Never thought I'd be able to bike in Jan. and Feb....

But about 35 degreesF today and sunny. Roads were wet but no ice so I took a chance and everything was fine and stayed warm. Rode 21 miles, felt a bit of workout in my leg muscles going up the hills. It was good.

The only scary part was getting out of my driveway- It's a steep downhill from my house to the road. It looked a bit iffy and wet/icey so I decided to WALK my bike down to the road. But halfway down walking, I found it was not wet but rather a sheet of ice, and my hiking boots just started to slide downhill on the smooth ice, along with my bike that I was walking next to me! Me on foot and bike beside me both started just sliding/skiing along downhill and I knew i was going to go down with my bike in another two seconds. I thought really fast and since I was holding my bike by the handlebar tops, I quickly grabbed the interrupter brakes on my bars and squeezed- and amazingly the bike ground to an instant halt on the ice!- i was able to stop skidding as well on my feet by hanging onto the now stopped bike. I kept my brakes on and used the bike like an old folks' walker to crabwalk sideways to the edge of the driveway where it was rougher snow and I could walk the rest of the way down to the road. I was amazed how the tires gripped where my hiking boots couldn't!
Luckily there was no other weird ice to contend with on my ride today.