4 posts tagged “winter”
It's almost the middle of January and we still haven't seen anything that amounts to much snow. Sure there are a few centimetres here and there on the paths in the mornings, but that's not snow. Why do I care so much about the amount of snow when I don't participate in any winter sports? (I could argue that being a couch/mouse potato is just such a sport, but that's neither here nor there.)
It all comes down to the mud. Snow is great. It's all the prettiness of rain but without the wet. Dry rides to work in the morning make for a clean and fast commute. However when the temperature goes up above freezing in the middle of January all that snow tends to get a little chaotic and transforms into a liquid state. Hello mud. I can't recommend fenders for your bicycle any more than I already do, but I have yet to figure out how to keep my drive train as clean as my backside is with them. Luckily if there's mud, it means it's warm enough to wash my bike outdoors. I do have company coming over tomorrow, and nothing says, "Welcome to my home," better than a shiny Surly in the front hall. Be sure to comment on how welcome you feel if you stop by.
In other news I should be the proud owner of Batman: The Animated Series on DVD when I get home from work tonight (or the Post Office, depending on the mood of the mail carrier today). Nothing beats the cold like curling up on my Sumo and watching TV, but on DVD, so it's almost as classy as a movie. Speaking of movies, Bandidas came out this week. I had never heard of this one until I perused the new releases section at Roger's Video. If I manage to watch it this weekend I'll be sure to share my thoughts. Salma Hyak is always a pleasure to watch (and for more than the dirty reason you're thinking right now dear reader). If the movie is as funny as I'm reading it is, I should enjoy it. It'll balance out my other planned viewing experience this weekend, Hard Candy, nicely.
The only unsettling part of the experience was the children that we could hear sneaking behind some trees a couple hundred feet from our snowman. They would compliment us on our work from their hiding places, and as soon as we finished up they approached the snowman. We circled around the school and when we could see them again, they were just chilling. I imagine that as soon as we were out of sight down the street the snowman's life was ended by a toppling. I'll have to check tomorrow to see if our fears were founded.
You know, I don't think this winter cycling is that big of a deal. It was - 8 C this morning with a light dusting of snow. Nothing to fret about. I did notice there was only one other bicycle locked to the bike racks at work instead of the three I saw yesterday. The Canadian Winter must have claimed another life. I blame the polar bears. I honestly thought that commuting by bicycle in the winter would be more exciting. It's not. I don't see the need for a 'Day 3' post, but if something interesting happens I'll be sure to share.
Well today was my first day commuting in what could be called winter. There was a nice dusting of snow one morning a few weeks back, but it was only -2 C out. This morning was -7 C, and there was a bit more snow and ice. The fact I'm typing this should prove that I survived. I actually had a great time while I was at it. Alexis was nice enough to lend me her bike so the salt on the roads wouldn't un-shine my bike. What a keeper.
I kind of regret not buying a mountain bike (Alexis' bike is) in the spring. Not that I don't like my Cross-Check, it's just that riding around on big ol' balloon tires is a blast. I didn't even notice the rough sectioins of my commute. No wonder Alexis is always smiling when we're out for a ride.
There is more snow tonight, so I'll have to see if I have as much fun tomorrow. Two pairs of socks are my friend.
