Shirley of the North

I don’t know if it will stick, but tonight is the first real snow of the year. Leaves still linger on a lot of trees, although more are on the ground than on branches, multicoloured coats cast on sidewalks, in gutters, and ruffling the great lawns of Parc Lafontaine.

Tonight was also my first soccer game with my new indoor league. The gym was far bigger than I expected, the area of play at least three times the size of the small elementary school gyms I’m used to. We’re playing in a school, but it’s an enormous stone edifice, with a pool, across from L’Oratoire St. Joseph.

The slush is reminding me that I will have to go on a journey, and soon, to acquire both new bicycle wheels and tires. The city bike that I got to replace my much loved, stolen bicycle, has steel wheels. The brakes have almost no traction in rain. I can grip as tight as I want and literally the only way to stop will be to put my foot down and drag for a good several meters. I tried sanding the wheel rims, but steel doesn’t sand down very well. So I’ll have to replace the wheels–which will also make the bike lighter. And since the tires are so thin, I will get new ones that are either knobblies or studs. I’m leaning towards at least one stud, on the front wheel, even though studs slow the ride down and they are not cheap. But with lighter wheels, and losing the heavy and useless kickstand, maybe the bike would make a worthwhile winter steed.

Luckily in two days we’ll be back to wet and warm.