I bailed.
I didn't end that sentence with "out", so I cannot be accused of being an enabler to those who drove the economy off a cliff.
I bailed.
Yes, I admit it. I've commuted through rain, snow and ice within the past week. Yesterday, after administering a final exam, I thought I could get home before the sky oozed its contents like a Slurpee machine all over the streets. Except, of course, there wouldn't be any cherry or pina colada flavors.
Well, the darkening clouds started to dump slush on us almost as soon as I started pedaling. After thee blocks, needles of horizontal sleet wove the icy foam through sleeves of concrete--and directly into my eyes.
Some like the cold. Some of those people like the snow; others don't mind the rain, or even sleet. But I have yet to meet anyone who likes to experience--let alone ride a bike through--all of them at the same time. That, of course, is a way of saying I encountered my limit and took the N train the rest of the way home.
What is (are) your meteorological limits for cycling? Or do you not have any at all?
I didn't end that sentence with "out", so I cannot be accused of being an enabler to those who drove the economy off a cliff.
I bailed.
Yes, I admit it. I've commuted through rain, snow and ice within the past week. Yesterday, after administering a final exam, I thought I could get home before the sky oozed its contents like a Slurpee machine all over the streets. Except, of course, there wouldn't be any cherry or pina colada flavors.
Well, the darkening clouds started to dump slush on us almost as soon as I started pedaling. After thee blocks, needles of horizontal sleet wove the icy foam through sleeves of concrete--and directly into my eyes.
 |
| Photo by Andrew Burton. Published on Hungree |
Some like the cold. Some of those people like the snow; others don't mind the rain, or even sleet. But I have yet to meet anyone who likes to experience--let alone ride a bike through--all of them at the same time. That, of course, is a way of saying I encountered my limit and took the N train the rest of the way home.
What is (are) your meteorological limits for cycling? Or do you not have any at all?
We've a 40C (106F) day forecast on Thursday. It is a dry and baking heat that sucks the life force from me. Too hot for me!
ReplyDeleteActually I bail at anything over 35C. Here in my part of Oz it is always a heat that pulls any moisture from your body. Further north it is a humid muggy heat and not quite so bad.
I've never tried cycling in snow, fairly certain I won't!
I now have more time to choose when to get out on my bike. I prefer temperatures 50 to 80. I have cycled in freezing weather and driving rain but it wasn't pleasant. I don't mind light rain. Thank goodness we don't get sleet or snow here but if we did, I'd try cycling in it just to experience it. I might even get fat tires. I wouldn't cycle in sleet.
ReplyDeleteI rode Sunday, sticking to collector streets that had been plowed. Snowpacked side streets remained very treacherous, however. But I scored a pair of studded tires on craigslist this week.They should come in handy because more snow is forecast. I have a spare bike that can be my designated snow bike.
ReplyDeleteMT--The worst thing about the snowpacked side streets, to my mind, is that they sometimes conceal ice. That's why I also prefer collector streets in the conditions I've described.
ReplyDeleteLiz--My attitude is similar to yours. Cycling in light rain on a mild or warm day can actually be a pleasant experience; so can cycling in snow. But sleet is not for me!
Accordion--Where is your "Oz"? I'm guessing that you're in the tropics or the Southern Hemisphere. Do you not get snow where you are?
BTW: I hear there was snow in Vietnam last week.