Weather Permitting

The Moose came out for this morning's commute, and it was a good thing too. Street conditions are as bad as I've ever seen them, even according to the guy in charge of plowing (and no shortage of grousing about it.) All the wet, heavy snow we got, followed by sleet and rain, has frozen into a rock-hard crust. Even a two-hundred-pounder like myself can walk right on top of the snow cover without breaking through. Those who did not finish with their snow removal duties (including the city of Madison and the University of Wisconsin) are in a real world of hurt. One would need an ice chopper at the least and would be better off with a sledghammer or pickaxe. Even then, there's the quarter-inch of ice underneath it all that has bonded to every paved surface in town, including most of the bicycle facilities. Even though the paths were plowed, we might be better off at this point using one of the UW's Zambonis to at least make them available for use with skates. With studded tires it was sketchy going, and I can hardly imagine going as far as I did without them.

The good news? Another three to six inches of powder on top of it all this afternoon into tonight.

Only 173 miles to go to get to 3650 for the year!