John’s Ramblings

I must admit, in my year as a Ride Leader for Cascade Bicycle Club, I’ve never had to call out “Ice!” as a hazard before last night.

Potholes, yes.

Glass, of course.

Even the occasional coyote scat, it’s true.

There’s a thermometer in my car that shows me the outside temperature. It lies. It told me 35 degrees when I finished my ride last night. Ice had formed on inside of my water bottle.

The sky was clear (where you weren’t sitting inside a fog bank), and a half-moon hung high in the sky. Two other riders showed up at the start, ready to roll despite the cold. One “regular” showed up in street clothes, just to sip coffee and see us off. We were all adequately dressed, so the cold wasn’t an issue as far as comfort is concerned. The larger issue was the fog, and how the dampness of the air combined with the cold of the ground put a nice coating of frost on much of our route. There were a few spots that prompted the “Ice!” call, however. On 1st Ave S. in Kent, the standing water along the road was freezing over, and the spots that cars had splashed through made a straight line mandatory. The pedestrian bridge on the Interurban just south of 277th was also quite slick, not having the benefit of deicer as do the road bridges. The trick (in my estimation) is steady pace, no braking, no turning, and no leaning as you cross these spots.

Thankfully no one fell last night. Very experienced cyclists, all. If the group had been larger or less experienced, the ride should have been canceled. Still, it took us about 15-20 minutes more than usual to run our route. Some due to the frost and ice, and admittedly some due to that fact that I have only been in the saddle twice in the last two weeks (due to holiday commitments, weather related issues, with a dash of motivation). I found it harder to keep my pace up last night, and it seemed way harder to get my breathing smooth and deep enough in the chilly air. I’m not sure if that was a symptom of the cold, or my inactivity.

23.5 miles on the evening, 4,124 ytd.

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