SO LONG, JANUARY THAW.

It literally was SO long this year. Instead of 2-3 days of 40-something degree weather (normal), we are wrapping up an entire week of temperatures ranging from 40 to 60 degrees F. The picture above, taken in my front yard, is deceiving - virtually all of our snow is gone except in shady areas and where the snow plows left huge snow banks from all our December snow. Tomorrow, temps will stay in the mid-30s, and by the weekend - we will be back to freezing temps or below.

With clear bike paths and roads, I was able to ride my trusty summer bike to work yesterday and today. While I enjoy the challenge of riding my studded tires through snow and ice, it is a nice break to ride slick city tires on pavement for a couple of days. Tomorrow is back to snow and rain - so this will probably be my last ride on this bike for a while.

About this bike... It is a Schwinn High Plains that I picked up at a church sale a few years back. It was in like-new condition when I picked it up for $40 - I doubt it had any more than 20 miles on it. It still had plastic film over the Schwinn logo on the front, and the tires still had those little rubber thingies sticking out all over. This bike has been bulletproof for the past 18 months - I definitely got my money's worth.