Ice It's the New Gravel

Something is inherently wrong with me, I know this in my heart and many people have told such. It snowed in DCland this past weekend. C-Dog and I were out there on Sunday for two hours in 26 degrees, just long enough for us to hit the first flurries and for our water bottles to freeze. Then on Tuesday, after the streets were supposed to be cleared and I was convinced that there would be work to go to, I returned to my outdoor riding plan. Little did I know that despite the 35 degree high of the day before, there was still snow and ice left on the ground.

Why there was snow or ice befuddles me. The DC area only got hit with maybe 1/10th of an inch of snow, but the rules of the world change once you cross into Maryland (where my rides often take me). It's true, and other's likely would agree with me, that once you enter into Maryland everything changes. In Maryland, I've crossed paths with foxes that talk to me and inform me of upcoming traffic and deer that suggest an alternate route. Also, in Maryland the rules of physic don't apply freezing happens at a different temperature and a full and the brakes on cars don't work while the horns do. I don't try to understand it, I just accept it.

Needless to say the snow and ice were an unwelcome surprise. It reminded me of the days back in Kansas where gravel road riding was the only way to go. For us Kansans it's not that we chose to ride gravel roads it was just that we didn't have any other options. Thankfully, I have been trained for all types of road conditions.

There was a race not to long ago where I found myself passing in the gravel on the side of the road. The part that shocked me was not that I was doing it but that others were impressed by that fact. I'm guessing from now on I'll have to pass in the snow too.

On Saturday (in two days) there is going to be a "Vietnam-era sized" protest on the National Mall. Now, I'm not much into talking about the merits of the protest, but I will of course have to end my morning ride with a tour of the Mall. I think that it should be a new rule that whenever presented with a "Vietnam-era sized" protest all rides should end with a tour of said protest. Hopefully this one won't have the same level of anti-climax as the million man march.