great ny times article on ice bike racing/ridinghad me thinking of those folks in alaska
you know the ones... tim and jill
(and of course there are more)
((more riding and even others blogging about it))
also had me thinking of my morning commute
(((tim blogs about many who are mentioned in the article... with photos)))
no studs on my tires
but I did ride a bike that I thought would make the most sense in this much snow, ice, and slush
rode the old Rocky Mountain Blizzard
my last of the 26ers
it is currently outfitted with flat pedals
a quick modification for rocco when he was in town and we went bar hopping
the roads had not been cleared
some of the major roads were quasi cleared
all sorts of jokers were sketching about
it was pretty sketchy for me
but the small bike and the flat pedals were the right choice
was wearing snowboard pants and some hiking bootsthe same gear I had thrown on to go sledding with the boys
had promised the boys that we could go sledding before I went to work if they got ready quickly
this morning when I came out of bed dean had all his gear ready for the hill
grant was a little slow out of the gate
but he moved with lightning speed when he thought that the morning adventure was going to happen without him
we went to a local hill with the dog
it had snowed some more of that icy poor man's powder through the night
so we were able to build on the section of hill that we had ridden the night prior
it was a blast
a tad scary from the perspective of a dad
but quite a thrill to the young minds that do not know the potential dangers
headfirst down the icy hill with no real run off
there were some jumps and some crashes
but we ended our adventure because it was time to go to work
which was fine
as grant's gloveless hands were cold
and I could tell from their moods that breakfast was vital
so with no more than grabbing my bike and my bag I rolled out the alley behind my house laughing about the notion of snow biking
my head still wearing my snowboard helmet rather than my cycling helmet
as I dodged the traffic and tried to keep things up right
slipped and slide
did not crash but had a few close calls
for the most part enjoyed the ride
more than anything I enjoyed the sites of the city
one thing was aggravating me
on a few rotations my snowboard pants got caught by the front chainring
once, then twice, and then rip
f ck
my burton snowboarding pants torn on the right leg
the pants were nearly a decade old
a little tight around the waist
they must have shrunk
a good excuse to buy some new gear