Bruce on bikes!

Well here it is, other than the filthy pile in the Patrick Henry High School parking lot, this is the last snow of the season, photographed yesterday on a terrific road ride near Eagle Point and the Berry Farm. And it's surely gone today. It's a new season, starting now.

I have a real problem with new year's resolutions. I like the concept, but the timing is all wrong. It's now, when the clocks spring forward, when the ground is bursting with new life, when the temperatures climb tentatively into the seventies, that's when I feel ready to make a new start.

Has it really been 15 weeks since I updated this sucker? Yes, it has. Fifteen weeks of cold, gray, fat, and out of shape. The down-season, peppered with some fun rides on the mountain bike, has come and gone. It's time to take the hose out of the shed and give my bikes the cleaning they deserve. It's time to eat less and exercise more. I'm ready to feel fit again. And most of all, it's time to put away the tights and winter gear.

I've ridden just enough in the past few weeks to feel this way now. It's not something I enjoyed at the time. Breaking the grip of fat and out of shape is never fun, not at first. But despite a week off due to the Great Blizzard of 2009, I felt terrific yesterday. It's a good thing. It bodes well.

Looking forward, I see some fun things on the horizon, and I'll write about them as I go along. Two big summer trips are shaping up, and I plan to bring bikes on each. More on that soon. In the meantime, I plan to fully enjoy the fine weather and wonderful roads that central Virginia has to offer. I hope you do the same.