Biking on the frozen ocean

Surreal. That's what biking on a frozen ocean feels like. I was mumbling to myself, "it's okay, it's okay, it's frozen, there is ice there. you're all good." If I could have rocked myself while saying those soothing things I would have.
Moving yourself onto the ice is frightening because you can't see the ice. You only see the insane blue of the water (obviously capturing the color of the ice) that is on top of the water. You have to pedal on faith that you won't fall off a precipice of ice into the Arctic Ocean, and you know, DIE.
My entire life was built on the fact that you do NOT, under really any circumstances get on frozen water. That is because I grew up in Tennessee where when ponds or creeks freeze, the ice usually isn't thick enough to be safe. It's like when I was canoeing in Washington State and folks were jumping out and swimming next to the banks of the river. Not me. Nope. My life lessons taught me that you NEVER swim close to creek banks because that is where water moccasins and cottonmouth poisonous snakes live, waiting for dum dums to swim up and become a snack. Well, in Washington State, the water is far too cold for those reptiles, so it's perfectly fine to sidle up to the sides of water bodies. Unfortunately, the fear that has been cemented in my brain doesn't let go that easily.....just like it doesn't when I'm bicycling on top of a frozen ocean. Deep breath.
Not only was it scary with the water on top---which does rise with the tides----and no, I didn't check the tide tables to see if I was gonna end up in 3 ft of water out there on my bicycle---like an idiot----but it was also hard to pedal. There was still some slush in some places which makes it hard and slippery to pedal through. It was quite the workout---between my accelerated heart rate due to fear and exertion, I probably burned more calories than I have all winter.
I can't wait until the cracks in the ice form and allow the water to drain. Then, you can see the ice and pedaling is super easy (so I'm told) on top of the ice.Read more