-18C at the house, -29C with windchill. That was okay, though, as I wore a shell jacket over my regular riding jacket. The bad part was all the snow. I was fine getting away from the house and through the residential neighborhoods. The roads were evenly coated with light, fluffy stuff, and I just cruised on through without a problem. As soon as I got to the main streets, it all went to hell. The combination of fresh snow, salt and sand made the sides of the road pretty much unridable. It's like wet sand, but with none of the resilience. My front wheel was just going everywhere. I was doing okay at first, but the sludge got deeper and I had to get off the road and onto the
sidewalk. Shameful, I know, but I had no choice. Thankfully, there weren't many people out due to the cold.
[rant]Calgary has a policy for snow removal that basically means that primary roads get plowed first. Side roads are left to Ma Nature and Chinooks to clear. Yet, all citizens have 24 hours to clear their sidewalks of snow and ice or be subject to a $200 fine. This does not apply to the city itself, of course. You can always tell which buildings are city-operated, as they are the last ones to clear their sidewalks.[/rant]
Anyway, I'm not looking forward to the ride home. If the streets haven't been plowed, I'll have to take the sidewalks. I hate riding on sidewalks, it makes me feel like a bad person. Then again, riding the roads like they are today will make me feel like I have crashed my bike every 10m, mostly because I will have.
