Phrius in the winter

It has been two months since I bike-commuted the 8 1/2 miles to my office in Saint Paul. I love winter biking for so many reasons - the quiet, the rising sun cutting the crisp air, the exercise. I also respect the alertness it demands of you as you navigate the changing and sometimes challenging road conditions. But 8 1/2 miles on packed, rutted snow in the bike lane is just not sustainable for my nerves, no matter how many carbide-tipped studs I have in my tires. And it has been wicked cold much of the time. So it has been the bus entirely for 2 months.

But fortunately the winter does not cut down much on our transportation within the neighborhood. Trips to daycare, friends' houses, to cafes, to the food coop and grocery store are often done by bike. A developing family tradition is to go to the neighborhood garden center to get a Christmas tree. We pull right up, strap the tree to the cargo trailer, snap some pictures, and deliver the tree to the front door of our house.