Week 11 (February 2-7)

This week was bookended with bicycle commutes, and I was at least able to take advantage of some round trip carpooling with the wife on two of the days which was nice.

Monday - Bicycle
Tuesday - Car (AM & PM carpool)
Wednesday - Car & LRT (AM carpool)
Thursday - Car (AM & PM carpool)
Friday - Bicycle

The week started off well, and Monday's ride in (~6 degrees) was almost ideal. My hands and feet weren't too cold, and the rest of my body was comfortable and not too warm.

Everything was fine until 15 yards from the bike rack. As I crossed 6th Street at 3rd Avenue, I encountered some pedestrians so I shifted around them to the left and turned a sharp right onto the sidewalk. The granite slab on the sidewalks proved less than ideal for studded tires, and the bike slid out from under me. This time I was hurled onto my right shoulder, which no longer felt neglected after last week's incident. A citizen in the 40-50, white female, motherly-like demographic ran over asking if I was okay and I shot her a sheepish thumbs up before scooting over to the bike rack. I have never been happier to sport a balaclava covering 75% of my face. Plus I escaped any bodily harm.

There had been a considerable warm-up over the weekend, and the studded tires seemed out of place, given the scarcity of ice and snow-pack. I did not want to wear down the studs, so when I finally had a chance on Thursday night, I switched them out for the original tires. The ride in on Friday felt like a breeze after ditching the studs.

A very serious challenge is confronting me for the remainder of my busy season, despite the anticipated warming trend. I am assigned on a client in St Louis Park for the next two weeks which does not have bicycling amenities. I might be able to work something out at a friend's house who lives a mile or so from the client, but that's uncertain at this time.

Otherwise, I'll have two or three weeks after that in the office to get some rides in, and then the last two weeks at a client site in Minneapolis (not downtown). If I can ride one day each of those weeks, I'll consider it a tremendous success. Wish me luck.