We had freezing rain for a day and half over the weekend, and I promised my spousal companion she could have the car on Monday, so I suppose I should've installed my snow tires on the Torino 76, even if I was planning on picking up a winter beater for most of my winter riding. But I did not install my snow tires. I didn't really notice too much of a lack of traction until the first hill - I thought at first my Alfine hub was slipping somehow, but quickly realized it was my back tire slipping under power. I tried my best to stay in the narrow sporadic tracks of dirt laid down by the road crew. Then when I got to the big downhill at the end of the road, the track of dirt was narrower than my tire, and believing that a slip, even if on ice, is no fun at 60 km/h, I hugged the edge of the road where the ground was showing through and dragged my brakes all the way down - actually the first time I have ever gone down that hill that I did not let the bike coast to terminal velocity.

Temperatures were above freezing all day so I thought some of the ice would have melted. Well, it didn't... or maybe it did - I don't know because it was dark and my feeble little LED headlight did not make it possible to determine on what surface I was riding. And what ice was left was probably slipperier because it was now ice with a layer of melted water running off the top. I managed to ride all the way up the big hill (surprising because I figured my wheel would be slipping), and took it easy on all the downhills, and made it home alive... and that's what it is all about, right? Not dying?