If John Denver Had Been a Cyclist Living in Wisconsin...

...one of his songs might have gone something like this:

Almost springtime, Mid-Wisconsin

Sound of birdsong, swiftly-melting snowpack

Life is new here, waking up the trees

Calling to the cyclists, "Ride! You will not freeze!"

Bumpy roads, take me home

To the place I belong

Mid-Wisconsin, cycling blogger

Take me home, bumpy roads

All my longing centers on her
Vintage road bike, sleeping through the winter
Crochet turtle hanging from the bars
Lord, I get so tired of travelling in cars

Bumpy roads, take me home

To the place I belong

Mid-Wisconsin, cycling blogger

Take me home, bumpy roads

The sun is warm, and the wind is soft upon me

Water flows and gurgles through the fields by my side

Winter's long and grey, but on such a bright March day

I will ride, I will ride

Bumpy roads, take me home

To the place I belong

Mid-Wisconsin, cycling blogger

Take me home, bumpy roads

Take me home, bumpy roads

Take me home, down bumpy roads

(A fond parody of Take Me Home, Country Roads by Bill Danoff, John Denver, and Taffy Nivert Danoff)

~

Last Thursday we had half a warm day, which Tallulah and I celebrated with a ride.

A few days of rain combined with above-freezing temps was causing a very accelerated snowmelt and plenty of local flooding:

Water literally poured out of sloping fields, filling the ditches, rushing under (and in some places over) the roads:

Not all the snow had melted. There were still plenty of piles like this to be seen:

Marshy areas had turned into lakes:

No fear of trespassers here:

(Look at the red-twig dogwood in the background. So beautiful!)

Swarms of geese were whirling and swirling on the horizon, and flying high overhead:

Songbirds filled the air with gladness:

And we heard sandhill cranes!

Tallulah and I were so happy to be back on the road, we couldn't help singing too. Here's a wobbly (and somewhat breathless) recording of us working on the lyric to our Country Roads adaptation / parody:

(Tallulah's voice was drowned out by the wind, but the birds in the background can be heard clearly. Go figure.)

By Thursday night, temperatures were back in the low 30s. I took another short ride on Saturday, and nearly froze my ears off in the 25F wind chill (no photos of that ride, I'm afraid, as I had left my camera at work).

Now the temps are creeping slowly upwards again, which means more rides to come. I can hardly wait.

Happy Almost Spring!

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