Looks like I’m going to have to skip mountain biking this week, due to persistent rainy weather and lack of overnight freezes. In lieu of that, I decided to shake things up this morning and take a ride out past downtown Columbia to Howard Community College and back. Normally, this is not something I would choose to do on a school day, but I figured I might as well give it a try. I left the house at 7:40, which worked out pretty well. The only significant school-related activity I encountered was in the Oakland Mills area near Talbot Springs Elementary, I guess because I happened to go through there near bell time. I got back home at 10:00, after all of the area schools had started. Obviously, I’d prefer to take a ride like this on a day when schools weren’t in session, but the weather forced my hand this week. All in all, though, it wasn’t too bad, and I wouldn’t be averse to trying it again some time. There was more traffic than on a weekend morning, which I had expected, but once I got off roads and onto CA paths, it was smooth sailing, with very few people out and about. HCC was quiet, owing to it being winter session, and I found a geocache there before turning around and following mostly the same route back home. We’re due for another 2-3″ drenching tomorrow, but beyond that, I’m hoping to take the bike to work on Wednesday or Thursday, which will give me two rides this week.