With unseasonably warm temperatures and clear skies, I decide to hop on my bike for a 22-mile circuit from my house around the Titicus Reservoir and back. You don’t get many of these days in February so you have to take advantage of them when they pop up.
My bike needs little maintenance beyond filling up the tires with 60 pounds of air. Layered up I am ready to pedal.The streets are fairly devoid of sand and salt, unusual for February. The air is cool and fresh with little scent. My muscles warming, I get into a steady groove on my bike. Heading for North Salem, NY, I pass Turtle pond, which is in the middle of eutrophication. Small trees, seed heads of cattails (Typha) and other growth is taking over the northwestern portion of the pond. This change has not stopped local children from pushing away the snow to form a home made skating rink.
Entering North Salem, I am always in earshot of running water along the road and the many streams running near. The beginnings of vernal ponds are forming in wooded spots and expansive lawns. The wind pushes against me with varying temperatures depending if it comes across the dark asphalt or the white piles and sheets of snow on the adjoining grounds.
I take my first rest at a boat launching spot that is being used by a dog and pair of ice fishermen, who dot the shores around the reservoir. With ice receding from this body of water, I think them all mad for journeying out on such a fickle platform. I shout out asking about luck and with that a fisherman pulls out a perch from its former watery home. I wave and continue my ride.
The reservoir continues to be covered with ice, right up to the spillway of the dam. The ground is frozen rock hard with little hint of any growth. I pass a lovely trophy greenhouse and raised beds seeing little use though they are perfect for winter vegetables and seedlings. But as I end my trip I notice one of the early harbingers of Spring: A greening weeping willow (Salix babylonica).
