Well, the cold weather has just dealt me a cruel blow; the only easily accessible road that I can ride is unrideable! Overnight lows of 15 to 21*F have turned the shaded spots into icy traps. And there's plenty of shade since the mountains shade parts of the road during the day until late spring. To combat the slippery road conditions, the highway dept. has salted the icy parts of the road. Salt doesn't play nicely with aluminum rims, spoke nipples, cassettes, derailleurs or anything else on a bike. I can't justify corroding my bike to death to ride my favorite road.

From my house, I can ride about .75 miles in one direction and about 7 miles in the other. Not enough road for a good bike ride. So, the solution is to haul the bike about 8 miles to another part of the highway and do a brutally steep climb (2.5 miles, 6% up to 10%+ grade ) or haul the bike past the climb to parts of the road that stay ice free since the sun shines on them every day.

I've got to get some miles in before the snow flies in a few weeks, so it looks like hauling the bike to good road is the only way.

I'll bet that a bunch of us are, or will be, faced with roads that are iced up, salted or whatever. What's your road status?