Icy ruts of doom

I had planned to take the bus today, but I just couldn't resist another day pedaling in the snow. Things were still fine in the neighborhood, since there was still a little strip of snow between the glare ice and parked cars. The Springwater Trail was another story. The path was a rutted, icy mess, and I had to summon my extreme inner fear of breaking my collarbone to avoid wiping out. Oh, yeah, and two more "Do you have chains? No? You're brave"s, which I've now come to understand is the polite Portland way of saying "That's really stupid. I'm going to watch you fall now and laugh inwardly."

Well, I got a DNF-icy death ruts after about two miles of wrestling the bike down the trail. I did make it home without falling, as far as you know. Things really are pretty lousy out there. I'd recommend to the 0-3 Portlanders that may read read this blog to only ride on studded tires or in places where sliding under moving cars is unlikely.

At $4 per ice day for bus fare, I calculate that we only need another 36.5 days of this to justify a set of studded tires. Come on, wacky weather patterns!

If I were like Tarik, whose most excellent blog Moscaline has been added to the link list over there, I would have snapped some pics of the icy death ruts and cashed in on my blog gold. Instead, I once again rely on my readers' mighty powers of imagination, which I imagine they have plenty of time to cultivate in the months between my postings.