Sunday, March 6, 2011

Snow Day

The wind is my friend, the wind is my friend. I had to keep telling myself that for the past few days. Thursday, the wind was from the south, but switched on Friday to the north, where it's been blowing steadily since.

We received a little snow Saturday afternoon, but fortunately not enough to cause problems on the road - well, not too many.


The St. Joe River crested today, and is receding. This year's flood is only a couple feet above flood stage, much lower than many other years.

The river broke up a week or so ago. I rode under this bridge on Christmas Eve. Since then we've received enough snow that it piled up and was too deep to ride. It would have been fun on a Pugsley though. Today a pontoon Pugsley might work.


I like how the snow covers this river bank.


And how it sticks to the tree branches.



I griped about the snow this winter. But it sure is pretty today.


This house looks over an abandoned gravel pit. The lakes are still frozen, although the ice is beginning to rot, especially on lakes which receive a lot of snow melt (and last Thursday's rain). This was probably the last weekend for ice fishing, and I didn't get out once all winter.

I walked a half-mile along this road because of black ice. It was scattered throughout my ride today, but especially bad here.


The hill down into Devil's Hollow.



The wind was cold enough that I almost turned back after 5 miles into this ride. But I hung in there and managed 35 miles today. While I'm satisfied with the mileage, I am glad I continued because I wouldn't have seen the lovely snow scenes today.

And I wouldn't have seen the year's first robin today, either. Go Spring!

Happy riding!

9 comments:

Apertome said...

Beautiful shots! Glad you got out for a good solid ride.

Rat Trap Press said...

I hope you get some warm weather soon. I think it's about over and done with down here.

Anonymous said...

You are lucky to have such pretty countryside so easily available for you to enjoy.

Anonymous said...

Country-riding beats city-riding, and your pictures back up my feeling. I am not a fan of snow, but the pics of the snow on the branches sure were nice.

TrevorW�� said...

Great shots of your part of the world....If it's very windy I often feel like turning back home in the first few miles - but I always push on and never regret the effort....!

-Trevor

Steve A said...

As the little boy said in Dr Zhivago; "I love the snow!"

The wind is only your friend, on average, half the time...

rlove2bike said...

Very nice post. You are going to be in some bicycle shape this summer...probably already. Seems you have been amassing a lot of miles. Good for you!!!

Ms.Ding said...

Lovely pictures and a lovely ride. I do enjoy riding in the city, but the snow doesn't remain picturesque for long, and it never looks as nice as it does here.

Big Oak said...

Ms. Ding - yes, thanks. This was the most picturesque snow of the year, I think. Part of its beauty is the result of all the other, old snow, finally had melted, then we got a new layer of bright, fresh snow. The snow out in the country gets ugly too. Especially later in the winter.