The Big Meltdown?

Earlier this week, Appleton was enduring overnight lows of -8 to -10 F with daytime highs of less than 10 degrees. But in the last 24 hours, a warm front has moved in, sending temperatures on Sunday up to an almost balmy 41 degrees. Here is the forecast for the rest of the week.

A lot of snow melted today. A lot more is going to melt in the next few days. I went skiing at Plamann Park on Saturday, and there were a few spots where the snow was pretty thin--a base of just a few inches. After today, that has to be bare ground. And in the next few days, there will be a lot of bare ground. It looks like ski season may be over. Unless we get another major winter storm hat drops 6-8 inches of snow, I think it is time to hang the skis up. Last year one could ski until the end of February, but this early thaw will leave us with little snow, even if it does cool back off.

So now the question becomes when can one get out on the road bike. Wednesday and Thursday both look promising. I won't be able to get out both of those days, but I'll try to get out probably on Thursday and do about 20 miles to warm up the legs. And then maybe next weekend, with highs around 30, it may be possible to get some short 10-15 mile rides in. Not much, but it looks like it is time to start thinking about the bike again.