This time LAST year..

At this time last year, I was at Fort Mountain riding...







Some things to note:

I ACTUALLY HAVE SKIN EXPOSED!!!!

THE SUN IS SHINING!!!!

ARMWARMERS AND VEST!!!!

NO FREAKING SNOW!!!!

Ugh...I hate to be a debbie downer, and all the Northerners with 5 feet of snow are rolling their eyes at me right now, but this weather sucks! I live in Georgia because I like mild winters, no snow, no ice, and no worries. This past week has been a pain to train in. Icy roads, snowy trails...yes, it's pretty...but if you have to do more than just ride along, it can be a real challenge. Not to mention the amount of time it takes to layer-up, put on shoe covers, etc. I'm about to ask my coach to start including all that in my workout time.

This weekend I opted to hit Blankets (yes, it was actually open) and see if I could do my scheduled workout there. I was off to a great start by wiping out on the ice at the bottom of the hill at the end of my street. Thankfully my bike wasn't damaged and none of the neighbors were outside. The roads in my neighborhood were still icy and seriously sketchy to ride on until I hit Sixes Road, where the ice was melted. I popped into the trail and after about 5 minutes realized that I wasn't going to be able to get my HR over 145 so I turned around and headed home. Some dude in the parking lot was kind enough to harass me for not sticking it out...sorry if my training actually has an OBJECTIVE..to GET FASTER...and not just admire the snow covered trees...I can do that on a walk with my daughter thank you very much! I ended up suffering mercilessly doing my over/under intervals on the trainer for an hour, then later that afternoon, after the ice melted off the roads, managed to get out for another hour and a half and do the rest of my intervals.

Sunday we headed up to Noontootla, and I had visions of muddy, wet FS roads. Nope..try snowy, white FS roads. All of 'em...even the ones down low. The climbing was pretty good, though we were getting colder than usual on the downhills since we had to take it easy to avoid sliding out. It never got above 40 degrees and actually started snowing on us pretty good during the ride.

Thankfully, we didn't see any snow last night or today yet, so all there is to deal with are the cold temperatures. Spring where are you? I'm soooo ready.