I hate snow

[RoadRaven]

You know... I could probably count on one hand the number of occasions I have been in real, deep snow...

The number of times I have been in real, deep fresh snow - zilch

I know the idea of snow is romantic, and the reality of constant snow is nothing like what it appears on the movies, but this thread is making me a tad wistful - despite all the reality checks in it...

Particularly when I look outside and see the brown grass stubble and wish for a week of rain and cooler days...

[li10up]

It's supposed to hit 80 degrees here today.

I'd like to see some snow...post your pics....it's been a long time since I've seen snow. I used to live in PA and loved the look of freshly fallen snow. sigh

[yellow]

VB, I know you're a roadie, but you could always go this route:

https://www.ktrakcycle.com/index.html

[solorider]

hey yellow- thanks for the link- that ktrak looks like it would be a blast!
I don't think we have quite enough snow for it here- too many bare spots...do you really think they'd let you take it on a ski hill????
I want to try it

[Velobambina]

Had some freezing rain yesterday morning but it turned to rain. It's now raining, so I'm hoping that I will be back outside on a road bike tomorrow.

If the rain stops this morning, I might go on a MTB ride.

[tygab]

I live in northern MA and I would 100 times take snow over cold rain. I would also take snow over cold air that is so cold it can't snow. I snowshoe, ski, and just all around enjoy it. It is a lot prettier than brown frozen dirt.

From a road cycling standpoint, the winter is difficult though not impossible, especially if you have an commuting style bike you don't mind exposing to sand and salt, but I am not a single sport person and having a good snow winter provides a great mix up. If I want to bike, I can mess around on my old MTB in the snow - it's pretty fun, and challenging. Also, I really loathe humidity so I would take a cold day over a hot humid summer one...

What I don't like about winter has nothing to do with snow: darkness. I hate that it gets dark at 4ish this time of year. I am a very happy person on winter solstice because I know the days will be getting longer after that.

But don't get me wrong, at the start of the colder weather I have to adjust - and when it's time for it to go (mid March or so) I'm happy to say goodbye.

From Dec to March, I expect it. I have to say it was extremely unsettling last winter (and even a little the prior winter) because we got virtually none. It is supposed to happen here and when it doesn't, even the people who don't get into winter here were a little freaked out.

Fortunately for me this week's looking good with a chance of snow each day!

[Velobambina]

Tygab--I'm a Western Penna girl, Pittsburgh born & bred. Snow was nothing there. Then I moved to DC for a job. Snow is a different animal here. It doesn't happen on a regular basis, thank God, but when it snows, CHAOS results. That's why OPM used to (pre-Bush) shut the Fed'l Govt down when it snowed. The current administration makes employees use their annual leave if they can't/won't wait four hours in traffic to do a 20 mile commute in the snow.

I've thought about getting a "junker" bike for winter riding--investing in studded tires. How do they do on the aftermath of a snow, the inevitable, slow to disappear icy sludge? I have to admit that I'm afraid of wiping out and breaking a bone or something, even if I had a snow-pig bike. After having broken my clavical and my elbow during different athletic endeavors, I'm wary of going through the whole "six weeks off and then rehab" routine again. Thank goodness for Coach Troy, trainers, and warm sunrooms.

LOL---thought about taking my MTB out today but I know that the C&O towpath is mucky. I don't want to get the bike DIRTY and caked up w/sand yet. I've ridden it only once and it would be a sin to mess it up when it's still brand-spankin' new. Had no qualms about taking my beater bike out in the rain today or the melt yesterday, though. [alas, I don't think studded tires would work on that bike--I'm going to have to check around though]

[tulip]

Oh, I miss the snow and my infrequent (yet challenging and exhilerating) snowy and icy commute from Maryland, through DC and into Alexandria. I had studded tires on my old mountain bike, and I did not ever have a wipeout, although I did without the studded tires once.

While the roads get cleared pretty quickly, the National Park Service does not clear the path that I rode on (Mt. Vernon for the locals), so the studded tires were quite useful long after the snowy event. And they sound cool, too.

It snowed here last week, but it didn't stick. Sure was pretty, though.

[Geonz]

I grew up in MD and oh, always always pined and mourned when those weather people would say "and of course, in western Maryland it will be snow."

I spent a year in college in Western Maryland (Garrett Community College, getting my A.A. in Wildlife and Fisheries) and FINALLY got to get all that snow!

It is a completely different animal than the stuff on the coast. It's not half ice or slush because it's cold enough to be fluffy so you really *can* just throw yourself into it and roll around. It turns the whole world into a padded cell.
Regarding driving, out there you have a much bigger margin for error. You could spin out and do a few 360's and then go your merry way without blocking traffic for 4000 people for an hour. Back where it's crowded, a little swerve or skid and BAM! you've hit something. (This is not to say that people don't panic and do all kinds of idiotic things, too, but there might be as many people being as idiotic out west andd they just don't get busted. Or they go off the edge of the mountains ;( )

Now I"m in ILlinois and people think the winters are bad and I'm always saying "no, we're not that close to Chicago!"
Last winter we had 14 inches on Valentines day and everything did close down for two days... and that's when I ordered studded tires, and this winter they're justified. It has kinda interfered with my wild idea of trying to do 1000 miles in December though!!!

[Kitsune06]

I grew up in WI. Snow was nothing. As kids, we'd try to run out and measure 6" b/c it was at that holiest of measurements that school would be closed for the day.

Here in Portland, absolute chaos resulted from 2" last year. I sh*t you not. My car has terrible tires/suspension/traction, so that was maddeningly embarrassing, but also, city buses took out mailboxes, fences etc as they slid into ditches.

All that said... I pine for a little these days. Having grown up with clear, starry winter nights and glowing sapphire snow illuminating my childhood... the darkness of the cloudy winter skies and dark green/brown of the earth is depressing.

I miss snow-covered woods, walking out into the crushing silence and feeling it press against ever-assaulted eardrums until the solitude envelops you. It's then, that with a start you realize you can hear the individual snowflakes landing around you between the deafening rushes of your breath.

Memories like that make me feel ever more that I don't belong in the city...

[Zen]

The problem with the DC area and snow is that people (feds mostly) come here from all over and don't know how to drive in it.

I like our occasional snow. I just stay home and watch the traffic reports all snug and smug...

[IFjane]

Hey Zen - I heard on the radio this morning that your neck of the woods had "freezing fog"? What the heck is that? Does it break when you run into it?

By the way, all of you in the mid-Atlantic area and up to NYC, be careful on the ice this weekend!!

[silver]

I grew up in Alabama and I don't like snow.

[Geonz]

Freezing fog is like this wavery-thin film of suspended iciness in the air. It is exquisite to ride through. It can leave a little icy film over *everything* (your clothing included when you're done).