01/29/08

When I woke up at 6am that morning, the temperature was in the 50s. Max, Annarose and I rode to school in t-shirts and jeans. By 3pm, it was extremely cold and miserable. I considered taking the car to pick up the kids, but why? It was 13 degrees, the wind-chill was –3 with what the weatherfolk like to call a ‘wintry mix’, and northwesterly winds gusting up to 50 mph. Who wouldn’t want to ride bikes in this?

I arrived at school with the requisite winter riding gear: coats, snow-pants, balaclavas, gloves, mittens, goggles, and blaze orange hunting vests. The kids bundled up as I gave them the winter cycling safety lecture.

"The roads are slick. Ride slowly. You will take longer to stop. Be aware of cars, they take longer to stop too. The wind is very gusty and can make your bike hard to control. Keep your bike under control at all times." I lectured.

"Yeah, yeah Mom, we know" was their bored reply.

We headed to the Getabout Offices to pick up some paperwork. It was a short, but eventful journey. The kids were surprised by how disorienting the blowing snow was - think the Millennium Falcon hyper-space scene from Star Wars with snow flakes and ice pellets in place of stars.

When we arrived, Robert ran out with his camera. "Don’t take off your stuff yet! I want to get a picture. You guys are awesome." He told us. We posed for a few pictures, then headed inside, we were met with applause and cheers from Trevor.

We picked up the paperwork, rearranged our clothes, and headed back out into the cold, wind, and snow. As we rode south on Seventh Street, we passed the Candy Factory. I asked the kids if they wanted to stop and get some chocolate for the ride home…dumb question. Of course, we stopped. It was a warm welcome yummy smelling break from the cold and wind. We made our purchases and sat inside eating them, dripping on the floor and enjoying our treats while temporarily delaying the inevitable.

Sweet teeth sated, we headed back out into the brutal. We rode east down the hill on Cherry Street to Flat Branch Park. The force of the westerly wind was amazing. We rode slowly down Cherry Street hill without brakes. The wind was so strong it slowed we had to pedal downhill. I had never experienced anything like it.

As we rode through Flat Branch Park, my phone started ringing…ugh. We stopped in the tunnel under Locust, where we were sheltered from the wind and I returned the call.

It was Tim. "Where are you guys? Are you all right? Do you want me to come get you?"

"We are in the tunnel under Elm St. We are cold, but fine. We will be home soon. If we need help, I will call." I assured my worried husband.

The tunnel was a welcome respite from the snow and wind. We double-checked our clothing. Made sure no skin was exposed to the elements and headed on. Two tunnels to go before we made it to Stewart. When we started on Stewart, there would be no more shelter until we arrived home…a daunting thought. We stopped briefly in each tunnel bracing ourselves.

After stopping in the tunnel under Stewart and Providence, we headed out on Stewart Road. It was hard pedaling and slow going riding directly into the gale force winds. The streets were slick. At West Parkway, Max lost control of his bike and slid into the curb, I slid into Max before I could stop. No one was hurt. We picked up our bikes and kept riding west.

The going was slow and uneventful until Stewart and Greenwood. That was when I noticed that Annarose was crying. Oh no.

"Posie? What’s wrong?" I asked.

"My toes are cold" she answered through her tears. In my rush to gather up their winter gear, I had forgotten their snow boots. Her little toes had to be freezing. What to do? I could call Tim and ask him to come get us. We were only half a mile from home, it would take him longer to come and get us than it would take us to get home if we just kept riding. Having him pick us up would mean waiting longer in the cold. We needed to keep going.

"Posie, we will be home in a few minutes if we keep going. Can you do that? I could call Daddy to come get us in the car, but that will take longer. Can you keep going?" I enquired.

A feeble and tearful "Yes" was her reply.

"I will call Daddy and tell him to make sure and have a big fire going for us when we get home. OK?" I tried to encourage her.

"OK…and cocoa?"

"Yes Sweetie and cocoa and warm cozy blankets. Does that sound good?" I replied.

"Yes Mommy" she sniffled.

By this time we were at West Blvd…almost home. I started singing silly songs to take her mind off the miserable cold, snow, and sleet.

"Oh! Mares eee doats and does eee doats and little lambs eee divy. A kid’ll eee divy too, wouldn’t you?" I sang at the top of my lungs. We made the intersection of West Blvd and West Broadway, less than a quarter mile left.

"Mommy, will you teach me that song when we get home?" Posie asked.

"Of course, and we’ll have hot cocoa and hugs and snuggles in front of the fire" I promised.

We made it home. Being a faster, stronger, more competent rider than Annarose, Max had beaten us home by a few minutes. Tim already had him snuggled up in dry clothes. A warm fire and big hugs from Daddy welcomed us. We took off Annarosie’s cold wet shoes and rubbed her little feet until they felt better. We spent the evening snuggled up by the fire playing board games and reminiscing about the cold miserable ride home in the blizzard. We were proud of ourselves for making it through and we were so very thankful for our warm snug house.

The next morning, I woke up and listened to the weather report…bitter cold. "OK kids, it’s 4 degrees outside this morning. Do you want to ride or drive?"

"Is it windy?" Max asked.

"Nope. No wind, no snow, no sleet, just extremely cold." I replied.

"We can do that. Let’s ride!" They whooped in unison.