Accumulation begins

It was even warmer today.  Today for example, I didn't even bring a jacket with me.  The wind from the south was a little too much and before I got warmed up it was a little brisk.  But eventually when I arrived at the Cattle Barn the time/temperature read 66F.

So yesterday I had to work all of the kinks out of my digital bike log but all of my totals were in fact just that one day total.  Today I moved into multiples.  Things like average length per ride are now relevant.

Average length per ride is still pretty small but at least now the spread sheet has to calculate it.

Here is a sure sign that the dark season is over.  The skating rink is COMPLETELY gone, all the way down to bare dirt.

See the guy over there near the left margin in the red coat?  I know what he is doing because I have done it myself in the past.  He is looking for hockey pucks.  During the skating season lots of pucks get shot over the boards and then disappear into the snow piles.  The big thaw exposes a bounty of pucks.

I will say, however, that this guy is way, way too late.  The ice and snow is all gone now.  The kids who lost those hockey pucks have had plenty of opportunity to come down and look around.

When you have to look is on the first really warm day.  Pucks are black, they melt out of the snowbanks at the first opportunity, not as this guy apparently hopes, at the last opportunity.

It is still really, really early for lake ice out but I though that with all of the snow gone off the ground I might find all of the ice of the lake.

My first lake photo.

Orange cones still warning of thin ice down there in right foreground.  Very thin ice, I might add.  What ice there is is only down at this, the southeast end of the lake.  Beyond that point right behind that lake front oak tree the lake is mostly ice free.

I don't know the rules but I suppose ice out means completely ice out.

Last night set a new all time record for highest overnight low temperature, I think it only got down to 52F.  Another round of lows in the 50s will eliminate ever last tiny bit of that lake ice.

A few more miles today than yesterday.

The season is definitely on.