Tundra_Man 

Last night's commute home was somewhat notable. First, I would occasionally hear something lightly rubbing on a tire when I would go over bumps. It sounded like it was coming from the front tire, so I kept watching that area. Couldn't see anything obvious up there, but I thought maybe a fender stay had come loose and the fender might be rubbing a little. When I got home and got off the bike I turned around to see that my Ortleib bag was hanging near upside down, suspended only by the little hook at the bottom which usually is only used to keep the bag from bouncing against the rack. I must not have gotten the top hooks securely clipped to the rack. I have no idea how it didn't fall off. Odds are that if it had fallen off I wouldn't have even noticed until I got home, and would have been forced to go back and hunt for it. Considering that (among other things) it contained my wallet and my work laptop I got really lucky. So that sound I heard wasn't coming from the front, it was coming from the rear.

The other thing that happened was about halfway home I came across a woman walking down the MUP. She flagged me down and asked if I'd seen a dog. I could hear another guy in the distance calling the dog's name. The woman's face was very distraught. I told her that unfortunately I hadn't seen one, but I'd look around the parks surrounding the MUP the rest of my way home, and if I saw the dog I'd bring it back or at least come back and tell her where I saw it. I looked for the dog but wasn't able to find it. I hope the dog turned up. The look on the woman's face haunted me the rest of the evening. I can only imagine how upset I would be if I lost my cat.

This morning's ride to work was pretty tame in comparison. Fairly warm at 23F. Light wind. There is still rutted ice, but now the sections where it completely covers the MUP is limited to about a half mile stretch; all the other areas now have patches of dry pavement near them where I can just ride around the ice.