Farewell To November
I'm certain that the road doesn't care if I come out and ride on it, but I care, and so today I rode my scooter to work. After finally getting out of the month of November, I wanted to start December on two wheels.
November was a tough month in our region. We had record rainfall, which brought flooding and property loss, then high damaging winds that bring your good old power outages, topped off with a brisk round of snow and record low temperatures. It kind of sucked to ride in this junk.
Naturally, I was determined to get back out there. I chose Kung Pow as my steed of the day and after suiting up and hopping aboard, I noticed that we were sittin' and spinnin' in my snow covered grass. "Huh...I'll have to push". And so I walked/pushed my scoot a fair bit to finally get on a managable road surface. I thought it would be easy.
My street still has the high, crusty, frozen ridges where cars usually park, so we end up with a single lane down the middle that everyone shares. This is where I needed to be. I high centered the scooter on one of these dirty clumps while trying not lose my footing. I couldn't see because my glasses had fogged up. "I'm walking on ice and I can't see". This wasn't feeling like fun, and I probably looked like a total dink to my neighbor that was looking out his window, but I was almost there.
Finally on firm footing, we were off. For a change I actually rode in the sanded areas as there were still patches of ice on the main streets. I normally try to stay clear of sand on the road, but today it looked to be the better option. From this point on, the commute was pretty normal. The clouds parted long enough to see the sun for about 30 seconds, then a misty rain jumped in right behind for about a minute.
But it was December, and I was back on my scooter, and more than anything...it was beginning to feel like the pain from the solid back-hand that Mother Nature gave us last month, was starting to go away.
Have fun,
Bill
November was a tough month in our region. We had record rainfall, which brought flooding and property loss, then high damaging winds that bring your good old power outages, topped off with a brisk round of snow and record low temperatures. It kind of sucked to ride in this junk.
Naturally, I was determined to get back out there. I chose Kung Pow as my steed of the day and after suiting up and hopping aboard, I noticed that we were sittin' and spinnin' in my snow covered grass. "Huh...I'll have to push". And so I walked/pushed my scoot a fair bit to finally get on a managable road surface. I thought it would be easy.
My street still has the high, crusty, frozen ridges where cars usually park, so we end up with a single lane down the middle that everyone shares. This is where I needed to be. I high centered the scooter on one of these dirty clumps while trying not lose my footing. I couldn't see because my glasses had fogged up. "I'm walking on ice and I can't see". This wasn't feeling like fun, and I probably looked like a total dink to my neighbor that was looking out his window, but I was almost there.
Finally on firm footing, we were off. For a change I actually rode in the sanded areas as there were still patches of ice on the main streets. I normally try to stay clear of sand on the road, but today it looked to be the better option. From this point on, the commute was pretty normal. The clouds parted long enough to see the sun for about 30 seconds, then a misty rain jumped in right behind for about a minute.
But it was December, and I was back on my scooter, and more than anything...it was beginning to feel like the pain from the solid back-hand that Mother Nature gave us last month, was starting to go away.
Have fun,
Bill
posted by Bill Sommers at 7:10 PM
4 Comments:
Bill, you are a persistent fellow. Just imagining the conditions you have been describing makes me cringe. I am sort of anxious to see how I'm going to hold up under old man winter this year. The old mellows are really getting to me.
Steve, I was watching the local weather this morning, and they mentioned the snowstorm in the midwest. Its the same system that we enjoyed last week.
I'm happy that the conditions have improved, but I still crave the challenge of real winter conditions.
I want to earn my stripes.
Have fun,
Bill
Bill, we saw some of that system last night and this morning. Scarlet and I rode to work in it.
It seems to have lost much of it's energy on the trip over the Rockies. Still, it's early days...
Regarding the Winter challenge: just make sure the stripes you earn aren't tire tracks across your jacket!
Ride well,
=gc=
Gary,
I know what you're saying. I sometimes feel like the hunted out there. I recently took to wearing a bright orange safety vest every day. I get comments all the time at work about it, but they don't know, so I don't respond.
If the storm system kicks it up a notch, it'll be interesting to get your take on it.
Have fun,
Bill
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