First Blizzard of the season!

Weekend blizzard fun. Neighbors having to clear my front door so I could get out of my house, shoveling 5 foot drifts behind my truck with a quad, and spending 3 solid hours clearing a 7 foot drift that built up against my garage door. Ah, what fun. Such is the life in Southern Alberta in the winter. Many plans cancelled, and happily opt to just stay inside, consuming copious amounts of coffee and hot chocolate while in pajama pants and watching movies with the kids. Sometimes, unplanned weekends are better than anything we could have planned.

Riding to work this morning was interesting. -27C (-17F) when I headed out the door. Still most of the sidewalks were covered, so I was forced to share the narrow paths between drifts on the roads. Even my back-routes were complete drifted, to the point that it would be carrying the bike through waist deep snow. I figured it’d be better to risk the ice, and take it easy, that to get to work sweating like a stuck guy on a bike. Biffed it once at a low speed. Two footed landing though, no harm done.

It’s amazing how weird your bike sounds when riding in this kind of cold. Tires on the snow are deafeningly loud, and brakes make noises that I’ve never heard before. Cranks creak when you wax on them, and I think I could hear the KM frame complaining. While it was cold, it was a good. Sure beats starting up my truck, letting it warm up for 30 minutes, riding in it even though it hasn’t really warmed up inside, and then doing it all over again. Thanks, but I’ll just get a quick fresh blast of wintery goodness, and then enjoy the sweet feeling of appendages unthawing after the journey. If you’ve experience such sensations, you’re really missing out! Regardless of the weather, ride yer bike!

Cheers.