It's The First Day Of Spring! Shake Off Winter And Take Advantage of The Nice Weather

It must be getting warm in Madison. I just got a text from one of my friends telling me she's borrowing my bike rack for the week and I'm getting more and more emails from my triathlon group, Force Five Sports, talking about organized rides and runs starting up again.

I might not have believed it after that winter we've all had except that here we are in Georgia, battling the heat of the sun. It was record highs today here. The warm weather doesn't bother me, but for Adam and most other people, it's too hot to ride.

It feels like just the other day we were hiding in truck stops for a hot cocoa and some warmth for our feet underneath the bathroom hand-driers, but now we stop to cool off and get an ice cream.

You can't count on the weather, that's for sure.

I guess we can all say it's been a little unpredictable this winter. When planning our trip, we paid close attention to the average highs and lows in the places we were riding to. We didn't expect negative 30 degree weather near Albuquerque, New Mexico and I think it's safe to say that most people didn't expect Madison to get three feet of snow this winter. But we roll with it and adjust when needed.

When the days were really cold, all I wanted to do was stay curled up in my sleeping bag, but instead, we would take our time in the morning and wait for the sun to warm up the air a bit. Last week, though, there was no adjustment needed and we took full advantage of the beautiful weather. And with the nice weather came more touring cyclists to ride with or just share a quick story as we passed by.

After being on the road for two months without seeing another touring cyclist, it was so nice to share the experience with others. So I guess we've had our one week of spring and are into summer already. We're nearing 90 degree days and in order to make it work, we wake up before the sun and take advantage of the early hours before it gets too hot.

I'm sure this won't last and we'll fall back into spring with crisp mornings and cool afternoons, but we're not letting the weather get in our way and I hope those of you at home feel the same way. Maybe some people hid inside when the snow pounded Madison, but what about those who made the best of the snow and headed north to ski or even just went snow shoeing in the nearby woods?

So now that the weather is getting nicer and the snow has all but melted as we saw from the picture my mother-in-law sent us of the last patch of snow, I'm sure you are feeling the itch to get outside and play. I don't blame you.

There's nothing better than those first few days of sunny weather to shake off the winter. If you find yourself driving by those cyclists, remember they appreciate you taking your foot off the gas and leaving them a little extra passing room even if they can't take their hands off the handle bar to wave, "thanks."

After a little more than two months on the road, Christy and Adam are currently in Georgia. To find out more, check out their blog at http://giveabike.blogspot.com/ or their Facebook Page at https:/ /www.facebook.com/giveabike. To see where they are, you can check out this map at Track My Tour. Christy will be writing occasional stories for Patch as she and her husband make their way through the U.S.

Madison Patch is proud to be the Connecticut sponsor for Adam and Christy's trip. If you'd like to sponsor their trip, visit this page on their website.