Precipitation

It’s been an exciting two days weather-wise here in Nashville. Yesterday I was all suited up and ready to ride, when I walked out my door to realize that…it was pouring down rain (one of the drawbacks to living in a first-floor condo is that you can’t hear rain on the roof!).

Today I woke up certain that the snow they’d been forecasting would finally be here. I pulled back my bedroom curtains when I woke up to reveal…nothing but water. Rain again? I was sitting at my computer in the study, sipping coffee and checking email, wondering if I would have to take the car to work again, when I glanced out the window to see this:

snow! snow! snow!

Maybe it was the Minnesotan in me, but I immediately gulped down my coffee and prepared to dash out the door. Snow is about as rare as hen’s teeth here in Tennessee, so this could be my only chance to experience riding in it. Also, I still had the Dahon, with its knee-boot protecting fenders. Would it be cold? Wet? For a 15-minute commute, I thought I could take it.

About to board

Even though it wasn’t sunny, I grabbed some sunglasses to shield my eyes from the snow, threw on my helmet and my new Pearl Izumi wind- and water-breaking jacket and set out. It was all fun and games until the snow turned to freezing rain halfway through. I pedaled faster, pretty sure I wouldn’t be stopping to take any  pictures as I’d never been quite that cold and miserable in my life. And then the snow came back.

snowing, again

Sorry for the camera cord, btw—with the two pairs of gloves I was wearing, it was really touch-and-go about whether I’d be able to push the button at all. After taking this picture, and seeing several drivers’ incredulous looks as they whizzed past me, I started laughing at myself. It was pretty ridiculous after all: a girl in a red jumper on a bike, wearing a scarf, helmet and snow-crusted sunglasses.

I’m fairly certain I arrived at working looking rather bedraggled, and the full-length Patagonia coat Dottie recommended was starting to seem like an amazing value. My scarf and skirt were encrusted with ice, which I knew enough to brush off before I went inside. But I had a blast. Another biking adventure.