This weekend there were two notable bike deaths in NYC, and I gotta say that spooked me. But this afternoon, I got on the bike anyway, and ten minutes into the ride, I was in the zone, and at the end of the ride, as usual, I didn't want it to end. 

I realized the other day that for me biking is like skiing, but only the good stuff, none of the schlepping and none of the pain. Skiing is a lot of work and relatively little time enjoying the thing you like about skiing. Okay biking isn't quite the rush of a great run down a steep mountain with great snow and a clear blue mountain sky, when you've done enough working-out during the off-season.  

And there's nothing like the view from the top on a bright Utah day. 

But then again biking isn't struggling to get the boots on, or the feeling of lameness in your legs 3/4 the way down the slope realizing even if you don't want to you have to make it down the remaining 1/4. And it isn't shivering on the lift on a cold snowy day, trying to cover every square inch of your skin, and realizing there's a place you didn't get (but it's too cold to take your gloves off to try to fix it). Or trying in vain to keep your goggles from fogging up. Or ice. Or crowds. Or snowboarders. 

And in all my years of skiing, and there are a lot of them, I don't recall ever feeling at the end of a day that I wish I could keep going. Usually I'm exhausted and in pain and totally ready for the end. And we joke that the best feeling of the day is taking the boots off.  

And biking is a lot cheaper. A whole lot cheaper.  

On the other hand, it seems it's easier to get yourself killed biking than skiing. But that's not to say you can't get yourself killed skiing. It can be done. But you only need to get killed once to spoil the whole thing. 

You don't share the slopes with skiers who weigh tens of tons. On your bike you do share the road with trucks and buses. (Buses are the worst!) 

But both sports give you the feeling, in the best moments, of weightless soaring. But biking can be done with five minutes of prep, starting right outside your front door.  

Today's ride was perfection. The weather simply could not have been better for riding. Low 90s. Nice breeze across the trail from west to east. No head wind or tail wind. Not too crowded. The best. 

Map: 1 hour, 2 minutes. 11.36 miles.