Well, I got in my last ride on the roads for a while I am afraid. The impending snowstorm has definitely dampened my mood. I will be sentenced to ride the trainer in the garage until the road ways have been cleared enough for safe passage by bicycle.
Our ride this morning was well attended with 9 of us making the trek from the Rusty Bridge in Severna Park to The Hard Bean in Annapolis. Everyone had the storm on their mind, knowing that this would be the last ride on the roads for a while. The nickname "snow-magedon" has been adopted, as the weather prognosticators have forecast between 12 and 30 inches of snow. Yuck.
To make matters even more depressing for our ride, I was blessed with 2 flat tires this morning. It is funny (not funny "haha", but funny "strange") because I thought to myself as I was loading the bike into the 4Runner this morning... "I have had pretty good luck with the new tires I put on the bike. I haven't had a flat in a while." Well, I made up for it in one day. As I was coming down a hill, just about to turn onto Richie Highway, I hit a pot hole that was just big enough to traumatize my tires, causing them both to go flat. Mike, Brian and I pulled well off the road (this is the same road, and almost the same spot that Mike got hit the other day) and started changing the tire. Brian jumped right in and started removing the flat tube, while I dug out the new tube from my seat bag. I got my CO2 containers of air ready, and once we figured out how to use the CO2 device, we were filling the tire with air. I thought to myself, "wow, the rear tire went flat, but nothing happened to the front tire, and it hit the pot hole first." So, just to be sure, I checked the front tire and sure enough it was flat as well. Off the bike it came, Mike started on that one and I produced my 2nd spare tube (I am glad I had 2 of them). That one got changed and full of air, and off we went. That probably set us back about 15 minutes. Thanks to everyone that helped, it was nice to have a group of people around to help get you back on your bike quicker.
The rest of the ride was uneventful. We enjoyed good coffee, pastry and conversation at The Hard Bean, and as we headed back to Severna Park, you could just feel the impending doom of the weather. I apologized to everyone on the ride, letting them know that the weather this past winter has been all my fault. Usually, I welcome the snow. It was really not a big interruption of my life. If it snowed and I didn't have to go out... I stayed in. If I had to go out, I was confident in my abilities to drive in snow, coupled with taking into consideration the other idiots who have no clue how to drive in snow. Now, snow is the enemy. Since I started riding with the 5:45 group, there is virtually no conditions that I will not ride in, with the exception of snow and ice. I have ridden with temps as low as 15 degrees, I have ridden in the rain, in the wind, etc. but snow forces me to make a choice. Stay in bed, and get fat. Or, ride the trainer and learn to like it. I am hoping that I will choose the 2nd choice more often than the first. So, because I needed it not to snow this winter, so I can ride, we have had record snowfalls, and we are only into the first week of February. So you see, it's all my fault. Sorry everyone.
I will try to make the most of the trainer. I am going to go home, put as much weight on the John Deere as I can so I get better traction, move the cars around in the garage so the John Deere is ready to start plowing when the snow stops, and I am going to set up the laptop so I can watch a movie while I am inside riding the trainer. I guess I will make the best out of a snowy situation.
For those of you who will be affected by the snow, please be safe and stay off the roads (I don't want to have to take YOUR driving into consideration in case I have to go out). As for those of you not affected by the snow... I'm jealous.
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