winter arrives

[newfsmith]

I set a new record for a terrible winter auto commute home. When I left work I was carrying the trash out to the dumpster. It was a struggle getting the dumpster open with 8 inches off snow on top, and I didn't notice that the handles of the grocery bag I carry my gear in, tore in the process. I was barely able to get out of the driveway because we hadn't been plowed yet. After about 40 minutes I was 2/3 of the way home when I decided I should pull over and call my husband to tell him to stay at work (he has a 35 mile commute). That was when I discovered that I was missing my bag, along with my wallet, cell phone, paycheck, and 2 CD's about the new software we are getting at work. So I had to turn around and go back to work, knowing that I would almost certainly get stuck in the driveway. Which I did, but at least I was able to quickly recover my bag from the dumpster and everything was still inside it. So I shoveled my car out and spread enough sand to get back out of the driveway. Unfortunately, the roads still had not been plowed and I got stuck at the first intersection. So I shoveled out again and with some rocking and sand was able to get moving again. It went well from there. I passed a school bus being pulled out of the ditch on the median on I95, so Robyn someone may have had a worse trip with kids than you. I pulled onto my exit to find a big diagonal finger of plowed snow across the ramp that grabbed my tire and started pulling me to the barrier. Put the hazards on and got out with my shovel again. After clearing a 6 foot strip and spreading the last of my sand strategically I was able to get home, where I had to pull into the driveway because a snowplow was behind me with an emergency vehicle behind it. So I got stuck there too, but at least it was my own driveway I shoveled this time. Yes, I probably burned as many calories as I do riding my bike, but I sure enjoyed it a lot less. If I were to get caught in a similar situation riding home; I would lock my bike to a tree, pull my extra layers, yaktrax & survival gear from the panniers and walk to the nearest client's house. All that gear is part of the reason my winter bike weighs 49 pounds. I watch the weather reports pretty carefully to avoid that scenerio, but I'm not convinced that it would be any worse than yesterday.

p.s. Total trip time, 3.5 hours to go 9 miles. Usual bike winter commute 40 minutes to 90 minutes depending on snow depth.