Rite of Spring

[A Note: I think that by posting two entries on the same day, the listing of 100 things of interest about my riding and cycling history was missed by may people. That entry can be found under 500 Miles.]

Whilst the seasonal change seems to be stalled out in Salt Lake, I have decided to declare Spring as here. I have made this declaration for a few reasons that I would like to lay out here, namely biking to work, scheduled rides beginning, a good excuse to end snow skiing season, and water ski season beginning.

Let’s start with bike commuting. In a bold move of self-commitment and competition, I challenged our office’s new cyclist to a commuting challenge. From the time each of us first dared to commute by bike this year until the end of October we are keeping track of how many times each of us bike commutes. I don’t think I even included a prize for the winner. The very fact that it’s a competition of sorts should help to spur me on. I got off to an early deficit during March, so now have to work on catching up. It has to be Spring for me to start in, so I DECLARE SPRING HERE. For those wondering, I have cycled to work twice this year and hope to double that this week.

Then, there’s the fact that my Upcoming Rides calendar shows that I am supposed to be in shape to be getting out and riding. I’ve gotten a few invitations from teamgive to participate in Saturday rides with them. The annual rides are starting to roll out, including the Salt Lake Marathon Bike Tour this Saturday. I guess that I had better start riding so that I can do even a few of these this year. Therefore, I DECLARE THE ARRIVAL OF SPRING. Now, how many will I ride? I dunno. The rides that I have a real interest in I’ve listed, but there’s always the issues of active fathering with a 3-year-old and newborn that can hinder even the greatest of plans.

Back to the point at hand: Spring. I need a good reason to feel less badly about not snow skiing at all this season. (Okay, there, I’ve admitted it. I think that’s one of the steps on the road to recovery.) It’s a whole lot easier to hang up the skis if they haven’t even come down this season. Well, they’re now hung up because IT’S SPRING. I am, of course, ignoring the one-hundred inches of fresh snow that have fallen in the last ten days.

Then the fourth major reason: it’s time to start water skiing. I know this because my brother invited me to go this weekend. Somehow I have no problem accepting air temps in the low 60s and water temps in maybe the upper 40s as ski-able. Yes, it’s still dry suit weather, but I have a dry suit. The lake I prefer is still down from a draining over the Winter, so it’s off to Utah Lake. I can’t believe the number of obstacles against going out, but IT IS SPRING, so I think I’m doing it. If my head freezes off, or my toes become one with the ice, then I’ll regret it. But in order to make this a reality, I DEFINITIVELY DELCARE IT TO BE SPRING.