For all my grumbling about having to drive the car when the roads are too crummy to put the kids in the trailer/tag-a-long train I have to admit that I really don't have anything to complain about. Despite the few days a year we have to (or choose to) use the car I bet I get to ride the kids around over 90% of the time. Not bad really. Today was one of those crummy road days but crummy enough that school was closed. So was the university, the county offices and a whole host of other stuff. The snow was brushing the tops of my gaiters when I carried my bike to to the road. The streets were pretty much mine on the way into the office (hey, don't I get a snow day too?). It was one of those magical snow storms that come in slowly, dump a ton of fluff and then depart rather quietly. The temperatures have stayed right about freezing so once the roads and walks are cleared they pretty much stay that way. It was a day of exceptions.
It is has been a good reminder that the bicycle-centric (or maybe it's better to say low impact or something like that since it's really more than the bike) nature of our life is still an exception. Even in the bicycle heavy town we live in we're still kind of seen a freaks. It's heartwarming to me when I drop my daughter at school to see how many other families ride for transportation but then again, when the weather gets crummy the attendance, shall we say, gets light. There is another family that I see on a pretty regular basis and even on days when we use the car. They have a nice Kona Ute set up with wooden seat on back and they seem to be on the same wavelength as us. It's nice to know we're not alone. I often think of them when I pull the bikes out in the morning. Sometimes it serves as motivation.
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