As some of you know, I’m currently job hunting, and recently applied to a position with a company located on the western side of Plymouth, out past I-494. Due to their location, working for this company would almost certainly demand purchasing an automobile (cue thunder, lightning, storms, scary music, wilting flowers, and shattering mirrors to symbolize the death of my soul). But still, I’d like to be able to ride a bicycle to work sometimes. So I did a test ride.
I was eager to do a test ride because quite a lot of the route utilizes off-street bike trails. In fact, I’ve mapped it from Mel’s house, and turns out, I could complete all but a few blocks at either end of the route without ever leaving trails…. or so I thought. It turns out there is a significant obstacle along the Luce Line Trail – Golden Valley. All of the trails in Plymouth, Medicine Lake, and Minneapolis had all been plowed and were an easy ride. The trails in Golden Valley, however, were not. I found this very strange since Golden Valley seems to have a particular zeal for plowing sidwalks. Residents of Golden Valley are not even expected to shovel their own sidewalks – the city does it. It’s odd that they are willing to take on the burden of shoveling sidewalks in front of people’s houses, but not public trails. I’m sure it’s one of those “The park district built it, they should maintain it” sort of deals. There’s some logic to that, but how come Plymouth, Medicine Lake and Minneapolis have it figured out and GV doesn’t?
Riding a bicycle through the snow is pretty fun. Your rear tire constantly spins out and slides sideways – you’re hardly ever fully balanced. Back when I was into football, I read an interview with Detroit running back Barry Sanders. He said his secret to gaining yards was to always keep his feet moving. No matter what happens – or what position you’re in or how much progress you’re making – you always keep your feet moving. I always think of that when I’m riding through snow. Sometimes my wheels start spinning and I’m awkwardly fishtailing down a snowy street, and all I can think of is keeping my feet spinning – like Barry Sanders. When I’m slipping through snow, I always feel like I’m about 2 seconds from falling over. But I keep my feet moving, and somehow, the bike keeps moving.
And sometimes I fall over. Large piles of snow are particularly troublesome. Your best bet is usually to increase speed and hope you plow right through it. Sometimes, like today, your front tire just stops right in the middle of the pile of snow, and you fall forwards over the handlebars. I did a total faceplant today. I wish someone had videotaped it. I’d put it on YouTube and get a million hits. It was a classic faceplant. I fell one other time as well, on a wooden bridge that had not been plowed as well.
All in all, it was a great ride. It would take me over an hour to get to and from work. That’s a long time, but if the freeways are congested, I’ll bet it would take me 40 minutes to drive it. Hmmm…. maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. I haven’t even been called for an interview, yet.
