Friday, January 2, 2015

new year, new snow

About 10-12 cm, to be exact.

It snowed all night and then all morning, but by about 2:30 the sun was out and I decided to ride to Safeway for a few groceries. It was -17 with a bit of a wind, but I dressed warmly and was just fine.

The multi-use trail along McLeod had already been cleared, so it was smooth sailing most of the way, with just a few mounds of snow to test my bike-handling skills. I rode Miranda, my Chubby Bike. Not a Fat Bike, just an old GT mountain bike with plump tires. It handles well in fresh snow and on packed snow, and is usually not bad on ice.

 

One morning last month I slipped and fell twice on my way to work, so I took that as my cue to start riding Silver, my Trek 7.2 hybrid, with its studded tires. Since we didn't really get any new snow all through December, this bike was just the ticket, but now that there is a fresh layer, with more in the forecast, I will probably ride the mountain bike next week when I go back to work.

The aforementioned morning was the day I met another commuter as I crested the Ezio Faraone hill. I was right behind him, so I bade him good morning and we ended up chatting as we rode through the park and onto the Railtown Trail. One of my spills took place during this conversation, and of course he asked me whether I had studs on my tires. That gave me even more incentive to start using the studded-tire bike!

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