Winter commuting by bicycle in Minnesota can be  challenge. Last week was a full on battle. It was below zero most of the week and we've had a few snowfalls in the last 10 days. This mix of super cold temps with snow makes for huge patches of extremely slippery ice. I can hear most of you chuckling over my comment referring to this weeks ice as being more slippery than last weeks ice. Funny, Yes. True, Yes.

On Monday I was struggling through my commute with fresh snow falling and my eyelashes froze together on one eye. Moments earlier while walking my bike as I walked my daughter to her morning Spanish Class I mentioned how I thought the snow gave a romantic feel to the cold temperatures. At the time I wasn't thinking about how the moisture in the air could melt on my eye and then freeze as the wind blew across my face.

Oh, it burns!

As I got within a few blocks of the shop I was riding out in the lane because the side of the road was too chunky and icy for me to ride on. I had a truck pull up alongside me and I was sure that I was going to get yelled at for, well it could have been so many things actually, but my main thought was for riding in the lane of a busy street. The driver rolled down the passenger side window and let me know that my kickstand was down. As he pulled away he said he just didn't want me to get hurt. How sweet is that! It's 10 degrees below freezing, it's snowing hard now, I'm sweating from the challenge to stay upright, I can only open one eye and here's someone looking out for me. "Thank You" I yelled to him as he drove ahead.

He didn't know that I wasn't going to catch my kickstand this week. The only way to have the kickstand catch the ground would be for me to lean the bike into a turn. Riding on city streets that are a sheet of ice does not lend the luxury of leaning into a turn. Bummer.

I have always muttered to myself on the best and worst of commuting days that a day I can ride to work is a good day. It's true. I was lucky enough this week to be healthy enough mentally and physically to ride to work. Sweet!

Believe it or not, it works!

Wednesday the temperature didn't get higher minus 5 degrees. Early in the afternoon a kid named Jason came in needing air in his tire. He was chatting with the mechanic a bit as he got air and he talked about making music and what a great party he'd been to last weekend, ect, ect. When asked where he worked he said he was working now, delivering sandwiches by bike. In fact he had to get going because he was on a delivery. As he started to the door he mentioned that the job was great and he was feeling good about being lucky enough to have a decent job. Unbelievable! He wasn't dressed all that well and his bike was a 70's Schwinn running the original tires and he didn't ever mention the ice or the temperature! Rock on Jason! It's a good day.