I Am Skooter	«11.26.06 . home . 11.30.06»
So here's us, on the raggedy edge.

The Daily Grind

I’ve done smarter things in my life.

Vancouver was battered by snow yesterday. This doesn’t happen often, and this is certainly the worst I’ve seen in my 6 years of living here. Faced with the prospect of a fresh snowfall and horrible drivers, I took the bus to work for the first time in…months. I’ve driven a few times, but basically I’ve been cycling every day since March. It’s The Better Way™ to get to work.

Not today, though. Not today. I woke up determined to cycle today.

I’ve done smarter things in my life.

Vancouver’s street cleaning eqiupment is minimal at best, and when snow falls the side streets—meaning the streets that are normally bike routes—aren’t cleaned at all. This left me with a choice of Granville or Arbutus streets.

Arbutus has a horrible hill between 37^th and 33^rd, leaving me with the incredibly busy Granville street. It was a bit slushy but relatively ice free, and downhill on the way to work.

On the way home, I had to climb the Granville hill. Cars passed within inches until I pushed over to the left side of the lane, forcing cars to change lanes to pass me. I followed buses as much as possible, trusting in the safety of large vehicles driven by professionals.

The air was cold, and burned my lungs as I inhaled and exhaled. I turned the pedals in lower gears than normal in order to keep my cadence up. My body was warm despite the cold air, and I kept pedaling until I got home.

I made it home, safe and sound. I can take whatever tomorrow presents.

Posted by skooter at 4:44 PM This entry is filed under Cycling, Vancouver.
This entry is tagged: Cycling, Winter

URL:

Remember personal info?

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)