Monday night we got an inch or so of super wet, super sloppy snow. Here in town it is pretty much all gone. In fact, I hadn’t even thought about it since Tuesday morning when I was outside cleaning it off the driveway in my PJs; until I hit the dirt roads today.
I whirled along some pavement on top the Farley, eagerly awaiting the knob dulling of the dirt and gravel roads when I crested a hill and saw the dirt roads before me were packed down with two-day old snow and ice. I let out a heavy sigh as I looked down at the girthly tire spinning in front of me… one of the two girthly tires beneath me that were sadly void of studs. More heavy sighs and thoughts of broken collar bones ensued.
My thoughts of taking advantage of the warm 30+˚ temperatures and getting in a longer ride were short-lived once I realized I was dealing with a lot of rutted ice. Riding on snow is no big deal and crashing is no big deal to most folks (or to me for that matter), but I have some bleeding issues that are cause for concern from my doctor and the less I crash the better off I am. BUT, I was out there and figured ALL the dirt roads couldn’t be covered in rutted ice, could they?
Nope. In fact only about half the roads were covered in ice, the other half wer rock hard dirt. Well, that and the occasional corn hazard (seen above). I guess that was good?
While the rutted ice did make my in need of a bleaching ass pucker slightly and make me wish I would have kept the Dillinger’s mounted on occasion, once I hit the dry roads I sure was glad not to be hauling around even more studded weight and rolling resistance to my not so stud like bodice.
Winter temps look to be holding in the 30s and 40s for the next several days. I’m hoping that translates into ride time. If not? Fuck it.
Later.