I hadn't done before and rode with someone else. And not just any someone, mind you, but my oldest son. That was a far greater pleasure than I had anticipated. He was quite a trooper and managed to keep up with me (mostly) for nine miles, which is pretty impressive for his first time.

This past weekend did bring a freak snowstorm of sorts, with a full three inches of the fluffy stuff. You folks up north might laugh, but that's the biggest snowfall we've had all year. So instead of getting on the bike Saturday, we drove down to the local Ace Hardware and got some sleds, and I took the family to my favorite spot to sled when I was a kid. So while I wasn't able to log any miles over the past few days, I don't really mind because it turned out to be quite fun anyway.

And now we're back into Daylight Saving Time, meaning there will be at least an extra hour I can ride after work. With the weather forecast looking better and better the further you go (aside from today's rain, of course), March truly is looking like it's going to be a great month.