Warmer weather is creeping in. In fact, it was warmer on my morning commute than it was yesterday at lunch! The asphalt is mostly dry if you stick to the main roads, making it a perfect time for road bikes.

Kristy rode over to meet me at work, and then we headed for Combs Canyon. It felt great to roll along so smoothly and swiftly after so many days of plodding along in the ice and snow. Fitness is returning, and the legs welcomed the resistance from the hills.

One cool thing about Carson City, and maybe even Nevada in general, is that you can be out of town rather quickly. One moment I was sitting in a cubicle in a basement, and then minutes later, I was riding up a beautiful snow filled canyon. I think the geography of the area helps limit some of the urban sprawl. Some of the country around here is just too rugged to build on.

Once we finished climbing Combs Canyon, we began the fast rolling descent into Washoe Valley. It was still a bit chilly, but not so cold that my beard froze and my eyes watered. Not today. It was actually pretty tolerable. The only mistake I made on my clothing choice, was that I left the booties back at work in protest of winter. Bad move. I had cold toes for a couple hours after I returned to work.

We rode out as far as the turnoff to Franktown Road, and then headed back the way we came. We had a bit of a tailwind coming back through Washoe Valley, making for a 21 mph pace across the flats. We raced back to Lakeview, and climbed back to the top of Combs Canyon. We didn’t open up the brakes all the way down like we do in the summer. We played it safe with our wet, sandy tires. There is still quite a bit of red sand on the roads from the snow plows. This made for some pretty cool red stripes on the seat of our pants!

Once back in town, Kristy and I parted ways. She headed home for a warm bath, and I headed for the shelter of my underground lair. As I walked back to my desk, I wondered if my coworkers could even begin to imagine how much fun I just had. Probably not…

The west side road climbs have been pretty decent lately, so I’ve been trying to get more climbing in. At first I didn’t feel so good. I thought that maybe I was getting sick, so I took an early out of the climb. I hit it again the next day and felt the same way. It finally occurred to me that I’m out of shape!

I’ve stayed active cycling throughout January, but really didn’t do a lot of climbing. Especially when compared to summertime when we have 800-1000 feet of climbing each day of the week on our lunch rides. Because of the constant snow storms, I’ve been mostly poking around the lower areas of the hills, riding where I can find traction.

Kings Canyon has been a good winter climb. The road is mostly in the sun, so it is pretty safe. After a couple days of doing this, I’m starting to get my wind back.  Fitness is not far off now…

With the abundant sunshine we had today, I think the roads should be good for skinny tires tomorrow. It’s road bike time!