Snow on the daffodils in the a.m., biking in the p.m.

I used this photo in my other blog, which has a gallery of photos from the snow this morning. See it here.

Anyway, despite rain yesterday followed by a brief, but intense, snow this morning, I was able to ride old blackie to the office this afternoon. It was windy, cloudy and cool, and the wind made biking not as pleasurable as it can be.

But it was doable. And I'm glad I did it.

By late in the afternoon, the sky was a mix of clouds and sun. Despite the persistent wind, I took a long way home--partly because I want to increase my weekend riding in preparation for RAGBRAI.

I headed down J Avenue near the MMU campus and wento the Cedar Vally Trail, heading south to downtown Cedar Rapids. I'm not sure why, but I enjoy this ride a lot. You go by a trout stream, which morphs into a concrete culvert, then a lake (with a hissing steam pipe and railroad tracks on your other side) through the Quaker Oaks factory complex and on through downtown.

The contrasts are amazing, and the transit through downtown, while requiring vigilance, pretty easy.

My ride ended at the site of the massive new federal courthouse. The trail simply runs smack into a fence there. I suppose I could have found a way around, but with the wind and the chill, decided it was time to head home.

Heading home meant riding into a stiff headwind, and I was glad I had not ridden further in this, my first training ride.

Well, even with the chill, it was a nice ride. Many more to come, I hope.

And yes, bike shop, it was a little damp. I'll be good and use my chain lube.