First Snow
So, last Tuesday, Boulder got hit with its first snow of the year. The forecasts were calling for the possibility of “flurries” later on in the day, but the way it went down was that the flakes started falling around noon, and didn’t stop ‘till Wednesday morning.
Around 6:30 pm, I decided that things weren’t going to improve for a long time, and, despite being totally unprepared for the winter weather, I headed home on my bike. No gloves, no hat, no rain gear. At least I had a headlight on my bike.
A couple minutes into the ride, my front was completely white and I was slipping and sliding all over the place. The tires I bought a month ago will make great springtime tires, but they are out of their league when the snow and ice comes to town.
By the time I got home, I was freezing and my fingers were starting to bark at me. It took a minute to get them to behave enough to enter the security code on my garage door, and once I got into the warm, things got worse. I stood in the foyer with Emma meowing at me for five minutes while I blew into my hands to warm them up enough to unbuckle my helmet! After changing clothes I headed to the bike shop for some real snow tires, and fenders are next on the list. It’s time to accept the reality that winter has arrived.
My fingertips remained numb for three days after that ride, but the view from our bedroom the morning after the first snowfall was worth it, I feel:
True to form, the sun came out in full force Wednesday morning and melted much of the troublesome snow away and dried the roads out. It snowed again on Friday night, but once again, by today things were basically dry, which was great because it allowed me to get out and ride my latest two wheeled acquisition, which is surely going to be talked about in the coming days…
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8 comments
Dude… Barking Hands.. WTF. You’re a nut. Sounds like the Colorado I remember.. wicked snow… gone really quickly and back to dry roads. Sure does get freakin cold though. So what’s the scoop… new bike?
Ohhhhhhh yesssss, Mikey, yes indeed. New bike. The most bike I’ve ever owned, in fact. eBay deal. The earth shattering news is that I’ve fallen off the steel wagon—it’s a Ti bike! I’m in love. Love I tell you. Details to follow as soon as I change out the hideous bar tape and take a few snaps of the ride!
You’re making me miss the snow buddy . . . except for the freezing hands part. I just put clipless pedals on an old steel roadbike I found in the in-laws garage. I’ve been riding it for months with clips and just decided enough was enough.
Any advice on handbar tape? It’s time to get rid of the hideous stuff on mine as well . . .
Cinelli Cork Ribbon, the gold standard of handlebar tape. Ask for nothing less than the best, Jimmy.
Question Rob. I don’t know much about bikes, but is this a carbon fiber frame? Because as we all know, “carbon fiber, it’s the wave of the future dude”.
Nope, titanium. Titanium is the wonder material of the universe.
Hmm.. so it is either Moots (Steamboat Springs?), Merlin, Litespeed… or?
Oh Mike, you were so close with Moots…
Actually, it’s a Dean, made right here in Boulder! A Moots remains my ultimate dream bike, and I narrowly lost out on an auction of a Moots Vamoots a week before I won the Dean, but I’m very happy with the new bike. It’s a Dean el Vado with all Dura Ace 9-speed stuff, a carbon fork, etc. Quite the change from my 24 year-old steel Eddy Merckx with Synchro III downtube levers (7 speed). One of these days, I’ll write a post.
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