I decided the weather wasn't going to ruin my opportunity for getting a little road bicycling in today. Sure- it's frigid outside (28 degrees f.), the road I live on is full of winter slush, ice, and salt; and then you throw in the fact that my new beloved neighbor enjoys shooting guns in what I'm assuming is a 360 degree spray of "target" practice from his point of view, but NO that would not stop me. I was consumed with the joy of cycling today. So I set forth to fulfill my call.
Usually, considering the weather, my ideal mode of filling the aforementioned void would be my single speed mountain bike; cycling down the power line access roads which are conveniently close to where I live. But upon investigation I found to my dismay that nothing had "laid trail" to the route. Nothing. Nada. No truck, no four wheeler, no snowmobile, not even a lost and wondering rabid squirrel. So I thought to myself, I'll have a go with road cycling. I've recently "upcycled" a 1975 Schwinn Varsity with the intent on using it for commuting so I thought this would be a good "test" to see if it would be suitable for winter use. Also I've always wanted to know if I could use it to navigate through the purely hypothetical scenario in which zombies attacked my area, people ran out of gas, and I needed
to travel around the block to check up on a few things, get supplies...that kind of thing.The plan was to go at least a 2-3 miles round trip. My first dilemma was overcome quite easily though somewhat unsettling; "Hauling ass" reduces ones time through the "bullet spray zone of death" known otherwise as "two houses down" from my humble abode. I made it unscathed, and it gave me a decent start to the ride, with having some adrenaline pumping in my veins now I was set course for miles to come surely. I'd like to add that recently I've taken a liking to the idea of commuting by bicycle. Though I'm not 100% sure if I will actually commute this summer anywhere at all the idea intrigues me. I look at it from the same point of view I have with BMX, which is- it's fun. Back to my mini-adventure though-. My odometer reads a mere quarter of a mile and I hear a car approaching from behind. Natural instinct lead me to move over a bit while still traveling (to the side of the street), the problem was there was a bunch of Ohio "snow-muck-a-slush chunks" scattered about. So I didn't really have a choice but to maintain, what I like to call, my "pencil stiff- dead fish- pose" which is a way of letting the driver know with universal body language that I can't move over anymore. Two things happened when the car passed me; one- I got sprayed with freezing cold salt water from the road, and two- I realized this isn't fun anymore. I went home with a respectable half of a mile on the screen. That's it for today!
