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My Brompton Tours, Trails & Group Rides

Fourth Progressive

It didn’t happen.  On Friday we had snow — a lovely, fluffy snow.  It had stopped by Saturday morning, so I got up at 5 AM, and Basil and I caught an early train to Philadelphia.

It was 18 degrees (F) (just about -8 C), which made it the coldest day I’d been out with Basil.  I was well-prepared, though, and, except for my hands, plenty warm enough, thanks to seven carefully arranged layers of clothing.

I rode from the train station to the group meeting point, as usual. The trail had been well-salted, and the portion up to the Art Museum was safe to ride.  For the first time, I saw very few joggers, and only three other bicyclists in the forty-five minutes I was in and around the trail.

Once past the most-used section, trail/sidewalk/road conditions were pretty bad.  I couldn’t quite capture them with my camera — in these photos, you can’t see the way lumpy ice and water puddles were co-existing, for example.  There was an amazing amount of ice under that fluffy snow, too.

It became clear, very quickly, that I didn’t have the skill necessary to deal with these conditions.  (I really wondered who did!)  Tim, our experienced and intrepid ride leader, had reminded me at the end of last week’s progressive that the rides were only canceled if it were snowing or raining an hour before the start — not for wind or cold.

I waited until a bit after the ride start time so that I could tell Tim that I was opting out.  (I’d pre-registered for the ride, so he’d have known I’d planned to come.)  When Tim didn’t materialize, I figured something was up.  Sure enough, when I got home and checked the club listing, I realized the ride had, indeed, been canceled.  (I’d only checked the weather before leaving at 6 AM.  Lesson learned!)

Later, I discovered that Tim had left a message on Mr. Diarist’s phone on Friday night, and Tim explained that he’d canceled due to ice on the roads and paths.  This was actually a great relief — apparently it isn’t a good idea for anyone to ride on ice!

So no 55 mile (88.5 km) grand finale to this series, but Tim’s going to do another progressive in March.  I can’t wait!