first snow of the year

and i was out in it! there was a light dusting on the pavement, and the outside temperature was about about 30 F. i was a bit under dressed but for the most part it was quite a fun ride. i tried to take a few pictures along the way, but they came out pretty badly. i tried to do some of my self photos but the camera was way too close... i won't post it because it is a little too embarrassing.
i'll just describe it to you:
half of may face is taking up about half of the view, and unfortunately the red half is still there. i kind of look drunk... but i also look like i'm crying. i don't even remember being sad, in fact i was quite happy. the picture shown was taken by my coworker, so the face is proportional.

as i was riding down hill i tried to stop kind of suddenly, so i could test the brakes. but as i squeezed the breaks i noticed that i was hardly even slowing down. i kind of started to panic and moved my hands down into the drops, so i can squeeze harder. that helped a little but still i could not even lock up the wheels. not that i wanted them to lock up or anything, i just needed them to slow down the wheel. i guess the panniers were a bit too heavy. note to self: eliminate some stuff from the panniers. i was able to slow down enough to a safe speed, but it took a lot of effort. at least my hands were not cold any more :)

the snow was a little bit sticky and started to gather around my drive train. i had a difficult time keeping the gears quite... it seemed that the snow had packed itself into the cluster and made it so the chain did not settle into the teeth... and they just kept skipping. you can't really tell from the picture but if you use your imagination you can imagine what it looks like :)

when i was riding the final stretch home, i was kind of gripped out on this one section of road that doesn't have a shoulder. i was intensely focused on the edge of the road hoping that the cars n the rear would see me.... suddenly someone going the other way yelled, "hey!!!" i was really surprised for a moment, then i looked up and it was my wife.

so i haven't decided if i want to ride to work tomorrow, i have some school function to do after work, and i don't know if i want to ride there or not.

until next time.