New Year's Day!
While the snow had stopped falling and the wind was light, the temperature stood at 9F (-13C). So this meant some wearing serious kit to ride. Showers Pass Portland jacket, long sleeved tee shirt and a wool/cotton base layer. Tights under hiking-style pants. Gloves and buff. My family thought I was crazy.
Right now I'm working out of town, dark to dark, so daytime cycling is limited, meaning that I take advantage of every opportunity I have to get a ride. I used a trip to my bank to deposit some checks as an excuse this time.
The roads had been mostly cleared. I stopped here to make sure I had actually brought the checks with me. I had not, so before I rode back for them I snapped this shot. This street is actually pretty bike friendly; it's wide and one lane, so there is plenty of room for a bicycle even when avoiding the door zone. Traffic travels at mostly 30 mph (50kph), a reasonable pace. Still the conditions for bicycling here don't look much like what I have been avidly reading about in Assen, Netherlands in David Hembrow's blog.
One stretch of the ride goes along two parallel one-way streets separated by a narrow park. Again, the width of the road and limited traffic makes this .5 mile section a pretty nice ride. Although today, you can see it covered with snow and ice.
One advantage of the location of my bank is this business located across the park. This is the Middle Ages Brewery, a micro-brewery that specializes in small batch, hand crafted strong ales. Growler fills are available to the left, just inside the main entrance. The T bag fits 3 growlers easily. :) Unfortunately it was closed today.
I had thought to see if I could find a cup of coffee downtown before I headed back home. Both Starbucks and Freedom of Espresso were open, and, to my joyful surprise, so was the Empire Brew Pub. I enjoyed a quick pint of the winter warmer and headed back...
... into the fading sun. Any day I get to ride (and find a good beer!) is a good day.
