Permagrin! :)

Two bad cases of Permagrin.

Anyone spotted in Northern Michigan in the last week, especially those sporting spandex, has been wearing a permagrin. This comes from a week's worth of temperatures in the 70s and 80s, extremely rare in the month of March, as we all know. In March, I normally just have to get through one day at a time, impatiently and miserably waiting for spring. This March I am the lucky recipient of some faint biker tan lines and even a bit of sunburn on my face, and I didn't even have to leave my town to do it. It was an awesome week for road riding. I was able to squeak in a 50 mile ride on Wednesday in Leelanau County with a small group of riders. Seemed too good to be true! More warm riding again on Saturday, when the Lady Hags went out for their first team bike ride of the season. We headed out on the peninsula, a tail wind pushing us right along at a great pace. After the lighthouse and back into town we had quite a headwind, but it was warm and didn't deter any smiles from our faces. On Sunday, I rode in the Vasa-Burg-Vasa ride, a warm up for the Barry-Roubaix next weekend. I am not doing the race, but thought I would take my mountain bike out on the gravel roads and see how I fared. It was pretty awesome! I wasn't sure how my bike would do, as it still hasn't recovered fully from the derailer banging up at the mountain bike park. Part is on order and I just took my chances and headed out with her. She shifted great though, and I was comfortable on my mountain bike among all the cross-bikes. There was a mix of pavement and gravel roads, and some of the gravel roads were really soft and sandy, and I was happy to have some wider tires to get through it. The majority of the riders were male, with 4 Hagerty women riding. When all that testosterone gets together, inevitably the hammer gets brought down. I am happy to report that I held my own, with the help of some confusion of where we were supposed to go at times that slowed things down enough that I was able to get a bit of recovery in right when I needed it the most. Finished strong with a fine splattering of mud on me. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday morning. Afterwards, my son, Gavin, who is 11, is just getting into road riding and I had promised we could go for a ride when I got back. Not to be swayed by my tough morning ride, we headed out and took a nice easy ride on the Leelanau TART trail. Imagine my surprise (and pride!) when we got back later that day and he tells me, "I want to ride my bike a lot more." That's my boy! :)  I hope everyone was able to get some time away from work and responsibilities to enjoy this rare weather.