Anatomy of a non-fall

I like biking in snow. Think of all the cool things you’ve done on a bike… lost to the wind. But in snow, there’s proof of your actions.

I was biking home last night and went to turn off the road at my house. My front wheel skidded and I caught myself (I wasn’t going very fast). No big deal. But then I noticed that the snow held a detailed story of this one second! I wish I had taken the picture before the car came by, but I like how you can see the skid (where the track gets wider), see where my left foot goes down one, two, three times. My right foot first hits the coaster break, causing a small skid on the real wheel (pushing the snow up past the track of the front wheel) and then goes down on the street sliding a bit.

Because I’m now standing, the bike track gets narrower because there’s not much weight on my bike. Then I gain my balance and continue on my way.