In Which The Mornings Turn Dark and Pretty

Pond on C Avenue this morning. Still stark and brown--and cold--but still a pretty, clear sky.

We love to bash Daylight Savings Time, and maybe it is an empty gesture that makes little sense.

This March in Iowa, setting the clock forward an hour has made the mornings, still winter chilly, a bit darker, too. But, at least the afternoon rides are lighter (I’m writing this at 6 p.m. and won’t be riding home in the dark).

And the morning sun as it comes up is very pretty, something a biker gets to appreciate a bit more, I suppose.

I used all three bikes this weekend, going for a road ride Saturday, using the mountain bike for the gym commute Sunday morning and bicycling to campus for newspaper work Sunday afternoon.

Statue on MMU's Rohde Family Plaza seems to glow as I arrive on campus this morning.

I have not tried to persuade my wife to bike to church on Sunday morning, and I don’t have high hopes of even trying until the weather warms up.

Still, I noticed this past week that my miles are increasing a bit. I’m not really in RAGBRAI training mode yet, no 60-mile weekend rides, but as the days slowly lengthen and the afternoons, at least, feel a bit springy, I feel that good biking is coming soon.

In the meantime, at least the morning light is pretty!

Now it is my bike, just parked at Warde Hall, that appears to be flowing in the morning sun.

In Which The Lights Are On And Off

View from a loading dock. I've arrived at MMU on Monday, March 8, the day after the clock change. This is around 8 a.m., but the sun is just coming up over campus. I had my lights on for the morning ride.

The time change this week has my biking upside-down. Just last week, I rode with sunglasses on in the morning and lights at night.

But on Monday, I rode with lights in the morning. I still needed lights (it was a late night) at night, too, but it was much lighter later than it has been.

I miss the sun in the morning, but I hope on Wednesday I will have a little time for a bit of a longer ride in the afternoon on my way home. The warmer weather cries out for it.

Tonight, I had a bell choir rehearsal until 6 p.m.—and rode halfway home before I flipped my lights on. It’s that light that late now.

I suddenly wish that I was retired. I don’t want to be that old, but I wouldn’t mind the time for longer bike rides during this first warm week of spring after that bitter Februrary!