Winter Riding
In case you haven’t heard, we got hit by a major winter storm that pretty much shut down the city.
After being cooped up in the house for four days, I decided to test out my snow (and ice) legs before today’s above-freezing temperatures melted it all away. I’ve ridden on snow before, but never snow covered ice. Just in case, I took the Redline Monocog, a single-speed mountain bike.
Not knowing what to expect, I took it slow and steady. Everything was fine – even a bit fun – except for some of the ice ruts on the road, formed by automotive traffic. Stopping on the ice was a bit dicey too.
Fortunately, I stayed upright and the Monocog performed really well. I even managed to grab a few, rare (in Texas) snow pics. Enjoy:
These are fantastic Richard! Thanks for including snapping pics under such conditions.
jo
February 5, 2011 at 5:43 pm
Thanks, Jo!
dickdavid
February 5, 2011 at 6:49 pm
The Monocog looks like it was a good choice. It also looks like you had more snow that we did.
Steve A
February 5, 2011 at 6:04 pm
That’s what I heard. Strange, because the west side of the Metroplex usually gets the bad storms.
As crazy as the ride was, it was a lot less nerve-racking than driving around. Even the cars were playing nice. People should drive like the roads are icy all the time.
dickdavid
February 5, 2011 at 6:53 pm
big fan of these!! esp. the one with the train =)))
xxom
meligrosa
February 5, 2011 at 6:31 pm
It was fun doing that shot until the train sandblasted me (and my camera) with ice. It was worth it though.
dickdavid
February 5, 2011 at 6:54 pm
stunning photos. really stunning :^)
atomicmama68
February 5, 2011 at 7:32 pm
Thanks!
dickdavid
February 5, 2011 at 7:51 pm
Superb photos Richard. We foreigners just don’t think of Texas as cold, It’s all cowboys in the desert to us.
Did the snow shut-down the whole town? That looks like a motorway onramp barricaded off?
bikefriendlynorthshore
February 5, 2011 at 7:32 pm
Thanks!
Not completely, but on the first day – all of the schools, the airport, most of the mass transit, city services and many businesses were shut down.
Unfortunately, storms like this don’t happen very often, and rarely last as long. This leaves our city unprepared to handle it very well. Aside from a few hundred sand trucks, we have nothing to keep our roads usable.
dickdavid
February 5, 2011 at 7:59 pm
A sand truck driver on Friday in Hurst waved very nicely to me. We were headed in opposite directions…
Steve A
February 6, 2011 at 7:08 am
Excellent pics, Richard!
bibliosk8
February 10, 2011 at 9:52 am