White Christmas

As luck would have it, I flew east for the traditional family visit the day after a record-breaking snow dump. A powerful nor'easter deposited more than two feet of snow near the coast, and I spent the first night of my visit with my brother's family because my mom's was impassable.

There was more than the usual chaos outside the terminal at the airport, with nary a traffic cop in sight. This was not a surprise to my brother, who wryly observed that it was cold, and Sunday night. The cops were somewhere warm and dry, leaving the SUVs and taxis to create gridlock as they battled for position at the curb.

With low temperatures of 17F for several days, the snow lingered. I had ample opportunity to shovel it and to refresh my ice and snow driving skills. "Mom's car doesn't have anti-lock brakes," cautioned my brother. No traction control, either. A worrisome crunching sound in a parking lot was simply thick ice that snapped when I rolled over it, not the hallmark of some inexplicable low-speed collision. (Whew.)

Warm rain dissolved most of the snow before my stay was over, leaving nothing of a giant snowman other than his boots and his skeletal twig-arms. All too soon, the visit was over.

And it seems that all too soon, another year is over. A record-breaking year for me, too, having cycled some 3,762 miles and climbed more than 234,985 feet along the way. Not to mention the achievement of which I am most proud, completing all five passes of The Death Ride.

What is my next big goal? Stay tuned to see what 2010 will bring.