Fifty Plus (50+) - New experience in Texas - Riding with snow

We had 2 days of snow this last week in North Texas. As with most Texas weather, it will change in a few hours which it did and today turned out to be a good (but cool) day for a ride. As I was on my ride, I couldn't help but think how unusual it was that there is snow on the ground and roofs and I am riding my bike on dry roads.

Heck Jaws, we're not that much different here in sw wisc.. I rode yesterday, there was snow on the ground, the roads were dry (if a little crusty from salt) and it was a little cool as well. Of course, a little cool in this case means 14 deg. F, at least thats what it was when I rode by the bank. I confess it was a pretty short ride but infinitely preferable to using a trainer. I'm beginning to think that I could live with being called a "snowbird" as this, to my way of thinking, is preferable to being called frozen!

Heck Jaws, we're not that much different here in sw wisc.. I rode yesterday, there was snow on the ground, the roads were dry (if a little crusty from salt) and it was a little cool as well. Of course, a little cool in this case means 14 deg. F, at least thats what it was when I rode by the bank. I confess it was a pretty short ride but infinitely preferable to using a trainer. I'm beginning to think that I could live with being called a "snowbird" as this, to my way of thinking, is preferable to being called frozen!

A little cool here (like yesterday) means 38 deg. rising to 54 deg. during the ride time. Don't know how anyone can ride in 14 deg. no matter how short the ride.

I think I have posted this photo before, it's from a couple of years ago. I wouldn't normally ride with the road in this condition, but we just ran into it and could see clear roads ahead.

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k87/tomfrady/IMG_2061r.jpg

You could do what I do. Call Al Gore to fly in on his private jet and tell him to shovel your dirveway.

Riding where the roads are not dry, but have snow on them, is not an equal situation in every place. In more southern areas, like Texas, the ground was probably around 32 deg. F. or even above when the snow fell. Then temperatures dropped overnight. That means a thin layer of ice formed right at the road surface. After some car traffic it gets slick. Riding with ice under you is very tricky. (This was my experience while living in Tennessee.)

If the ground temperature has been below freezing for weeks, snow that falls on it may pack, but you may still be able to ride on it fairly safely.

If you have dry and clean roads, the snow is only a sideshow. You will still need to watch for sections of road where trees or a bank keeps the sun from reaching the road surface. Snow there either may not have melted away or it may have melted a bit and frozen again to form ice. Areas like that can appear suddenly and make for quite a surprise, especially if you run into car traffic at the same time and cannot go around the ice.

We had 2 days of snow this last week in North Texas. As with most Texas weather, it will change in a few hours which it did and today turned out to be a good (but cool) day for a ride. As I was on my ride, I couldn't help but think how unusual it was that there is snow on the ground and roofs and I am riding my bike on dry roads.

Yeah, it was weird seeing snow on the ground. At least your roads were dry, when I left at 9 it was still 28* and it was very strange to be calling out ICE where it was still slushy on road sections where sprinkler systems had put down some water. I was with a group that had a certification class scheduled for 1pm at the Frisco superdrome ... it was cancelled cause there was still snow/ice on the track where it is shaded on the S. end :( So we did another afternoon ride, ended up with 80 miles for the day ... pretty good for my coldest ride of the year.