In Which the White and Brown Alter the Route

37th Street NE looking west from Kenwood School area Tuesday morning. I usually hit 19 mph on this street. I hit about 6 mph Tuesday morning and felt I was going too fast.

The white is snow, the brown is the sandy soft mix of snow and grit that can be treacherous to ride through.

Yes indeed, blog fans, with temperatures yesterday warming a bit, and more melting set for today, your bike correspondent is again on two wheels, for now, anyway. We’ll deal with later, later.

We had snow over the weekend, and it’s been cold enough that quite a bit is left on streets, but I thought that by Tuesday morning the biking route would be OK. I was sort of right. I didn’t die or break anything, but I did have to take some care on streets that were either slick or made narrow by snow and ice. The morning commute, usually 30 minutes, was closer to 50.

The afternoon commute Tuesday was a little better than the morning commute, and by Wednesday morning, the commute was not a huge deal although caution was still needed. And I have altered my route:

• I don’t use 25th street. That little side street, which leads from Eastern Avenue NE almost to the end of the drive up the hill at MMU, was still snowbound Tuesday and this morning.

• I have avoided some of my usual streets behind Kenwood School. The block that contains the school, as usual, has been cleared of snow, but many of the streets around it are treacherous. I am trying to use more “main” routes and avoid the quiet back streets that are still packed.

Usually, I use 25th Street to get from Eastern Avenue NE to Prairie Drive. On Tuesday morning, I think you can see why I chose not to.

Today, I am not sure what the evening commute will bring. It’s supposed to be sunny and warmer today, but windy. The sun should help clear the streets, but may also melt some snow that might refreeze as it runs across cold pavement. We shall see. Or I hope we shall see. Anyway, we shall run in the dark tonight at a slower than usual in hopes that we shall see. And I also hope we shall not fall!

Getting ready to leave MMU Tuesday. It's pretty--the clouds have gone away--but windy and cold, too. A bit of sun Tuesday afternoon did do some good.

The city has just installed 4-way stop signs at 27th Street and Prairie Drive next to the MMU campus. Well, good. This is Wednesday morning. I usually only take 27th Street at night, but came in that way this morning since I"m not using 25th Street yet.