Oh Yeah, Snow

People always ask me about starting out as a cyclist in Buffalo, NY "Did you ride in the snow?" "How was the snow?" "Wasn't it cold?"; my answers "Yes", "Cold," "Yes". But I did it. I bike commuted through two winters, although doing stupid things like daring the 6 inch poweder on a cross bike (yeah I was late for work that day).

Gearing up. It took me a long while to motivate myself out the door.

The trail had lots of hiding slippery leaves.

It's strange, I've been in Cali looking at all the snow and been thinking about riding back on the white stuff, but usually, thanks to global warming, when I come back East there is no snow (NY in my lifetime has had less snow than it should). This year, for whatever reason, has been wet and cold. When I got here, it was in the 50's, but the temperature has dropped and I woke to the white stuff falling from the sky so I went out and touched some local trails.

This was my bike in high school. Still works.

It's hard to imagine this is nestled in Patchogue, NY, a sprawling suburb on the south shore of Long Island.

Fish Thicket Preserve is not exactly a great place, it's mostly a wide lane (looks like for ATV's? but what kind of preserve would let those on), but with the snow who could tell the difference? I got out before the accumulation picked up and trolled around for a bit. My toes got a little cold, but for the most part moving kept me warm and despite some slips, I failed to eat shit (go me).

Snowy treads.

Tracks on a bridge that went nowhere.

After some exploring (everything looked the same, except maybe the bit of Swan River) I headed back. The snow as big fat flakes by now and the streets were covered. The passing cars gave me looks in this suburb that hates the outdoors. When I got home I made a big cup of coffee and watched the rest of the snow come down.