I miss my bike.

My bike on a snowbank


I think one of the reasons that I’ve been so unenthusiastic about my days was because getting anywhere was just a combination of tedious, uncomfortable and sometimes painful. Walking half an hour to work when the conditions suck isn’t fun. Taking the bus home when there is always at least one crazy and/or smelly person on the bus is not fun. Most times, I can just shut it off, and be introverted, relax and think a bit. Other times, I’d rather be at home under layers of blankets, surrounded by kitties and pillows.

On Monday night, I rescued my bike from the shed. I dusted her off, lubed up the chain, filled her tires a bit and made sure she was in working order. Tuesday, I took her to work. It was cool, and slightly damp but it was more than manageable, and I felt really good about it. There was a little bit of snow on my way home, but nothing that I couldn’t deal with. I knew that there would be a snow storm on Tuesday night, but I was already making plans to take the bike out again today.

And so I did. I headed out a little earlier than normal. Snow was piled pretty high. We got about 15 or 20cm. My neighbour was awesome enough to snowblow my walkway and sidewalk. I got on the bike and started heading south down the street. It wasn’t so bad. There was a lot of snow, but I was dealing with it. Then there was a lot more snow, and I started to lose my footing. Then there was a lot more snow… I nearly wiped out in front of a sedan that slowed down and stopped when she saw me wobbling. I could not find traction, and I could not keep control. I ended up getting off the bike and walking to work. I envied that one dude on a road bike I saw just ride right by me in the same snow I could not maneouvre.

My ride home was a little better, though the majority of that was also on foot. The roads I couldn’t deal with were packed hard with snow so that it was just lumpy ice (as in the picture posted here). I could have dealt with wind, rain, and cold, but not the snow on the roads. As a cyclist, I just felt weak and defeated. But I’m not going to feel too bad about it. I went out and I tried, and though I doubt I’ll ever ride in snow again, at least I could say I did it one day.

I do miss riding though. I’ll wait eagerly for more pavement though.

Tags :

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: