What a Difference a Day Makes

I got up and rode to work, today, unsure if we were even open for business. We don't have a set policy for snow days (they are rare), and no method of being alerted to them, outside of the office.

So, I pedalled off through 8 inches of slushy snow, and figured that if I could get there, then other people could as well and we were open. If not, then...

Riding through this stuff was pretty difficult. Like most Spring snows, it was wet and heavy, plus it was deep enough to make steering difficult. Couple that to a surprising layer of watery slush under the snow (surprising in view of the 17 degree temperature), and the effect was akin to riding on a sandy beach. The 8.3 mile ride took me exactly an hour, making my average speed...uh...Well, I'll get the calculator out, later.

I actually made better time in the blizzard, yesterday, doing the 9 mile route home in a hour, including stops to take pictures. But I suspect the 30 mph tailwind had something to do with that.

Here are a couple of shots of our parking lot, just after I arrived. I love the aerodynamic look of the snow on the vehicles which were parked overnight.

The ice buildup on the rims made the brakes completely useless. I was glad that I switched to the fixed-gear snowbike, this year.

One of the things I love about Colorado is how fast we recover from these big snow storms, this time of year. As the day went on, the sky cleared and the sun came out. As I was leaving, the pavement in the parking lot (and on the roads) was drying, and steam was rising from the ground.

You may remember this shot from yesterday's post, looking across the football field toward GW High School.

Here's the same view, today:

I was glad I decided to go ahead and work, today. About half of the people in my office called in and chose to not make the drive in the snow. This was my 400th consecutive bicycle commute, so I was happy to hit that milestone on the way to my goal of 500 work days in a row.

And now a word from our sponsor:

Bow to me, puny humans!

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