Tales from the commute

There were two seriously treacherous stretches on the ride home tonight!

One was heading west on 33rd, and the other was heading west through City Park. Both bits were buried in icy, mushy slosh. I was sliding and skidding and wobbling and teetering and tottering.

Didn't fall though.

I had two encounters in City Park. One was an older fella who saw me coming, grinned, and waved. I smiled and said, "Hi!" and he said, in a sing-song voice that was a dead ringer for Goofy, "Hi, Brian!"

The other encounter was a couple walking towards me. The lady said as I passed, with concern in her voice, "Skinny tires!"

The Pete Seeger lookin' fella said, "Brave man!"

drift

So I've experienced this thing a couple times during my commute.

Sometimes, you accidentally lean into a bit of ice, and you can feel your traction slipping. And so if you don't want to develop an all out skid-n-crash, you can't move. So you don't brake and you don't pedal, and you can't lean out of the ice. So you just kind of sail along for a few seconds in helpless limbo, hoping that if you just coast for a second, you'll get your traction back before the ice pulls you the rest of the way in.

That's scary.

Cold Weather Tips

Here are some friggin tips!

• Your cheapo hardware store safety glasses are fogging up? Drill some small holes around the edges of the lens. They'll fog less, and defog more quickly.
  
  
• Colder this evening leaving work than you thought it would be? Stuff your shoes and gloves with paper towels from the break room!
  
  
• If your hands are freezing from too much air resistance, tie your scarf across your handlebars to shield them a little bit.
  

Moment of Zen: My twin

Guy caught up with me ascending a hill. Here are the things he had that are similar to the things I had:

+ Beard and safety glasses
+ Reflective jacket and messenger bag
+ Blinky lights and fenders

We chatted at stop lights about the weather. He took off and shouted, "Be safe!"

My doppelganger wishes for my safety.

Moment of Zen: Cold Hands

Approaching the same intersection, me from the south, he from the east, both sitting straight up, me with my hands in my armpits, he with his in his coat pockets.

We each smile a half smile and nod at each other.