I can’t believe how quickly the weather and temperature can change here in Tucson.  I thought Santa Fe and New Mexico was netorious for extreme fluxes in winter weather, but so far, my time here in Arizona has been a battle between my leg warmers with gloves and shorts with sunscreen.
  On Wednesday it was a sunny, warm, beautiful day.  I swam in the morning and spent the day in and out of the house in a tank top and shorts without the slightest chill.  I cleaned up my bikes and got some good shots of the crew:

 I didn’t believe the weather forecast saying that just the next day there was going to be a storm warming of rain and snow.
   Well, Thursday morning rolled around and pool time was shrouded in thick clouds and a threatening arrival of wind.  By the time I drove home at 10:30am it had started raining, and by noon, when I parked my bike in the living room for an expectantly boring training ride, it was raining pretty hard.  Over the next 2 hours I watched out the window as light rain turned to fat snow chunks.

The desert foothills of Tucson was being covered in a layer of white stuff that even the cactus thorns couldn’t protect themselves against.  All day it snowed and made the usually warm climate a winter wonderland.

   As Friday came around, sunshine was forecasted and that’s what we got.  Still a bit cold in the 50’s (living here makes you pretty weak to temperatures that would be warm in other places).  So I got out on my bike mid-day and headed towards Mt. Lemmon for my workout.  I was dubious as to how far I would be able to go up, but as I climbed my working heat and hard head got the best of me and I just kept going.  Even as dry roads turned into pilled banks of snow on the side of the road, I still persisted.  By the 13 mile mark I was pretty cold and clouds had covered the mountain with more snow on the way.  Let’s just say it was a COLD ride down and the rest of the way home.  Hands so frozen and stiff that I couldn’t change gears is not such a nice feeling.  I was happy to be home and jump in a hot shower to defrost my fingers and toes.

Despite such a cold ride, I still think its incredible that one day its hot and warm, the next its snowing a blizzard, and the next I’m out on my bike again climbing the mountain.  What a winter!