First Winter Ride

Winter is really here. Snow, cold, and wind are the current conditions. After slushy snow yesterday, the temperature plunged to 10˚ and the wind picked up to 25 mph. Yikes.

Luckily, the township shoveled the sidewalk along my route--a major traffic artery--before the slush turned to ice.

I suppose Ayn Rand Republicans would argue that government, even township or county government, shouldn't be in the sidewalk shoveling business. Heck, they shouldn't be in the sidewalk-owning business. All sidewalks should be owned and maintained by private business. If there's a profit in shoveling it, they will. Otherwise, it shouldn't be shoveled. If there's no profit in having a sidewalk, they won't have one. Or they'll charge a toll. Or a maintenance fee. At least that's what I assume people who don't believe in taxes would argue. Why should their taxes go toward shoveling a sidewalk they never walk on?

Obviously, I'm grateful that anti-tax Republicans haven't managed to bankrupt the township so much that they can't shovel this stretch of sidewalk (the only possible route that I can take). I suppose it's only a matter of time. . . .

Winter is Here, Mostly

I rode the touring Trek to a rehearsal on Thursday evening, and when I came out, it was covered with snow. That was a surprise. Even the roads were covered (with 1/2" or so). Luckily, my B&M generator still gripped the generator strip in the snow.

On Wednesday night, there was enough water on the roads to make the normal roller on the generator slip. I needed a wire roller, which I don't have. Still, for those considering a bottle generator: It works great with a tire that has a generator strip, such as Schwalbe, Kenda, etc, even when slightly wet. Not so great with Paselas; the slightest wetness makes it slip. When set right, the generator is quiet and not very draggy. When set wrong, the generator is noisy and draggy, and the roller gets chewed up in about five minutes.

So far, there hasn't been enough snow on the roads to warrant bringing out the slush mobile. Although the slush mobile is fairly fun to ride, it's not as nice as the Trek, which I'll ride until there's significant snow and ice on roads and sidewalk. (The slush mobile is better on ice because of its nice soft 2" tires, which grip better.)