The Life and Times of a Cyclist.

I am freezing, cranky and bruised while I type this, as tonight happens to be the first time I cycled home from work in the snow.

I am a cyclist--well, by default actually. My partner is a passionate environmentalist who insisted we sell our vehicle and instead, cycle everywhere in order to "do our part". And while I was all for it (April through October)--November is turning out to be an entirely different story.

This evening, as I left work, I decided to check my breaks. It was the smart thing to do right? Make sure they work well in the snow. So I rode for about ten feet and then pressed the breaks. Bad idea. As soon as I squeezed my hands I was flying towards the ground. It was dark, I was lying in the middle of the road, and I banged the crap out of my leg. Whenever something like this happens to me--something like falling--whether it's on a sports field or off of my bike, I often have the urge to just lie there for a moment...I'm not sure why. Tonight however, the speed with which I jumped up from the pavement was fast enough to make any witness question if I had even fallen in the first place. I'm not sure if it was because I was cold or because I was terrified of being run over. From that moment on, I decided that breaking hard was probably not what a genius might do and I rode slowly--breaking lightly while dragging my toe along the ground.

Halfway through my ride was when it got scary. There were more cars--driving REALLY fast--and the bike lane was filled with snow. I could have rode in the street but I was afraid of getting hit by a car--drivers don't pay too much attention these days no matter how many flashing lights you have strapped to you. While riding in the snowy bike lane I fell again, but thankfully this time I fell away from traffic.

After falling twice and being scared out of my wits tonight I am not so sure how committed I am to this riding through the winter deal. I could take the TTC, but I know that it will take 3 times as long, so I don't know what to do. I guess I'll keep whining on my blog, pray to stay upright, ride really slow, affix additional lights to my body, and HOPE with all of my might that winter ends a hell of a lot sooner than usual... If Hope worked for Barack Obama, it can work for me!