Nearing one percent of yearly goal

The month seemed certain to end with fewer "official" miles ridden in Minnesota in March than "unofficial" miles ridden in Florida in January. Yesterday's walk revealed mostly dry streets (within a mile and a half) and it felt warm enough. With the weather forecast being for evening rain turning to light snow overnight it seemed like a good time to push the warmth envelope a little and to try to get Minnesota into the mileage lead over Florida.

Lessen relearned: On a bicycle you generate your own wind chill.

But I have the gear and for the most part I was comfortable enough. I could have used mittens instead of gloves and I really needed something to cover my chin. In any case, as is almost always true, I was glad to be out there. When I finished I was happy to have been able to ride my bicycle.

With a bicycle you can get a lot farther from home than the distance you can reach on foot. With a south breeze which eventually freshened into something a bit unpleasant most of my travels were to the south. I toured the Fairgrounds. Verdict: Very poor snow removal, way too many places with the streets still covered with snow melt.

EG: 48 CB: 44 AOWG: 50

Actual temperature about 45.

I actually took this picture last but mindful of displays I see somewhere on line that feature the first image of the blog post under the blog title and post title, here is the picture that was my goal when I set out on the ride.It was a very grey day leading to grey photographs. One must deal with the conditions that one has, not with the conditions that one wishes for.

That field behind the cows makes it look like the snow is mostly gone. In flat and open fields such as that one most of the snow IS gone. But, not so fast, that is not the whole story. Here is the edge of a church parking lot in Roseville.That pile is going to be there a while and that tree is going to need some tree surgery if the snow ever does go away.

And here is what the State Fair snow removal mountain looks like as of today.Yes, that is not dirt, that is snow.

The good news is that the circus is in town.Today's milestone: longest ride of the year. This milestone was relatively easy to reach.

Today was a day with a bicycle ride, a pretty good day indeed.