Ice Bike

I made it to work today with no broken bones. This was the first ride on studded tires. I was actually more worried about wrecking my laptop in a crash than anything else. Bones heal, after all. It is completely counterintuitive to ride across glare ice on a bike-- at least coming from the road bike world.

The temperature was in the 20s-- the coldest we have seen this winter. I worn snowboarding gloves, which were probably a little much. I was on the edge of overheating wearing a base layer, long sleeve jersey, and a light winter jacket. I think the psychology of Celsius indicating anything below freezing as being less than zero messes with my head. The ambient light reflecting off the snow helped illuminate the usually dark woods. My only concern was staying on the trail, but no matter where I went, someone already had biked there, so it was just a matter of following the existing tracks.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I walked up the hill in our backyard. It is so steep and icy that the school children could barely make it in their boots. Other than that, my only other concerns were staying out of ice ruts. When I made it to work, I hadn't set any speed records, but I made it in one piece. The parking lot was a skating rink. I was mildly embarrassed to see (only) three other bikes already parked-- none of which had studded tires. Those people are nuts.