Week Seven - Day Two

TIME THERE: 35 min.
TIME BACK: 33 min.
WEATHER: light snow, -3C (-8C with windchill), 15km/hr wind there; light snow, 0C (-4C with wind chill), 15km/hr wind back
WHAT I WORE: scarf, waterproof shell, turtleneck, cotton gloves inside running gloves, long underwear under yoga pants, winter boots.
NOTES:
There was a layer of perhaps 2 cm of fresh, fluffy snow on the ground this morning, and the white stuff continued to fall as I made my way to school. I dropped my daughter off at daycare using the trailer, and unlike yesterday, did unhitch the trailer and leave it at home for the rest of my trek to school. It's amazing how much of a difference it made in weight - I easily went back up to my usual 14th gear after struggling along in 13th gear with the trailer.

Despite the lack of trailer this time around, I still faced some daunting challenges. This was my first time riding on pavement that was completely covered in snow - this wasn't a light dusting, this was covered. I have ordered spiked winter tires for my bike, but they may take up to three weeks to arrive. In the meantime, I'm stuck with my road slicks. ROAD SLICKS! These are tires meant for minimal traction and maximum speed - neither of which are desirable in road conditions such as these.

I had a few near-misses as I biked through the neighbourhoods closest to me, as the streets I had come to know in bareness now seemed foreign and mysterious under their blanket of snow. I couldn't see or anticipate the familiar cracks and potholes, and managed to skid out a bit because of my inability to avoid them. As I biked along a short stretch of major roadway I felt like I was going to die - there was more traffic than usual, less road space for me, and where I normally biked (close to the curb) the road had 4 cm deep of brown, mushy snow-and-dirt stew that made me feel like my bike was floating precariously over it. "Screw this!" I thought, and took to the sidewalk. "It's only for a couple blocks, anyway."

Getting into the neighbourhood bordering the north side of the river valley, the trouble began in earnest. Here's where I encountered declines, and curves, and curvy declines. Now, when the pavement is clear, declines mean: Yay! Fun! Fast! And I don't even have to work for it! Wooo! When there's 2 cm of loose snow over black ice, these declines spell TERROR. That was the case today. I hit a patch of black ice going slowly around a bend in the road and my wheels gave out from underneath me, throwing me off the bike. I landed on my left upper arm and shoulder. "Yay, my first fall!" I thought, "and it wasn't even that bad!" It felt like I'd just been through an inevitable rite of passage, and it felt good in some strange way. The second fall, on the other hand, sucked. I let fly a little f-bomb action as I went down on a patch of black ice at the bottom of a decline where the road curved to the left. There was a car right behind me and thankfully it was going slow enough that it didn't have to slam on the brakes when I went down in front of it. Just in front of me, there was a car on the curb with its hazard lights on and a hub cap in the middle of the road. Okay, so I fell, but maybe I wouldn't be any better off if I were driving. That made me feel better. Having to fix the chain and the rear fender, both of which had come off in the fall, was less comforting.

I managed to make my way across the High Level Bridge and onto campus without further incident. I did feel sorry for my poor bike, though. It's been a reliable little beast for me these past few weeks, and I felt like I was abusing it today. Sorry, Mike the Bike, I'll be better to you from now on. I promise. If only I could say the same to myself - my left shoulder and hip are bruised and aching, my triceps are sore, the palms of my hands are bruised, and I have a nasty bruise on my inner right thigh from landing on the bike's frame both times, since both times I fell to the left while making a left turn. So: sorry, Body, I'll be better to you from now on. I promise.

On the way home there was even more snow than in the morning, and it was a dangerous mix of slush, ice, and snow given that the temperatures were a bit warmer. While there were some bits of pavement that were bare and wet, the vast majority of the ride gave my slick tires nothing to bite into for traction. I skidded and nearly fell throughout the entire ride, as I gripped the handlebars til my knuckles turned white. I managed not to fall, which is great, but I had several near-falls where I had to drop one or both feet off the pedal(s) to stabilize myself.

I think an executive decision is in order: wait until the snow clears away until I ride again (and it's supposed to warm up over the next couple days, so that's not that big a deal). I can't ride like this, it feels like I'm acting out some death wish and since I'm no Freudian I'm not interested in that. Further, I won't ride in the snow until I have my winter tires. Otherwise, I'm just asking for trouble. And, really, the whole point of this commuter challenge is to keep doing it the whole year, not to injure myself so severely in the second month that I can't ride anymore!

Decision made. Now I just have to sit back and wait til my tires come in and/or the snow clears up! SIGH! How boring!!