I woke up to snow fluttering down my window. The flakes weren't turning into mounds, or even a scrim of powder on the streets, so I thought I'd go for a ride--and, maybe, catch some snowflakes on my tongue. (It's one of my guilty pleasures!) But, as soon as I got out the door, the snow turned to sleet and the streets and sidewalks were being glazed with slush that, in spots, would slick with ice. Even on my bikes with fenders, I wasn't going to ride in that.
In my youth, I might've. Actually, I more than likely would have. Riding in conditions nobody else would was a point of pride, almost of definace. I think now of the time in Vermont when the temperature dropped from 50 to 15F (10 to -10C) and a partly cloudy day turned to rain, sleet, then snow, the latter of which fell as I was descending a mountain. I also remember the time I rode down a virage in the French Alps, near Arly-sur-Praz, on a fully loaded bike as rain fell and a loaded lumber truck rumbled--and, was that a skid I heard?--around one of those hairpin turns. And, when I was a bike messenger, I had to ride in conditions worse than what I saw today.
Am I getting lazy, soft, or just old? I don't think the day was a waste: I read, wrote and had lots of cuddle time with Max and Marley. Still, I have to wonder about what's becoming of me. Perhaps I no longer cast a shadow. Then again, nobody does on a day like this.
In my youth, I might've. Actually, I more than likely would have. Riding in conditions nobody else would was a point of pride, almost of definace. I think now of the time in Vermont when the temperature dropped from 50 to 15F (10 to -10C) and a partly cloudy day turned to rain, sleet, then snow, the latter of which fell as I was descending a mountain. I also remember the time I rode down a virage in the French Alps, near Arly-sur-Praz, on a fully loaded bike as rain fell and a loaded lumber truck rumbled--and, was that a skid I heard?--around one of those hairpin turns. And, when I was a bike messenger, I had to ride in conditions worse than what I saw today.
Am I getting lazy, soft, or just old? I don't think the day was a waste: I read, wrote and had lots of cuddle time with Max and Marley. Still, I have to wonder about what's becoming of me. Perhaps I no longer cast a shadow. Then again, nobody does on a day like this.
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| Photo by Roland Tanglao |
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