After not being able to ride much due to the time change, I told myself that Saturday I was going to ride to our little downtown to watch the Veteran's Day parade. My dad, uncle, brothers, and two of my nephews are all veterans, and I try to attend events in honor of their commitment to the safety of our country. Unfortunately for me, there was rain and snow in the forecast, although it looked as if we wouldn't get any until later in the day, and the parade was at 11:11.
My daughter decided she was going to go with me, but she was going to roller blade. This seemed like a decent idea, although we'd never done that before. We woke up to cloudy skies but temps in the upper 30's. I have said that if it is over 30, I'm biking. So, why not?
Well, for one thing, roller blades, while awesome, are slow compared to a determined woman on a bike. So I had to go slow, to let her keep up with me. There are still a lot of leaves on the ground and they are slippery for a roller blade, so that was a problem too. But we made it, found a decent spot on the sidewalk, and watched the parade, which lasted maybe a half-hour. Then we went in one of the shops to buy a few things, before heading back.
By then, it was sprinkling. Just a little rain. We took off for home. Within two blocks, the rain had turned to sleet. Within another two blocks, it was snowing. I was wearing a hoody and jeans.
If it had just been me, I'd have been home in 5 minutes and barely wet. But my daughter couldn't go as fast, so it took us about 10 minutes. We were both pretty soaked by the time we got home. And my hands were frozen. Wet and frozen.
So I'm adding more things to my biking wish-list. In addition to the bell, basket, and pulley storage system I've already put on the list, I'm adding the following:
- Decent gloves
- Compression pants or tights to go under my jeans/long pants when I'm riding
- A raincoat.
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