So All Government Is Bad?

Just try riding your bike on unplowed public sidewalks after a snowstorm. At the rate we're going, the "It's My Money You Can't Have It Not Even To Provide Police And Fire Protection And Certainly Not To Plow Sidewalks" folks will vote down all taxes that make civic life manageable, including money for plowing the sidewalks along stretches of road that have no residences or businesses to take care of it.

Today (Sunday) was the first big snowfall of the newly impoverished township services snow season. Will I have plowed sidewalks for my commute tomorrow? We'll see. Maybe I should bring my own shovel. Or put a plow on my bike.

Greed and selfishness for a worse life.

Update: The sidewalks were partly plowed at 8:00. Not too bad.

Update #2: After a February snowstorm, the sidewalks still aren't plowed after two days.

Update #3: It took more than a week for all the sidewalks to get plowed. During that time I was forced to ride in Grand River Avenue, since there was no other alternative. I guess snowplowing is one of those luxuries that we need to live without in tight budgetary times, like fire and police protection. Wouldn't want to raise taxes to pay for those. Now if someone would just require grocery stores to give me my groceries and gas stations to give me gas, and the power company to give me electricity, I could keep all my money! I think it's safe to say that Ralph Nickleby would have been a Republican. (Look it up.)

Studded Tires

I've toyed with the idea ever since I started winter commuting three years ago: studded snow tires. But they're expensive, and I was fairly satisfied with my solution of using super-knobbies that are deflated to about 40 lbs for better grip. Seemed to work pretty well: No falls last winter; only one fall the winter before.

But what fun are bikes if you can't tinker and buy things for them? So I got a set of Innova (I think) studded tires from Bike Tires Direct (I think that's where I got them). Not super expensive.

They're fine. Clickety-clickety on the pavement. So far no studs have fallen out. But do they prevent me from falling? I think they will only prevent slips on glare ice (which is a good thing, for the few times I ride on glare ice). In snow, however, where the studs don't hit pavement, I'm afraid they're useless. In fact, they're probably worse than my super-knobbies, which chew up the snow and grab hold.

I'll leave them on for a while; but I think I'll probably end up putting the knobbies back on and riding carefully on ice.

Update: Big snow this week on top of slush. As a result, the roads and sidewalks are VERY icy (underneath a layer of hardpack). Perfect conditions, hypothetically, for the studded tires. Do they work? I didn't fall, so they didn't not work. Maybe they are the best I can do in admittedly difficult conditions. As long as I ride as cautiously as I would without them, perhaps they're worth having.