Perspectives

As I was riding in this morning I was passed by a jogger who said "It doesn't get much better than this, does it!" very loudly. At the time I said "I sure hope it does.." but then, started to wonder. Wonder turned into full on knowing I'm wrong about a mile down the trail, as I looked and saw I was the first person to conquer it via bicycle this morning, as the snow in the spots that weren't ice (like above) was fluffy and new.

So I started thinking, you know, maybe that jogger is on to something. This morning I had the trail all to myself, and due to the ice, I was again going (brutally) slow. You know, it was actually pretty dang peaceful out there, I didn't have to dodge any dogs on ninja leashes, worry about cars coming up behind me, or even worry about carrying enough water. Nope, the only worry I had was the ice.

The ice, you see, someone asked me today how I handle it on a bike. "Really simple" I told her, "You go as slow as possible, make no sudden movements, and before you go out accept the fact - in advance - that you are going to fall on it". Which really summarizes it perfectly, for those who ride on it, but the last part is crucial. Once you come to accept the fact that you will fall, it takes that element out of it. You no longer worry about falling - you know it's going to happen, so you know you have to accept that it's going to happen.

Once you accept that, like I did today, you start to smile. Even as I was going down on the ice, just a mile from where that picture was taken, I was laughing. I knew it was coming before it did - I saw the water covered ice, and there's just no way to avoid falling on that stuff - so I had slowed down to about 3 or 4mph, and I just went down into the snow on the side of the trail. Even laying in the snow, laughing, 20 degrees outside with the road ahead of me covered with ice - it doesn't get any better than this.