No commute this morning, had to cage to a doctor's office for a routine visit. But last night's commute was kind of an adventure.

I hadn't planned on riding home - had some shopping to do - but when I got outside it was cold but beautiful, around 25F I think, not terribly windy, so I figured I'd go for it.

Out on the bike path everything went great until I got down to the lake proper. Waves were coming up over the path now and then, but nothing too bad and they looked pretty easy to outrun. Would have been, too, if the nice dry concrete between me and the end of the breaking wave pattern hadn't been nice dry concrete covered by a 30-yard sheet of invisible ice.

So, I swerve a bit to avoid a rock and my bike goes out from under me. Got a foot down, but that was absolutely no help - utterly frictionless surface. Took most of the gravity on my hip, with the bike on top of me, which was better than the other way around - I was more concerned about what damage I might do to the bike than vice versa.

I had time to think, "Hey, my first fall!" And then "well, that wasn't so bad!" and finally, "Huh. Why am I still moving?" And then about 10 feet from the actual lake I stopped. A jogger (nutbar!) stopped and asked if I was okay, and I was, so I edged to the far side of the path, planning to walk the bike around the big curve to the end of the ice sheet, then stop and check the bike over for damage.

That was when the lake leapt up out of its bed and crashed over the path. I got soaked to the knees, barely kept my feet. Walked as fast as I could manage to avoid another wetting, but the damage was already done. When I got to dry ground I stripped off my boots, socks, and outer layer of pants, then put the boots back on over bare feet and stuffed everything else into my pannier.

The bike looked okay; seat was flipped around to the side, but I adjusted it and it held. Hopped on and rode and it seemed okay, all was in order. Then I realized the brakes weren't working. The front were, sorta, but the back, almost not at all. I rode anyway, as by this time brakes were a liability anyway and I was six miles from home and did I mention it was <i>cold</i> out?

My feet were like blocks of ice, but I figured that as long as I could move my toes I was fine, and kept going. About three miles from home my gears stopped shifting, so I was pretty much stuck on a big ring for most of the rest of the commute - things loosened up and I could shift again by the time I got home.

I think everything was just frozen. I spent the evening doing Merry-maintenance, involving a hot shower that lasted almost an hour and then bundling up and sitting for a long time in front of my Vornado, so the bike-maintenance will happen tonight. The bike lives inside at night, in my living room, so everything should be nice and toasty and ready for me when I get home tonight.

Looks like I'm going to spend some time getting to know my brakes and my chain. =)

The good news is, I was fine until I got wet - nice and toasty. If I'd taken the streets instead of the bike path, I wouldn't have had any problems. Instead, I was stupid, and my best friend has spent the better part of today saying "Merry drove her bike into Lake Michigan!" to anybody who'll listen.