Winter Rules

Yes, I look like the Hunchback of Notre Wiss. Clever me thought that riding with my Camelback inside a thermal jacket would prevent the tube from freezing as it had on my last ride. So frustrating. This is a new winter rule: Ride with Camelback inside jacket no matter how silly it looks.In golf, winter rules apply to the "off season" when fairways aren't so fair and courses are littered with debris. In order to compensate, someone invented "winter rules" which enable players to move the dimpled one to a better lie and thus improve their chances and their fun.I've decided that cycling needs winter rules as well. To that end, I've instituted the "ride the no bike trails on days when no one is in the park" rule. Although cumbersome, the rule permitted me, Erik, and Damian all sorts of nostalgic fun yesterday as we poached the Lower Pipeline and Fingerspan Bridge Trails.I still am unclear on whose authority the trail permits rest. Who deemed the purple trail off limits to cyclists? Why can't we ride the fast and fabulous berm-infested downhill from the nature center? Winter Rules says we can!

Oh, and to the dog owners who are walking with their unleashed canine pals--I won't tell on you if you don't tell on me. Why can't we all just get along?

Happy 2010. I'm going outlaw.