Spring? I don't think so.

Yesterday as I rode my bike home from work, and it was sunny and warm, I thought, "it's not going to snow tomorrow. No way."

Today, as we're getting pounded with snow - already a few inches - I'm thinking, "I can't believe I rode my bike outside yesterday." What a difference a day can make.

Last spring I did a few road races and had a blast. Now that spring is here...I mean almost here...I've been bitten by the racing bug, big time. The first race I did was the Pedal for Proceeds race in Whitewater and that race is the same day as Crazylegs this year so I can't do it. The next race I did was the Tour de Dells, and it's not on the schedule so it looks like I can't do that one either. Then there are a ton of TTs on the schedule, which I'm looking forward to doing a few of them, but no road races.

So I started browsing the race schedules for Illinois and Iowa to see if there's anything remotely close coming up, and I found a race that looks interesting: The Hillsboro Roubaix.

The race is March 29, so I would have virtually no time to prepare. And it's not really that close...it's outside St. Louis. About 5 hours from Madison. But it's a road race. It's coming up. And it includes some brick roads so this would truly be a spring classic...a good way to whip myself into shape (and get dropped).





It's a little crazy for me to pack up and head to St. Louis to race considering I only have 150 outdoor miles under my belt and this is a sanctioned race and I don't have a license. I could get a one-day license, so that's not really an issue. I'd probably get shelled, but that's okay. It's March. It's okay to be out of shape in March.

I wonder if Cheri would be up for a road trip? Pack up the bikes and head down to St. Louis Friday evening, race Saturday morning, then head out for a ride afterwards so Cheri can get some miles in and then head home. I still have some Marriott rewards points left so I could get a free hotel room. That's tempting. Hmmmm...

I also came across a double header weekend coming up in Des Moines on April 5 & 6: The Altoona Road Race and The Big Creek Road Race. It's very doubtful I would do that one, but it does look like a lot of fun. Here are a few other upcoming events that look tempting:

4/5 - Black Earth 10 mile race (run)
4/6 - John Frasier Memorial TT - 16K - Chicago
4/12 - American Cancer 5K/10K
4/13 - 20K TT in Kansasville, WI (Milwaukee)
4/20 - Cherry Valley 30K TT - Cherry Valley, IL (Rockford)
4/27 - Harvard Road Race - Harvard, IL
5/3 - Peanut Butter Duathlon - Rockford IL
5/3 - Dar's Midwest TT - 16 miles - Willard, WI

I'm real tempted to get some bike racing in this spring because I don't think I'll be able to this summer. I'll be busy doing triathlons, and many of my weekends will be spent going for long rides (probably followed by a short run).

I'm having a hard time committing to one discipline. So far on my race schedule, I've got road races, time trials, 5Ks/10Ks, a half marathon, duathlons, aquathons and triathlons.