Originally Posted by ItsJustMe

Wait until you have about 12 inches of snow, then it gets warm and slushes up. The shoulders don't get plowed so there's 3 inches of slush there. Then a few random cars drift in and out of the slush, making random ruts going in and out of the shoulder at random angles. Then it freezes hard overnight. The 2 lane road is totally clear and dry and traffic is moving 60 MPH, and you have to decide whether to take the lane in a 60 MPH environment, or ride on the shoulders where there are 3" rock hard ruts that at least will make riding tortuous, and at worst might blow a tire or grab your tire and throw you into traffic.