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Sunday, February 13, 2022

winter of our content

Friday was Winter Bike to Work Day in our fair city.  Recall that we did Bike to Work day last June, and I was happily flummoxed at the turnout.  I mean, I knew of bike to work day in other places - a few stops along the bike paths for snacks until they run out - but Fort Collins does it up big!

As expected, Winter Bike to Work Day was not as well attended as the one in summer, but that would be tough to match.We still enjoyed plenty of good eats, swag, and a good amount of camaraderie.  Thankfully, there wasn't much snow and ice around to contend with, temperatures were in the comfortable 30s.

As with the summer, we managed to run into Wolfgang in the crowd.  In June, he pulled up along side us at a Chicken 'n' Waffles station.  This year, we spotted him at the University Oval where several stations were set up.


The oval included cinnamon rolls from THE place in town to get them, I learned.  


Our trash company was there as well, giving out swag like lip balms and hand sanitizer.  Gotta get some trash lip balm!




Our other stops included the Hilton (breakfast burritos), the credit union (neck gaiter and cup cozy), a realtor (Gogurt and granola bars), a Pizza place (breakfast pizza), and REI (bike map). I think there were something like 66 contributing businesses all up and in, so we barely scratched the surface.

In other winter news, we got our new furnace installed this week.  The old geezer furnace is no more after having a good run of about forty years.  

I also swung by the running store on Friday and picked out my much appreciated freebie shoes.  I entered and announced my intentions, and the part-time store employee turned fascinatingly to her boss, 

"We had a Strava contest for shoes??"

Was it all a dream?  

The boss confirmed that, yes, there was a contest, and yes, I was the chosen one.  So I picked out a pair that I was planning to buy soon anyway.  I'm glad they are at the lower end of the price scale for the shop's inventory - didn't want to seem greedy!  So many freebies!


8 comments:

Linda Sue said...

they say the best things in life are freeee- but you can give it all to ABbeeee- $$$$ is what I want!
that is a generous little city to be so involved with bikers. Sweet! Your photo is adorable.YAY you!

Abby said...

Linda Sue, ooh, I'm liking your freestylin' rap!
And yes, it is a generous place for bicyclists. As for the photo, I can't speak for Wolfgang, but personally, I was on cinnamon roll high at the time.

betty said...

Wow, that is cool with the winter ride your bike to work day! I do remember reading about the one in June! And what great incentives to do so with all the delicious food available (and that's why one would have to ride their bike then to burn off those calories). Good for you for participating with the added bonus of seeing Wolfgang! (great picture BTW). Thankful it wasn't blizzard conditions!! I bet you'll enjoy those new shoes!! Anything free like that is always great to use in my opinion!

betty

Abby said...

Betty, there's no way I could take in all of the Bike to Work food. But it's nice the amount of support it gets, so it's fun to participate!

Margaret (Peggy or Peg too) said...

I love cities that have winter with all these activities. Where I grew up with 100+ inches of snow and there were all these things to do to keep active all winter. Here now in the south, they are panicking, sitting inside and bitching that 40 degrees is too cold to be outside. Where I grew up and where you are they'd be in shorts. You can still go outside if it snows or if it's cold.

Abby said...

Peggy, it's funny to watch people who come here from warmer places - panic at the slightest amount of snow, long johns at 40 degrees. Then there are those who come here from northern climes and it's shorts and flip flops year round!

Tee said...

I bike to work several days a week lately (since there's a spin bike in my home office). ;-)

I love that your hometown has these events to encourage more cycling. I see someone periodically riding a bike past our house in the winter months, but I wouldn't say it's common around here. Maybe that's because we're in a suburb? Or maybe it's because we tend to have snow, then extreme cold, then short bursts of warmth, and then cold again. It makes for a hard pack of lumpy snow and ice everywhere. Probably not the best conditions for winter riding.

Anyway, your events sound so fun! I'm hungry for cinnamon rolls now!

Abby said...

Tee, you had me going there for a sec on your biking to work in your wintry neck of the woods! We get pretty spoiled around here.