Funny thing happened about 2 months ago. We started getting serious snow, and neither of my two Winter bikes were in ridable condition. Between one thing and another, I didn't manage to get either one ready to roll until yesterday afternoon, when I finished rehabilitating the old GT Karakoram shod with studded Nokians. So, you might think that that was the bike I took on the first ride in 2 months (gack!)... but no. Given how clean the recent downpour had rendered the streets, washing away the road salt, I took one of the bikes I don't normally ride during the salty months, the Ebisu All Purpose. This was strictly based on what I felt like riding, bolstered with an optimistic estimate of conditions that could be seen as courting divine intervention from Murphy, given that this bike doesn't even have fenders.
So I headed out the Minuteman to see what was left of my legs after the hiatus. Conditions were good enough at the start, and it was a pleasure to be pedaling along a familiar route again.
In Lexington, I started to encounter sections of pavement wet with meltwater, black ice by tomorrow morning but just a reminder about the desirability of putting fenders on the Ebisu now.
When I got to Maple Street, I found a large, icy puddle that convinced me that my accidental prayers to Murphy had been answered in the usual way, so I turned around. I'll come back with the GT and its carbide shoes.
A pastel sunset was in progress in East Arlington as I rolled home, and the temperature had dropped to 39. A short ride, but a merry one, and it was good to be back on the bike.
rod