Wednesday, February 13, 2008

The Iceman Cometh!


Last night we had a nasty ice storm.
:( When I listened to the weather forecast that morning, they did mention there'd be some sleet/wintry mix, but they said it would turn to all rain by evening. So, I decided to ride my road bike. Unfortunately, it was the wrong choice... I was fine til I got to the 14th St. Bridge. I got a little ways across (maybe a fourth) and saw a guy walking towards me with his bike. I asked him if it was icy, and he said "Oh yea!" - about 30 seconds later, I went down! OUCH. Of course, thank God for having a helmet on - 'cuz my head snapped back and hit the pavement. It was enough force that it ripped off my visor and helmet mirror. :( I ended up walking ALL the way across the bridge, because it was totally iced over. When I got to the bike path, it wasn't icy. I decided to just catch the Metro at the airport and take it to the Huntington Station. When I got there, I hoped to catch a cab - but no such luck - there were none to be had. I tried to put my bike on the bus bike rack when it came, but I think it was frozen over and the bus driver didn't know how to work it (believe it or not!). So I ended up calling my roommate to come and get me. I was concerned that the Ft. Hunt Road would be bad, but it turned out it was fine and I finally got home at 9 p.m.

This morning I decided to ride my mountain bike, since it has the studded tires. I did fine - though the 14th St. bridge had a layer of ice, but I rode slowly and talked myself across. I looked for my visor and helmet mirror that had come off in the fall...but no sight of them. :( I gotta get a new helmet anyway since I had that fall.

So, I learned a lesson and next time will just ride the mountain bike so I don't have any trouble!