Last night the temperature dropped below 10F for the first time in two years. When I left my place, it was 12F, and the wind-chill was below zero.
So I did took the most sensible route for today's commute: the one that takes me along the water.
For a moment, I actually envisioned myself among the snow-capped peaks of the Alps. I rode up mountains (Avoriaz, Galibier and Colle d'Agnello/Col d'Agnell) whose roads were banked by snow--and whose peaks were covered them--when the weather was warm enough to ride comfortably in shorts and a cycling jersey.
Today's weather, of course, was nothing like that. However, I didn't have to do any climbing. Along the Cote d'Azur and in Liguria, the mountains tumble all the way to the sea. People who've spent their entire lives in this part of the world probably cannot imagine such a coastline.
This is probably the closest they'll come to seeing anything like it:
So I did took the most sensible route for today's commute: the one that takes me along the water.
For a moment, I actually envisioned myself among the snow-capped peaks of the Alps. I rode up mountains (Avoriaz, Galibier and Colle d'Agnello/Col d'Agnell) whose roads were banked by snow--and whose peaks were covered them--when the weather was warm enough to ride comfortably in shorts and a cycling jersey.
Today's weather, of course, was nothing like that. However, I didn't have to do any climbing. Along the Cote d'Azur and in Liguria, the mountains tumble all the way to the sea. People who've spent their entire lives in this part of the world probably cannot imagine such a coastline.
This is probably the closest they'll come to seeing anything like it:
