Slick Morning

Note to self:  after oiling bike, remember to wipe off excess and make sure it doesn’t get on tires.  I somehow managed to get to work without falling down, but boy was that some white-knuckled, slick-track excitement this morning.  Didn’t help that the roads were wet and oily (especially in Catonsville) too.  I survived by staying in the saddle for 90% of the ride and spinning up the hills in low gear.  Would have been a real drag if this had been the fixed-gear bike.

Rode into Ellicott City via New Cut Rd, then up Oella and Westchester Ave, and through Catonsville via Rockwell and Edmondson Ave.  Around 13 miles at a rather deliberate average pace of 14.3mph.  NWS says it’s only 34 degrees, but it felt warmer.  Mostly sun and some clouds, with fog around the river.  I wore a short sleeve athletic shirt, long sleeve Under Armour top, cycling shorts, leg warmers, rain pants, wool socks, toe warmers, shoe covers, light gloves, REI helmet liner, and hi-vis windbreaker.  Felt comfortable the whole way, and probably could have done without the rain pants, as they ended up with just a tiny bit of spray on them.  It had been about 16 hours since it rained.

I’ll be thoroughly wiping off my tires before the ride home tonight!

1 thought on “Slick Morning

  1. The slickness was probably a result of black ice, not stray lube on the tires. Reading through some of these older posts, I’m really lucky I didn’t take more falls during these first couple winters of bike commuting. Studded tires are going to be standard issue from Winter 2011 onward.

Comments are closed.