Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Less than ideal cycling conditions

I miss working somewhere I can ride my bike to. When the weather was really miserable I would repeat a mantra as I rode: "less than ideal cycling conditions". This cheered me up.

And being someone who rode a bicycle made me feel tough. Of course, I wouldn't admit this out loud. "People ski in this weather," I would say. "What's the difference?"

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The difference is not many skiiers create such a hazard for themselves and the commuters who are trying to navigate our city's streets in "less than ideal driving conditions". I fear the day I see you or one of your kindred kamikaze, accident-waiting-to-happen, winter cyclists under the wheels of a bus.

Anonymous said...

In fact a certain 70+ man of our acquaintance was cross-country skiing in the bush yesterday (you can guess where.)The snow was falling and he admitted that the 'going was rough'. He fell twice. Does falling while skiing hurt as much as falling while biking?

David Scrimshaw said...

Hey Grumpy Guy, we have different perspectives on who exactly the "hazards" are on city streets.

From my reading, the unfortunate bus-riders are the ones most likely to fall under the wheels.

And as for your question, Mom, my experience with both skiing and cycling is that a day of skiing results in more falls than I've had in 10 years of cycling. I once had to be brought off a ski hill on a sled and my ankle was still sore from that fall a year later. The worst I've had from a bicycle fall is a few scrapes and a torn shirt.

That happened in the summer when a car driver opened his door suddenly and caught my pedal. I rolled out of the way of the #14 bus behind me just in time.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm. Interesting. However, I would respectfully submit that had your summer incident occurred in the winter, you might very well have ended up under the wheels of the #14 bus.

Anonymous said...

Oooh, a controversial subject, with a grumpy guy and a worried mom and everything! I'll just throw in my two cents and remind you that the #14 does not need anything else slowing it down, so please be careful out there David.