A break from the Polar Vortex

I have been in the Maine for the last 10 years and this is as cold a winter as I can remember.  With all the media hype of a polar vortex dominating the winter, it was great to flip the calendar to February and be greeted by a mild weekend.  Downeast Racing was not the only group with cycling on the brain, as an impromptu SMR was organized and 20+ rides pushed the pedals through South Portland and Cape Elizabeth on Saturday morning.  Downeast Racing was well represented (at the pointy end of the peloton) with 5 members of the team participating in the ride, but more importantly most of us took advantage of the weather to put in a sizable day of training before and/or after the SMR.  It was a welcomed break from the trainer and with the thermometer touching 40 degrees on Sunday  I couldn't pass up the opportunity of logging a few more miles on the road.  I reached out to team sponsor, Zev Myerowitz (an Ironman Triathlete) of Cape Chiropractic for some company and we put in an easy afternoon dodging rain showers and puddles in Cape Elizabeth.  The conditions were not perfect, the gloves and booties were soaked with water and road grime after 2.5 hours of riding, but I have to remind myself that it beats the trainer any day! Zev and I changed quickly, made a trip to local car wash to clean off our road bikes then we settled down to a bacon, mash potato and scallion pizza at Otto as a reward for our efforts.  If only every winter weekend could be so accommodating.  We can hope.