Groundhog's Day Has Been Every Sunday

At Church

Weird winter.  Nothing happened from Thanksgiving through Christmas and New Year's and then on the 11th of January it finally snowed significantly.  And almost every Sunday since.  Seems that I have many photos of my bicycle at Church this year.  I live a half mile away so I ride the bike instead of driving a car.

Bridge Beer!

Sometimes I have virgin snow to ride on, sometimes not.  Last week it was a difficult ride.  I put the bike into granny gear and slowly made my way there.  I saw some friends of mine walking to Church that day.  Afterwards I made a morning of it, exploring and imbibing on a cherished "bridge beer."  It was wonderful.

Iowa beer bus looks buried!

Last Sunday we almost had an entire wine bottle of snow!

In  an hour I will be faced with a decision, ride to Church or drive.  Once again it snowed overnight but the snow is not the issue.  The sustained 35 mph wind and the gust up to 50 mph are weighing on my mind.  I may drive.

My new bike rack at work.  Nope, they did not shovel.  One day they shoveled around our bikes and a path to where it is clear.

As for bicycling to work, it's been a hit or miss winter.  Just a mere 2+ miles from home to the bike rack at work.  I have ridden on all the snow days but the really cold days I admit that I have driven too much.  Any excuse works.  Dora needs to go to the doctor.  Mary coughed all night and I am the only one that can park at work ect.  But despite all of this I have abused the Red Phoenix.  Another 3 weeks and It will go into the shed until Thanksgiving.  But I also admit that I like to ride the bike to work on really bad snowy days just to prove to the weak that I can make it to work on bad days.  Like last Wednesday, big snow expected and really not much fell but a lot of people just stayed home.  Me, I biked.  Someone has to fight Climate Change!

I found the place NOT to park the bike!

I work in a different building now but there is a bicycle rack close to the door.  Except for being exposed to the elements it it the most convenient rack on campus.  Two other people seem to use this rack in the winter.  One rides a Surly Karate Monkey with a drivetrain as rusty as mine.  Winter is hard on bicycle.  I don't feel as bad for neglecting my chain now.  As you can tell from the photos, there is an ice drip issue at certain locations on this rack.  I learnt the hard way.

Just marking its spot!!

Bike rack mate marking its territory!

FINAL NOTE:

I drove to Church.  Bad decision.  Should have driven.  Wasted so much time before I left had no choice but to drive.  Had to be there since I was scheduled to do the readings.  So after my shower I threw a pair of pants on and started the CR-V.  Guess what?  Doors were frozen.  I had to open the glass tailgate and crawl in from the back.  Could not get the front door unlocked.  Exited through the  the passenger side door.  Now I have the vehicle parked with driver side door facing the Sun and idling with heat on full blast.  Hopefully the bastard with thaw out!