167/365: Enough with the Snow Already!

My spring break has come to an end!  The week's weather started out great, with temps in the 70s and 80s until Thursday.  What the heck?!?  Snow the last week of March?  And I'm not talking flurries.  As this is tapering off, we've got over four inches out there.  It's a bit crazy.  By this time, I would have hoped to put my trainer away and be outside for all my workouts.  The only redeeming factor is that the snow gives me a great excuse to have a late March fire in the fireplace.

155/365: Snow in March

The on ramp to the Poplar Street bridge.  I was sitting still when I took the photo.

One of the many wrecks I saw on my lovely commute.

The view from my office.  So much for the "dusting" they predicted.

I know winter isn't officially over yet, but really?  This is too much.  My drive into work was horrid today.  There was a "wintery mix" when I was leaving town, but by the time I hit the bridge it was pure snow and it was falling quickly.  I think if the timing of this storm would have been a little different we may have had a snow day today.  All in all, just craziness.

123/365: It's Still Not Gone

It's been over a week since our last snow storm.  We had a weekend with temps in the upper 30s/lower 40s and we've had a lot of sun, but the snow still remains.  When the storm moved in last week, it didn't seem all so big.  But the snow still remains.  I'm sure the extra few inches we got last weekend didn't help with clearing out this latest winter mess either.  This weekend looks to have fabulous temps though and the long range forecast shows warmer weather, so we may be seeing grass soon.  February usually seems to be our snowiest month, but maybe it will be that it all came early this year.  While I am usually one pulling for large amounts of snow, I'm ready for it to be done and over this year.

119/365: How Long Has That Been Here?

My 365 Project has caused me to be more aware of my surroundings.  I find myself looking for opportunities to take photos.  I also find whereas before I would think "I wish I had my camera" now I pull it out and take a shot.  Of course sometimes I wonder what people around me must be thinking as I snap away like a crazy papparazzi. 

Today Steph, Kate and I took the cx bikes out for a ride on the Columbia Bottoms.  In spite of the massive amounts of snow we've gotten lately, the roads were in pretty good condition--cinders being the only real hazard.  On the way out past the sod farm, I was counting down the minutes until I got to turn around and begin heading home.  I assume my head was down because I didn't see this tree.  Of course, I've ridden past this point countless number of times and I can't remember this tree.  I don't know if it was recently struck by lightning or if I've just been oblivious or if the starkness of it against the snow caused me to take notice.  Whatever it was, it caused me to stop my hard effort to snap a shot.  The landscape in the bottoms felt raw and harsh yesterday.  The snow had blanketed the fallow fields, with only the carcasses of past crops showing through.  During the ride, the barreness seemed to zap my energy and make me feel as if I were running from something.  While it was good to be outside, not on the trainer, I was happy to be finished and home where it felt more secure.

118/365: Snowy Girl

Waiting for Castlewood to open. 

Meet Ernestine.  She's the newest addition to my stable. 

I got up this morning and ran a quick 30 minute route, not realizing what awaited me.   We had 3-4" of fresh snow, with more still coming down.  So much for the flurries predicted.  I guess that forecast was along the same lines as Snowpocolypse earlier this week.  The running was a bit frustrating in that I dealt with blowing snow and unplowed roads.  It felt like I was running in sand.  My post-run plan was to meet a group out at Castlewood for a mountain bike ride this morning.  Now I was more than a little apprehensive. 

Klucker loaded up the bikes and while I took care of some Frostbike business.  We headed west.  The highways were anything but clear.  As we descended to the entrance of Castlewood, I really wondered if it was a good idea.  We got there and had to wait for the gate to open--they were still plowing the lot.  We finally got geared up and ready to go at 8:30.  Ryan, Mike, Lee, Klucker and I headed down the road.  It only took about 200 yards before Ryan got an up close idea of how deep the snow was.  We stuck to the trails down by the river; that was fine with me.  My bike handling still needs a lot of work.  All in all, I was pretty happy with my efforts.  I wiped out twice.  Only one section where I felt like I had to walk the bike.  But of course we were on the flat, easy trails too.  I'll give mountain biking another go next weekend.  I don't see it becoming my main focus, but it was a good way to be able to ride outside in some pretty unfavorable conditions.

114/365: Snowpocalypse, Snowmageddon, SnOMG

The storm of the century turned out to be the hype of the century for St. Louis.  All along the forecasters were saying that this would be a hard system to predict.  Early reports were saying that Kansas City and Jefferson City were getting massive amounts of snow and that the system was headed straight to the Lou.  My photos for today are my time lapse of evidence of what happened and what didn't happen.  I took pictures every hour from 7AM until 4PM, hoping to chronicle the massive amounts of snow we were going to get.  Well, as of now, the snow has just begun to fall and the expected totals for the area are less than three inches.  Now, that's not to say we didn't get inclement weather.  Schools were cancelled for today and are already cancelled for tomorrow due to about three inches of sleet and ice.  My understanding is that the upper atmosphere didn't get as cold as expected in this area so we got hit with the ice.  Areas to north, where the atmosphere was colder, got pummelled with snow.  To be honest, I was disappointed when I heard Chicago got the thundersnow we were expecting.  I was hoping for massive amounts of the white stuff so that we could build snowmen and go sledding.  I have to be satisfied with the two days off work though.

113/365: That's Not Snow

The Bread Co parking lot at the Loughborough exit.

I didn't get the call last night.  The storm is now supposed to move in late this morning, first with freezing rain and sleet and then with up to 20" of snow.  It is being called the storm of the century and I'm still skeptical.  People are preparing for the worse as is evident in this photo.  I stopped by Bread Co for breakfast and the parking lot was slathered in salt.  It was so prevelant that I thought that had already gotten a dusting of snow.  It wasn't until closer inspection that I realized they were actually prepping for the storm.

112/365: Will They Ring?

I learned quickly that any time there is snow or ice forecasted, I sleep with my phones by the bedside.  Sometime tonight, tomorrow, or tomorrow night there is an "epic" winter storm supposed to hit St. Louis.  Now I know that could mean a foot of snow or flurries.  Still, nothing is worse than hunting for the phone or phones at 4:30AM.  And now that I have multiple phones, I cannot predict which one, if any, will ring.  Personally, I don't care so much about a snow day tomorrow, I'm rooting for Tuesday.  I'm supposed to work until 8PM on Tuesday night and I'd love to have that night home with my family.  Anything else would all be gravy.

105/365: Snow Ride, Take It Easy

There are some rides that are more epic than others. And then there is just plain craziness. This one falls somewhere on that spectrum. Lo & Alice planned our little adventure this morning--the City on cx bikes. Kate and Cindi were on board, and I invited Ryan to our little adventure.




Ryan had time constraints, so he and I met a little early. We headed down West Pine to Forest Park. I didn't know if I'd make it upright through those two blocks. It was thick and slow going. I kept telling myself to pedal through softly. We hit cleared pavement and the rest wasn't so bad. We did a lap through the park and headed back to meet the rest of the group. Somehow West Pine didn't seem as treacherous on the way back.



The group headed east from Ventana. Just as we were heading out, the snow began to fall. Couple that with an east wind, and Lindell was a bear to ride. Cindy turned around near downtown because she was riding slick cx tires and the roads were getting sketchy. From Lindell we took Broadway to Choteau. We stopped at the Taco Bell parking lot because I swore I had another flat. (I did have a tire kit with me though!) It was solid, but I think the snow and ice on my rim caused it to feel bumpy. Ryan needed to head back from there, and considering I had lost feeling in my fingers, I decided I would too. The ladies kept going for a bit longer. Our ride down Choteau was excellent. We had a tail wind the whole way. We cut back over to Ventana via Vandevener, and enjoyed a latte before heading home.

Kate had the right idea with the ski goggles.