Curse you spring!

Breakup is here in all its nastiness. Cigarette butts, trash, gravel, various car fluids and the occasional body litter the streets and trails of Fairbanks. I think we call it breakup because that is kind of what you want to do when you see it. Spring comes to Alaska like morning after an all night bender and you realize that you are not alone, and worse yet, the company you are keeping is not pretty. Mornings are characterized by patches and sheets of ice hiding in innocuous places, during the day these same slick patches become unbelievable slush and goo. Derailleurs that have been content and wonderful all winter quickly become gobbed with who knows what. Bikes become indistinguishable as a layer of grime begins to coat them. Did I mention it is just plain icky?

The upside of all this is that eventually it will recede. Since half of my street is now dry, I managed to throw out my ramp and practice a few hops along with the year’s first wheelie. My brother and mom were up for the weekend and since my brother doesn’t ride, it was fun watching him take the ramp. My P bike seems brand new despite the fact that I rode it at the indoor park a couple of times this winter.

Trail riding is still a ways off (it will be June before the trails are even close to dry), but urban riding is just around the corner. Spring in Alaska may be the worst, but there is always light at the end of the tunnel.