We finally received a fair amount of snow in the Twin Cities Tuesday night and I thought Wednesday was going to defeat me. I woke up to about 3 inches of snow in the backyard. I was very excited to get out and ride in it. I was finally able to get outside around 10 am. I almost crashed in the driveway as it wasn't the nice fluffy snow I had hoped for. It was the wet, sticky stuff I hate. Great for making snowmen but lousy for riding. About halfway down the block the snow packed under my front fender and brake and locked up the front wheel; I nearly hit my woohoo on the handlebars! Not fun! It continued to happen as I tried to make my way down the street, I finally turned around and went home feeling defeated.
On the upside it allowed me to try out the new tires on my car! They were a success. I took my mom to her doctors appointment, dropped Lashley at the groomers and went shopping at Costco. After bringing mom home and picking up Lash from the groomers I decided it was time to try again.
I went out for a ride around 4 pm; TaDa! It took some work getting from my house to a main street that had been plowed but by this time the snow was more like slushy water than actual snow. Once I got on the Vento trail it was smooth sailing. I have to say it was probably the messiest ride I've had all winter, both me and the bike were pretty dirty by the time I got home. I don't have waterproof shoes for riding which is on the top of my purchase list so I went old school and put bread bags in my shoes before I went out. It doesn't keep your feet any warmer or win any fashion points but they do keep your feet dry.
Yesterday was my 335th day of riding and it didn't start off very nice. I had an appointment at 0900 I left my house around 0830. I didn't make it very far as the roads were nothing but ice! Everything had frozen overnight and it was like riding on an ice rink. Normally I would have taken the risk of riding on it as I've ridden on ice all winter but I have to curl in Duluth this weekend and I didn't want to take a chance of getting hurt. Now I know I truly am getting old. I went home and drove to my appointment. I'm happy I waited because by 2 pm the temperature had warmed up and the plows had cleared the slush away; well most of it anyway. I was able to do the rest of my errands using my bike!
March 31, 2012 will mark my 365th day of riding and I'm trying to figure out what to do to celebrate! I'm sure I'll come up with something :)
Happy trails!
