A Beautiful (but Windy) March Morning

Temperatures above freezing in the morning? No way!

I planned on getting a ride in early, before the serious winds built up later in the day. I rolled out at 8:35 AM into the mostly cloudy day. The absence of a bracing chill (that has marked the first few miles of so many rides in the past few months) was most welcome. I rolled into town, feeling the warmth surge through me as I worked up to tempo. To the west the clouds parted to reveal blue skies behind.

Blue Skies Ahead

The first five miles or so went by quickly (it's hard to even remember my route without glancing at the ride log). It's a familiar route I've ridden many, many times with one steep (11%)  ramp about 8 miles in. I didn't feel particularly strong but was able to spin up reasonably comfortably until I reached the crest, where the SW wind hit full force.

Farmland south of Elizabethtown, PA

Stonemill Road Hill (11% grade)

A few more pleasant miles and then a small detour into Bainbridge to look at the river. The Susquehanna was flowing moderately high and fast, with innumerable small ice floes racing along on top of the current.

Susquehanna River near Bainbridge, PA

I enjoyed the tailwind on the return leg (always welcome after fighting it and clawing along at 15 MPH).

I decided to give a Stava KOM a go (it's been a while so why not?) and headed over to Koser Road, a fairly straight, flat 1/2 mile with a slight rise at the beginning just to make it hard.t took me a while to wind up to speed, then once I hit 31 MPH I held it with a steady 120 RPM. But I'm out of shape this winter so I missed the KOM by 2 seconds. Oh well.

Koser Road Sprint

After Koser I pedaled easy until Main Street, where the Saturday morning traffic crawled along. A slight effort on the last KOM near home (I made the segment and called it "End of the road motivation").

It felt good to roll into the drive still feeling my toes and hands. I'm going to like this spring thing!