"Oh, you're going to get it..."

Do you remember that feeling you used to get when you were a child and you knew you were going to be in trouble? Not just 'trouble' but life ending, seriously deep, capital T-trouble.  At the time you were committing whichever atrocity it might have been you knew that if you got caught then that would be the end of you. The fundamentally ominous foreboding experienced at the words, “Wait until your father gets home,” or “Go to your room until I talk to your mother.” Only prisoners on death row dining on their last meals can relate to the sense of knowing terror awaiting the child caught with their hand in the cookie jar; awaiting the inevitable spanking, chewing out or interminable grounding to come.

Riding in today amidst the warmth of the rising sun, a cool 30 morning on this eve of Thanksgiving, I gave thanks. I gave the thanks of a cyclist, the thanks of a child, who knows he is about to be punished. I’m so thankful for all that I’ve been given…and while I’m at it…I’m really sorry too for a whole bunch of stuff and whatever…amen. On the north western horizon of the metro area stands a wall of seriously heavy dark clouds. The blizzard, arriving as promised to the northern and central front range. By nightfall our temperature may be 6 degrees. The winds might be blowing at 30mph. It also might be snowing…or raining frogs…or both, who knows? All I know is that I’ll be on a bike headed westbound at about 4:30pm…preparing to be spanked.

Third time's a...lot like the second

With the prospect of a 3rd straight day of foul weather in front of me I sucked it up and started out for Lookout early. I wanted to get it over with. A constant stream of drizzle followed me out to the mountain and about a mile up before turning to large snow flakes. While cold and damp it didn’t feel insufferably cold and damp like the previous days. The road didn’t cling to the moisture from the flakes the way it had with the rain. I passed two guys on mountain bikes at the start and a runner about half way up the route. I saw two cars on my climb, that’s it. One passed me very gingerly shortly after I saw the runner. The second passed me towards the top and as if having read the comments on my post the other day, promptly stopped at the entrance to Buffalo Bill’s grave at the top. Not quite turning in and not quite going straight. I scooted by them and stopped to take these pictures.

The orange sign in the background warns driver's of the up coming closure next weekend for the Lookout Hill Climb. Hopefully by then the scenery has changed.

Towards the bottom of the hill I encountered a piece of radial or staple of some kind and had the pleasure of changing a tire with cold, wet hands, in the cold wet air. When finished I was shaking pretty badly and done with Lookout for the day. As if sensing my defeat Mother Nature decided to turn tables on me and the clouds started to part. The road on the way back dried almost instantly. I started to see riders passing me on 32nd on their way west to Golden. Lucky bastards. I suppose I shouldn’t have been so eager to get going; patience would have afforded me a better ride…oh well. Suffering builds character, at least that’s what I’m going to keep telling myself.

A Thank You Note

Dear Mother Nature,

Boy, you are one messed up lady; very schizophrenic this time of year aren’t you! This is Jason: I ride my bike a lot to work and around town and stuff. I just wanted to write and thank you for the torrential downpour yesterday morning. That was really entertaining. I could swear it wasn’t raining when I left my house…but I could be wrong (silly me!) I’m sorry I missed the hail though, that would have been a real hoot. I guess I got to work too early for that. But your 40+mph headwind last night on the ride home really gave my thighs the much needed workout they’ve recently been missing. I fought pretty hard on that downhill along 26th to Kipling and still only made 17 or 18 mph. That Surly Long Haul Trucker just isn’t aero enough for your gale force winds: I need to get some TT bars and slap them on it, maybe that will help!

But really, the snow today was top notch; really a great touch. It picked up just enough to smack me full on for my entire ride to work: I’m glad I didn’t miss any of it. You know that wet spring snow, its so tenacious: I had rain pants and full shoe covers on and my socks are still wet! Very well done MN! I do however wish more of the snow would have stuck to the roadway. The slush helped a bit, but really the snow didn’t stick...fortunately that left plenty to stick to my drive train components! The Surly makes a great single speed once you freeze up the rest of the cassette with ice and slush. Good thing that happened on the long downhill along 20th so I would get to enjoy my 11 tooth cassette ring the rest of the way to work. I now appreciate the full heft of a laden, cromoly steel, touring bike even more after today: thanks again MN you’re swell! I’m glad I brought that towel to wipe my bike down, too bad you can’t wipe away frozen slush from in between the teeth of cogs—I guess it will just have to melt naturally and rust my components even more; golly that will be great.

Well, I’m sure glad you’re having fun with yourself. You really look to be in rare form this spring. If I’m lucky maybe there will be locusts this afternoon or it will rain toads like in a cataclysmic biblical sense. That would be the cherry on top for sure.

Bye For Now!
--jason (of the Surly—surely—wet sock and boxer clan)

"How you like me now Denver?"--Mother Nature

Mother Nature spited the Primal 1st Bank Training camp on Friday and Saturday last weekend, but in an apparent extension of good will gave us a great Sunday for riding. Well not wanting to lull us into a false sense of self confidence she’s back and kicking us in the balls again. Denver’s getting nailed by the biggest snow storm to strike Denver in the local media’s recent (short attention span) memory. And while I generally disregard all the talk of blizzards and such nonsense, this one might live up to the hype.

Thanks to the crap weather which struck landfall here in Denver around 3:00...in earnest at least…the ride home SUCKED. The cold, driving, north wind; the stinging sleet and damp snow; the frosty, opaque glasses; wet socks; slush and splash back from cars; you name it this ride had it. Its almost April, what have we done to deserve this? I want to ride my bike on dry, sandless streets. I want to wear shorts, without knee warmers. I want a warm breeze and sunshine. Well I could carry on like this for a while, but at this point I’m home safe and so is my wife so I’m hoping for the best: Blizzard 2010, sock it in baby…I want pancakes for breakfast.

I can tell by the tracks...bikes were here.

All smiles:  snow won't stop this intrepid rider.

Blowing snow.

Surly Anton Oh-No!

Leaving the Lucky Strike bowling alley downtown around 9:00 last night, the “storm” that arrived just in time to turn the rush hour commute into a wet mess had more or less run its course. The blanket of clouds unveiled a few dark holes revealing the faint trace of dim stars. What a lovely evening it turned out to be. Heading home Kate asked if I thought the heavily soaked roads would dry or at least remain wet by morning…the appropriate answer at that point should have been “No way in hell.” But I coolly replied that I thought they’d likely dry if the clouds parted and drier air moved in overnight. I am no meteorologist.

After walking the dog this morning Kate returned and pronounced after “nearly falling twice while crossing 20th,” that she would be taking her bike on the bus with her to work today. I contemplated my options but succumbed to my far-sighted mannishness and hopped on the bike. I can say that I have jumped out of a plane, led multi-pitch climbing routes with both traditional and free techniques, flown on a Russian airline and slept under a bridge in Texas in the winter. I have done many crazy and seemingly stupid things. Yet I cannot recall a time in recent memory where I’ve had more “Oh Shit” moments than on the ride in to work today. I wish I could have effectively captured the conditions of the road with my crap Sanyo camera phone, but the radiating glare of mirrored black ice only translated into hazy white splotches with every picture taken. I’d need some serious equipment and actual photographic abilities to truly do photographic justice to the god awful state of this morning's roads.

While I made my way through the neighborhood, I managed to keep to the shoulders where the snow accumulated at least enough to provide some sense of traction. On 20th the crusty ice in the bike lane crackled, snapped and popped like Rice Krispies or Pop Rocks. If you want a test of your bike handling skills very quickly get your bike out to Lakewood, Colorado before the temp rises and head down 20th to Carr. I could have brushed my teeth and combed my hair while looking at my reflection on Carr St. The entire stretch from 20th to 14th, my typical snow day detour, was a full curb to curb sheet of ice. The handful of drivers that slowly inched past me gladly returned my look of terror and panic because no one was going to have traction on that crap (the zig zag of previous vehicle tracks assured us of that). I actually think Kim Yu-Na passed me on Carr near the Volkswagen dealer…she didn’t give me 3ft either #@!%&. Cars spun their wheels in a futile effort to purchase hold of the asphalt while trying to cross Colfax. Turning onto 14th I fish tailed but managed to catch myself without putting my foot down; I only unclipped a half dozen or so times but never had to step down…doing so likely wouldn’t have helped much as my shoes had less traction than my tires. I scientifically tested this theory every time I stopped at a light. With every pedal stroke I shifted my weight to find balance and prayed that I wouldn't eat shit. I had a close call with some tracks on 14th. I ran out of shoulder and barely made it into the lane of traffic by Sheridan. I both cursed and prayed to every god and deity imaginable before I finally made it to drier land; I even busted out some chants from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom just to be safe....Kali-Ma owes me big time.

Leaving Lakewood and heading into Denver the conditions improved with each block towards the city center. By the time I neared Federal I felt much more relaxed. I was no longer tasting bile and my heart rate had edged back considerably (back to Zone 2 where Cat 3 Captain Jordan "I don't bowl" says I should be). I knew I’d make it at this point...maybe Kali-Ma likes me afterall. Perhaps next time I’ll be a bit more judicious in my decisions to ride in to work on ice. On the other hand as I’ve repeatedly proven in the past, what hasn’t killed me actually makes for a really great story. It also serves to increase the thickness of my skull such that, when the opportunity arises and being the dimwitted fool that I inevitably am, I’ll eagerly do it again, and again, and again...good times.

Enough about the weather already!

In looking back at the past couple posts I’ve noticed that I dwell on the weather quite a bit. If you farm or your livelihood depends on the elements, than the weather forecast and daily predictions becomes a key focal point of your day. Everyone talks about when it will rain or when the rain will stop. I think the same principle applies if you ride your bike to work: the forecast means everything, and the weather takes up a significant portion of one’s attention. Today the weather folks are calling for a chance of snow, potentially starting as early as noon. I really don’t like forecasts like this. I don’t mind riding in the snow or rain, but honestly must say that I almost prefer not to know that it will rain or snow and just be surprised. With a surprise at least you don’t anticipate it and you just react and deal. But now that I find myself armed with the knowledge of what might befall the afternoon I’ll start checking the windows more often and invariably will hit the news site more frequently to see the mercury drop. Well, why watch the weather then? That’s a good question, especially since I paint it in such a painful light. But you have to know. You need to be able to plan for what’s in store in order to be prepared in case it happens: it’s the Boy Scout in me I guess, that wants to “Be Prepared”—damn Boy Scout commonsense brainwashing. If I need long underwear, rain jacket or bus fare I want to have it and not risk missing it desperately later. The unfortunate side effect of this readiness is the resulting pall cast over the entire day in anticipation of bad weather. Maybe it is just my Seasonal Affective Disorder kicking in…I’ve been moody, just ask my wife...but we’ve had cold and snow now the past two weekends which has limited some team rides, kept clouds overhead and made it less pleasant riding in each day (though today’s 28 wasn’t bad at all.) For a February this should be expected, and I really have nothing to complain about. But I guess that never stopped me before. For the record its still only 28.

Bikes at the Winter Olympics 2014!

Tonight marks the opening of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Ho-hum. As a Colorado resident and skier I appreciate the bountiful diversity of winter sport: snow shoeing, cross country skiing, backcountry skiing etc. But Super G?—I’m not that in to it. Skeleton?—nope. Ice Dancing…? You get the idea. Winter sports are great but leave me wanting a bit more, and besides this is a bike oriented blog and not a ski one. So the question is, where are all the bikes at the Winter Games? You can ride bikes in winter (it can actually be harder than riding bikes in the summer), so why discriminate against biking at the Olympics?

For all intents and purposes Cyclocross could be a winter game; Cross season really just ended in December/January so why not reinstate it for the games in February? Just scrape off some of the snow (leaving enough to make it interesting), put some logs on the track, a pile of sand, some steps, beer and voila’: a cross race. Pile up some of those curling rocks and make them ride over them; that would be awesome. Hit the riders with brooms too, why the hell not?—its Cross! Ok if not Cyclocross, how about cross country riding on Pugsleys? Have you ever seen one of these monsters? It rivals the Moots Ice Bike I highlighted in this post. These beefy rigs easily could crush through snow on a cross country ski circuit. Instead of skiing and shooting, how about cross country skiing while being chased by any angry messenger on a Pugsley shooting you with paint balls? It would be like the Kerin but more entertaining.

Winter is also the season of the Velodrome as many cyclists do find the cold too daunting and retreat to the comfort of the indoor track: so why not include indoor riding as a winter event? You could cover the Velodrome with ice and everyone could ride studded tires if the Olympic organizers really feel it that important for there to be a ‘cold’ element. Another great event would be the overnight, outdoor trainer ride. Put spandex clad riders on trainers in the freezing Vancouver winter air and make them ride all night: the rider alive and pedaling at dawn takes the gold. If that’s not Nordic I don’t know what is…certainly Disney on Ice isn’t.

Finally, I suppose there are in fact ski-bikes. They don’t have wheels, or pedals or really anything resembling a bike other than handlebars and a seat. They are more akin to motor-less snowmobiles for people who can’t ski and don’t mind looking ridiculous. If one could get over the humiliation of riding one of these, they could be quite competitive in a winter sports environment. I’m sure at least the athlete’s parents would come and watch the event. Then again they’d probably get more enjoyment out of looking at Lindsey Vonn’s shins.

So I’m starting my petition now: Cycling Events at the 2014 Winter Games! Who’s with me?


Cross pic taken from www.pedalpushersonline.com
Pugsley pic taken from www.surlybikes.com
Ski Bike from www.skibike.net

Surly

Surly: bad-tempered, unfriendly, rude, and somewhat threatening

The bad tempered part pretty much summed up my attitude this morning when I woke to find 3-4 more inches of snow on the ground. Didn’t Mother Nature know that I have a new bike I wanted to ride to work today? I procrastinated my departure all morning, shuffling around, lounging on the bed, anything to avoid either riding in the crap or catching a ride. I tend to be one of those people who can readily forgo the lure of material possessions, however when I do have something I somewhat obsess over it. I’ve always been very diligent about taking care of things, almost to the point of neurosis. The advantage is that your stuff tends to last longer and look newer for the life of the object. The bad part is that your wife gets annoyed at your perpetual fussing and you never get comfortable with things. I hated the idea of riding my new bike this morning. I think it almost made me violently ill; certain that I’d crash it or get it covered in Mag Chloride and have it totally eaten through with rust by the afternoon. My psychosis was bad enough I almost considered riding my Cannondale instead…how sick is that?

Then I recalled something that I read in a book or on a blog once about people who covet their bikes. The author, making fun of people who have “rainy day bikes” said something to the effect of, “Bikes are tools and nothing more.” A bike doesn’t have a soul. A bike isn’t your best friend. It won’t last forever. Keeping them inside all the time, or stored in your dining room (what nut job would store a bike in their dining room…oh yeah me…) only speaks to the degree to which you’ve come to project emotions onto an object that never had them to begin with. This mental state is sick. It is wrong and it had me firmly in its grasp. I needed to just build a bridge and get over it: time to ride.

Well if a bike is a tool, then the tool you want for riding on a cold, snowy, slick, awful day such as today is a Surly Long Haul Trucker. It would be like showing up to a duel with an AK-47… “Oh you meant pistols at dawn? Kak-kak-kak-kak-kak—suckka!” I’m not sure if it’s the weight of the bike, the wide track of the wheels, the tread on the Continentals or my superior, innate bike handling prowess or what (it could be my prowess, don’t laugh), but the bike hammered through the snow, slush and crud. Where my Cannondale would have chattered and bounced among the tracks and blocks of snow on the shoulder, the LHT plowed through them with ease. Halfway through my ride I became thoroughly convinced that if everyone had an LHT no one would fear riding in snow. I couldn’t believe I almost grabbed a ride or hopped the bus today. Think how sad my bike would have been sitting in the garage missing out on its opportunity to prove itself…ok personifying again. But it would have been an insult to the folks at Surly who took a very brash and menacing attitude towards the elements when they crafted this bike; like cold-cocking Mother Nature in the eye and not even feeling bad about it.

So I made it to work and pulled in to the bike room glad to have ridden. I didn’t crash. I didn’t drop the bike on ice or slip on some slush. I made it in one piece and I think my Surly will live to ride another day…especially since I brought a little towel with me to wipe it off and make sure that Mag Chloride leaves my shiny blue CroMoly alone...its all about baby steps, old habits die hard...the first step is admitting you have a problem.

Its What One May Call: An Error In Judgment

Living and working where I do affords me ample options for riding to and from work. I have routes which amble through quiet neighborhoods providing a traffic free, comfortable easy commute. I can access wide main roads with bike lanes for quick, purposeful commuting. I can meander about (particularly when the construction on the nearby light rail is finished) and hit bike paths and parks barely getting on the road at all. Suffice it to say I have options, and one of the key aspects of being a seasoned and skilled bike commuter is knowing which option to pick at the right time.

I got out of work a bit later tonight than previous nights and missed the opportunity to ride in the pale light of dusk. Together with the warmish temperature and nearly full moon I thought it might be worth taking one of my routes out 23rd past Sloan’s Lake through Edgewater. I rode close to this route yesterday but had more daylight so I stuck to the main road, 26th, and went the more direct route. I generally don’t mind riding on 26th, even in the dark, but thought the trek out 25th by the lake would be scenic and more enjoyable; not to mention involve less traffic. The warm weather helped to soften the layer of ice and snow on some of the side streets making the ride up from 17th to 23rd a bit trickier. I knew this bit would be snowy from yesterday’s ride but did not anticipate it being quite so slushy and rutted. But this part of the ride is short, so undeterred I continued on my merry way. Twenty-third was clear and offered an open bike lane all the way to Sloan’s Lake. Heading around Sloan’s Lake I found the condition of 25th to be a little less to my liking. Spots of somewhat melted ice and snow mixed with patches of firmer ice and tire tracks; much like what I saw earlier in my ride but frustratingly with an open southern exposure. This road should have been clear. I nearly lost it a handful of times and eventually settled for riding in the opposite lane of traffic (no one uses that road so it is safe, trust me). Getting to Sheridan I had options to bail on my present course, but stubbornness prevailed (one of my better traits) and I continued westward on 25th.

The heavier traffic on 25th through Edgewater helped to make this route less treacherous than the road around the park. Still, the homes and trees along 25th helped to block much of the day’s sunlight leaving a faint, icy mess behind. I pieced together as many solid stretches of pavement as possible while navigating through the continents of ice and slush strewn across the street. At this point the pace of my progress and level of frustration started to eat away at my stubbornness ever so slightly; certainly not enough to change my path…but enough to cause me to realize the error of my ways. All I needed to do was make it past the church at the end of 25th and cut up to 26th where I knew the road would be clear and safe for easy bike travel. I gave a guy in an old Toyota 4 Runner a show as I demonstrated my superior bike handling skills on this last little stretch: “Get that knee out, balance! Brake, pedal, shit, go, stop, knee…” Some weaving, a bit of wobbling and I coasted up to the stop at 26th ready to head left. Safe and sound yet again, I have to say that in hindsight I probably could have selected an easier route. However having successfully navigated a mess that should have easily dropped me on my ass more than a couple times I have to admit there’s part of me that feels a bit proud to have pedaled my way through without dropping a foot or my head onto the ground. One of these days maybe I’ll demonstrate better judgment up front and save myself the trouble…or I’ll just get bigger tires and subsequently an even bigger head.

The Mountains Turn Blue When the Bike is Cold

This weekend thankfully brought two days of non-Arctic temperatures and as a result I found ample opportunity to thoroughly clean off my bike and address some of the wear and tear from the prior week of hellish commuting. I generally consider myself an avid bike maintainer. Sure I'll have a moment where my chain gets a little cruddy, or I forget to check my tire pressure before heading out on a ride. But normally I respect and appreciate the value of routine bike maintenance. However, after a sub-zero ride home in the dark over ice and snow, nose dripping with snot, eyelids frozen open, cheeks burning the last thing I want to do is grab a wet towel and brush and spend a half hour scrubbing my bike. Over the past week I attempted to "make due" with some spray on bike cleaner and a quick brushing; admittedly this was quite half assed. I also rode with a noticeable wobble in my rear tire thinking that at some point it might warm enough to spend the time in the garage truing the wheel. Surveying the damage on Saturday (in daylight, with my teeth not chattering and rattling my eyes around in my skull) I certainly had not done enough and the state of my bike verged closely on neglect. The crud factor reached an impressive height and the wobbly wheel wasn't just out of true, I'd broken a spoke. 

As I set about making my repairs and scrubbing mag-chloride off my bike, I pondered the effects of cold weather on bikes. "What the hell is all this crap on my bike really doing to it?" "Why did my spoke break? Was it the cold causing excess tension in the wheel?" "How else might Mother Nature be trashing my old Cannondale?" One can find plenty of blogs and articles to offer suggestions on how the intrepid winter rider should protect his or herself while riding in the cold, but there are few articles which discuss the physical effects of the cold on bicycles. Aside from the reminder about proper maintenance and cleaning, I could not recall having ever seen anything explicit about protecting the bike from winter elements.

With my curiosity peaked I sat down to a bit o’ web browsing and tried to find information about what physically or technically happens to bikes in the cold: the resulting pickins were kind of slim. Nonetheless here are some of the insights I gleaned.

From the folks at http://www.icebike.org/

• Cold Bearings and grease are stiffer and harder to turn.

• Your tires are colder and therefore have greater rolling resistance.

In an article called, “Cold Weather Touring” by Dennis Coello

• Cable Housings: Seal up all cracks before you head out, for water will seep in, freeze up, and cause you headaches.

From the wisdom of the late Sheldon Brown

• “Shimmy or Speed Wobble” by Jobst Brandt: Shimmy that concerns riders the most occurs with hands firmly on the bars and it is rider generated by muscular effect whose natural response is the same as the shimmy frequency, about that of Human shivering. Descending in cold weather can be difficult for this reason. The rider's "death grip" only enhances the incidence of shimmy in this situation. Loosely holding the bars between thumb and forefinger is a way of avoiding shimmy when cold.

• One of my ways of dealing with cold weather is to cover my helmet's ventilation holes with tape. (Not a bike specific item, but worth considering. All that summer ventilation for cooling really does the job at 10 degrees.)

From an article titled, “Winter Cycling Tips”

• Steel gets more brittle at winter temperatures but I haven't seen any steel frames or components break from the cold.

• Aluminum and titanium don't get significantly more brittle at winter temperatures.

• Aluminum shrinks more than steel as it cools and on a bike with a steel fork and aluminum frame the headset will get loose when it's very cold.

• Plastics do get brittle and we see waterbottle cages, toeclips, pedals and the sheathing on cable housing break all winter. If the plastic cracks on indexed shifter housing, the housing will buckle and the shifting won't work.

• You can reinforce the shifter housing with heat-shrink tubing (available at electrical supply stores) to prevent this problem. The size that fits best is 3/16".

• Elastomer suspensions generally stop moving between 20 F and 0 F but they don't seem to be damaged by the cold.
• Oil-damped suspension systems are often damaged by operating at low temperatures You can change the oil in them to avoid this or install a rigid fork
• Only bring a cold bike indoors if you can keep it there until it's dried off completely.  (I would love to know more about this little tid-bit of information...do they explode? Anyone have a bike they'd dedicate to the cause of science?)
• If you bring a room temperature bike out into cold snow and ride it immediately, the snow thrown up by the tires may freeze onto brakes and derailleurs.

And while I did find loads of suggestions and tips for cleaning one's bike and ridding it of de-icer, salt and other winter road contaminants, none were more graphically described than what I saw on the Boston Biker website. The article is titled, "Winter Riding In Boston – Winter Bicycle Maintenance" but really it should be called, "Bike Abuse and Neglect: Taking Bikes Away from Bad Parents."  Take a look at this...it makes my neglect seem downright positive in comparison (not for the faint of heart).

I'd love to know if this actually turns.

Though that color might go great with a set of green Deep V's (AYHSMB's Style).

The site also discusses the risk of grit penetrating hubs, bottom brackets, headsets and other sensitive areas. So you really need to keep your bike clean and potentially follow some of the other suggestions for prepping your bike if you live in an area prone to crappy winters like they must have in Boston.

So my research did not yield anything too earth shattering. Sure the physical properties of metal and plastic can change a bit in cold weather, but there are in fact fewer moving parts and opportunities for failure on a bike than say our friend the automobile. So while it might seem mind boggling, if not outright insane, to want to ride when its 5 degrees out, don't think you're bike is helping to talk you out of it. It wants to go for a ride...it always wants to go for a ride. And if you don't believe me then maybe you should get a bike like this:

Mike Curiak's 2007 Moots Snow Bike

Now this bike doesn't give a shit how cold it is, and might straight up slap you and call you Nancy for suggesting otherwise.

Snow+Dumb-Bus=Freezing

My skepticism got the best of me this morning when I woke up to find that it had in fact snowed overnight as promised. During the drive home from the airport yesterday I heard the DJ on the radio indicate that the forecast for Tuesday night included a high chance for snow. I distinctly recall looking at the weather online sometime on Sunday—or maybe Monday—prior to our coming back home; snow was assuredly not in the forecast. That hazy memory coupled with the blue skies and warm day time temperature on Tuesday clearly implied to me that the weather folks assuredly got this one wrong.

Well Mother Nature certainly did not disappoint in both snow as well as making me look a fool! Now we did not get a blizzard or anything like that so there is no point in being overly dramatic. However it did snow and the temperature was in the mid-teens this morning: yhe good ship Indian Summer ran aground somewhere last night and left frosty decay and black ice in its wake. Thankfully after our ‘multi-modal’ day adventures I found myself in possession of 6 one way bus tickets all conveniently with an expiration date of 12/31/09 (I wasn’t aware of that fact at the time I bought them). So with ride coupons to burn I thought, what the heck get on the bus. This proved slightly more difficult than I initially thought; interestingly none of my issues were even remotely bike related. Getting out of the neighborhood was easy enough despite the packed-snow- transformed-into-sheet-of-ice covering the road. In hindsight, given the ease at which I navigated our neighborhood streets, I should have just continued on the rest of the way.

Instead, I opted to hold to true to what I told my wife were my plans and got off the road to wait for the bus. Before I left I checked the bus schedule and swear it said there was a bus due around 7:12 (I arrived promptly at 7:10). After about 20 minutes of standing around in the snow and freezing temperature I began to think I somehow erred in my calculations. Perhaps I read the time for the stop at Wadsworth, which certainly wouldn’t have done me any favors. Perhaps the bus was early and my 7:10 was cutting it too close. Or, the schedule we have is admittedly a year old, and probably needs to go out with the recycling; but really do the routes change that much from year to year? In any case, I was left hanging and freezing. I thought after 20 minutes a bus certainly would be due: guess again genius. Ok, 30 minutes?—getting warmer, figuratively that is, physically I was beyond numb and nearly ready to hop on my bike and race off into traffic to end it all before a couple other fellow bus riders at last started to appear. Shortly thereafter the bus arrived. I didn’t catch the time which might have made a nice little nugget of wisdom to tuck away for another such day where I’m apt to repeat this all over again. The lesson learned from all of this? Get a current schedule? Measure twice freeze briefly? Nope, the lesson is wait 10 minutes and then start peddling otherwise your toes won’t thaw until 9:30am.

Tomorrow it could snow again…and is supposed to be 6 degrees at go-time. I think I’ll be a bit more prepared in case they go 2 for 2.