Winter to Summer in 2 weeks or less...

When we picked up our new bikes less than 2 weeks ago, it was rainy and cold (near freezing) and even a bit of snow mixed in. Yesterday it was 31 C here, a new record for May 17. You just never know around here with the weather, for now it almost looks like we skipped spring entirely ...

(see, it's lack of familiarity with such warmth that led me to go running yesterday in the late afternoon, the hottest part of the day, needless to say it didn't go too well.. actually it was more desperation that I have the Coronation Triathlon in just over a week and need to do more running to get up to 8 km beforehand.)

Interesting how prior to my recent trip to Victoria late April/early May, I remember thinking how brown everything was here in Edmonton - snow melted early, lots of gravel still on the roads from winter, grass not greening up yet and leaves not yet coming out on the trees. Therefore, Victoria was quite the contrast - the friends I stayed with were apologizing that a recent storm had blown all the blossoms off the trees, and that the deer in their neighbourhood generally eat all the tulips. And I'm just thinking to myself, "Green leaves... green grass... flowers... wow... "

But when I returned from Victoria, in just a week there was much more green here - to the point now where it's actually quite green, the lilacs are blooming, and the blossoming trees are starting to bloom as well (including our crabapple). Even the really slow-to-leaf-out ash trees the City planted on our block are starting to turn green ... I have really noticed the change on some of my bike rides recently, now if only they'd clean the gravel off the roads :-)

Bike update - still getting used to the new bike but went 10 km the other day, mostly still using the mountain bike because that's what I'll be doing the triathlon on, impressed with myself that I've made it up a couple of hills this year that I hadn't been able to do before (going north on the old country club road from Westridge to Rio Terrace, going south on the old 184 Street through Wedgewood Ravine), and a few that I hadn't been on before (Keillor Road, bike path beside the Whitemud Freeway down to Rainbow Valley and back up again, going east). So maybe I will get the courage to tackle Emily Murphy Hill, and thus perhaps enter the triathlon in conjunction with the World Cup here in July.

One other comment about Victoria - contrasts! Like between the $25 million house for sale in Uplands that we drove by (or even the Gordon Head area where I stayed one night with friends), and the derelict building and homeless people across the street from the hotel where I stayed during my conference.