In Which the Winter Bike Proves Valuable

Dry Creek seen from the C Avenue Bridge on the way home, 5:30 p.m. or so Tuesday, Feb. 20. Not so dry.

My wife asked me if I was going to drive Friday morning—I had driven Wednesday and Thursday due to expected wet weather or van maintenance or a combination of both.

It rained overnight and was damp and chilly, but not raining. So I did ride. “I’ll take the mountain bike, but I hope we have a sunny day soon so I can ride the hybrid one,” I said.

She replied, somewhat amused, that she has no idea which bike is which.

Well, I did ride and I did use the mountain bike, the Fancy Beast. This winter, using it has proven to be a good move.

The last time I rode, the day these images are from, was Tuesday. Monday was wet, too, and Tuesday during the day it got cold, so ice was the concern. But it was too warm to freeze Tuesday morning, and I figured as the temperature chilled below freezing, most of the water was evaporate into the dry air rather than freeze on the pavement.

The gamble paid off. I was a bit damp when I got to work Tuesday morning, and it cooled off during the day into the 20s. As I set off for the ride home, most of the streets I rode on were bare.

Not totally bare—there were patches of ice here and there, and I did have to slow down and take it easy. But the wide mountain bike tyres did their thing, I and arrived home safely.

And almost fell down. The only place that I had a bad slip was right in front of my own house.

The site of the slip that started but did not end in a fall--ice on my sidewalk and driveway. More than I saw Tuesday anywhere else.

Which was not too much of a surprise, because the geography in my home area does tend to the damp. I was a good citizen, and sprinkled some road salt after carefully dismounting.

Anyway, I hurt my left knee rather badly a few years ago falling on ice, and vowed I would never again ride on it. Clearly, I am stretching that rule a bit.

But also clearly, so far, the gamble has paid off! Hooray for the Fancy Beast!

Corner of C Avenue and Blair's Ferry on the way home Tuesday, Feb. 20. Grey day, windy and chilly, but bare pavement.