Kellen asked me yesterday when the Tuesday Night Ride will start. Daylight Savings Time begins on Sunday March 8th. Realistically, that makes Tuesday March 10th the first potential start date. I have checked the AccuWeather long term forecast for the month of March looking for some clue as to whether the unseasonably mild weather will continue (while keeping in mind the futility of predicting the future). Historically March and even April have been pretty questionable for the TNR in terms of weather. The short answer to Kellen’s question is that we will have to evaluate the situation week to week.
On Thursday, I rode Super Butte on my road bike, one of only a handful of times I have ever done so in the month of February. Subjectively, it felt like late March. Saturday, we took the fat bikes up to Kelly Canyon and did a preview ride of the race course. The climb up Crystal Cruise was well groomed and not overly difficult. The big surprise was the descent of Moose. In an earlier post, I commented that I expected it to be pretty sketchy in the winter. I was wrong about that. Moose was solid, smooth, and well groomed with the potential for very high speeds. Our enthusiasm for speed was dampened somewhat by an occasional patch of softer snow. In recent years, Moose has been deeply rutted with a fairly loose surface in the summer. In contrast, it was easier to ride with snow cover. However, I want to emphasize to readers of the blog something that should be obvious already: Good conditions does not equal safe at any speed. Hopefully everyone who shows up to race on Saturday can have a fun and safe day.
No comments:
Post a Comment