Oh no, spring is on the way

I realized this week, with some alarm, that the first Randonneurs Ontario Ottawa Chapter ride of the season, a 60 km populaire, is on March 18, three weeks away. In one sense this is good news: beginning of cycling season, herald of spring etc. On the other hand, during the winter the only cycling I do is commuting and the occasional errand, so I haven't ridden more than 15 or 20 km at once since about October. I've got to get out and do some longer rides in the next couple of weeks. Excellant descriptions of winter rides like this and this and this make me think I should get out more in the winter. I really hate the cold though. My hands get painfully cold and useless for doing anything very quickly. I'm ok commuting, wearing my giant thrummed mittens (I wear shells over mine), but I doubt I could fix a flat in real cold. On the other hand things are warming up now (although it's only -13 C this morning) and I really must get some miles in the legs.