Consecutive bicycle work commute number 1570:

No additional snow this morning which was nice. Temps took a nosedive down to normal January temps. It was 0°F this morning but thankfully the breeze was very light. I wasn't cold at all, which makes me very confident that my winter skin survived our Ohio trip intact. I did throw on an extra layer under my riding pants, which I normally do below 10°F. Switched out my glasses for goggles, which are warmer but lack a rearview mirror.

Took the fat bike again. The plow status of the MUP could not be confirmed (via our local online bicycle social media group), and where I normally get on the MUP is at the bottom of a giant hill with no acceptable alternative routes other than the way I get there. I decided I didn't want to risk riding down and discovering that the MUP is impassable, and then having to backtrack a mile up that big hill. I opted to take the streets the whole way. I'll check the MUP on the way home as from the downtown area there are a lot more options to bail out if it's not clear. By the time I go home tonight it will be 36 hours since the last snow fell, so it would surprise me if the MUP wasn't plowed by then.

I looked on the map and decided to try some different side streets. My goal was to reduce the intensity of the hills compared to the routes I took the previous couple days. There's no way to avoid hills on this end of town, but I would be happy if I could trade a couple of the "rollercoaster" streets for more gradual gradient changes. For the most part my efforts were successful, but these alternative routes were anything but flat.

Saw a Bobcat stuck in the snow (the heavy equipment kind, not the feline kind.) It takes some serious doing to get one of those stuck.