Fresh Snow - Ice Below

We had a nice dusting of beautiful snow last night and at a balmy 10 degrees F this morning (compared to the 1degree we had last night) I couldn't wait to get out and ride my Salsa Beargrease, Bear.

I took Rocket, my dog, with me for just over a 2 mile ride/run. He loves it when I take him out biking. We've figured out how to work together so he runs far enough away to stay out of my way and he's responsive enough that he comes when I whistle when he gets too far. The only frustration is I have to take off my glove in order to give him a treat when he comes when called. Oh well, I want to give him positive reinforcement so it's worth having my hand get cold for a few seconds.
The fresh snow was so nice to bike on today. We had just a dusting of light fluffy stuff. And guess what? There's ice hiding underneath some of that white fluffy stuff! I discovered there were slippery patches within moments of setting out on my ride so I should have been more careful. But then I biked over this nice white spot at a pretty good clip (imagine that, me going too fast!), realized I was on ice more suitable for ice skating than fat biking, and I was down in an instant.

Apparently I am skilled at falling over well. I've really only fallen over on a bike once (that was a clipless pedal incident on my road bike. Doh!) so it's not like I have a lot of practice in falling well. But so far I've managing to just fall over and not break my fall or brace myself by, say, sticking my arm out to try to stop myself. That's good! I mean, it's not good that I fell over but it's good that I manage to fall over and not get hurt. Well, my knee hurts a little but it appears that it came in contact with my bike and not the ice. Good news is that on the rest of my ride I avoided ice for the most part and when I found I was on it I was able to ride through the skids. Yay me!
Yee Haw! Slippery ice.
Bear did not land where he is. I set him there on my return so I could take a picture of where I fell. 

Anyway, so I'm a bit sore. Oh well. Even with a fall and a blustery wind I had a great ride. My dog is happy to get a 2 mile run. I'm happy to get some exercise and fresh air plus I'm logging bike miles in January which is just cool all by itself! And my miles all count towards a bike milage challenge I'm doing with a friend of mine who lives in Washington state. More on that later!

Enjoy the day!

Comments

Christopher Tassava said…
I went down a few times this morning on my ride to work. I cut through the Arb and mistook the snow for traction. Three crashes in 100 yards. Then I walked for a while.
January 23, 2013 at 1:56 PM
Myrna CG Mibus said…
I'm in good company, then :)
Darn ice!
January 23, 2013 at 10:59 PM
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