The weather prediction has held true and I arrived to work at about 7:30 AM. I started out before 6:00 AM and road conditions in Kenmore Square were at the extreme limit for my Marathon Winters. Though the roads were ploughed with a hard-packed base, that was covered by loose wet, and rutted snow up to about 2 to 3 inches deep. The only way to ride was in a continuous line of my choice. However I was stymied by going toward the Longwood Medical Area, with fairly heavy traffic that I had to accommodate on narrowed roadways. My goggles accumulated a lot of snow requiring frequent but incomplete cleaning, and I saw a flash of lightning.

My alternative was to ride two miles to the commuter rail station. There was nil traffic going towards downtown and I could plow through pretty well and caught the train which was on time. I rode about a mile from the station to my destination in Norwood on wide, lightly traveled roads with conditions similar to those in Boston, and felt comfortable going at about 7 to 8 mph. I kept my feet out of the toeclips since skids, but not falls were frequent.

The drivers in Boston were pretty tolerant of me and the only shout-out I got was when passing a pick-up truck stopped at a light and I was told “Go Home.” I previously quoted a thread, “When does hardcore become stupid?”. Today, hardcore would have been to leave at 5:00 AM and ride 14 miles, my shortened ride was prudent, and to ride the distance with a late start would have been stupid.