Winter Bike Commute

After eight years of living in the Pacific Northwest, I decided to ride through the winter. Winters in western Oregon are relatively mild despite the northern latitude. But make no mistake-winters are wet, gray and long. And the temperatures are generally between the mid 30's and mid 40's.

I didn't bicycle commute all this week, until today-Friday. Yesterday was supposed to be crappy, but the sun came out making it a gorgeous afternoon. Riding the train home, I was wishing I was on the bicycle. This morning was supposed to have a 30% chance of rain. "70% chance of no rain" I thought. Not only was it raining lightly, but by the time I got up the hill to the transit center, snowflakes were falling on me. The dreaded wintry mix.

I decided going over the possibly snowy and icy hills was not wise. I waited for the bus for a few minutes, then noticed the rain slacking off and the sky lightening. So I rode after all. It was just a little wet, and turned out to be a lovely ride. I got one of those nice surprises we're sometimes fortunate enough to have. As I rode along Hewett Road, I saw a small flock of sheep in a small meadow by one of the houses. This is a high-dollar residential neighborhood maybe five miles from downtown Portland. There were no cars, just people walking their dogs. Seeing those sheep in the green meadow through the mist was a real treat.