matthew_deaner

Umm... yeah. But that's not relevant. If I had wanted to take the backroads, I would have. The issue here is the authority that the police officer had.
Just FYI - the terrain here is hilly... no long hills, but lots of short, very steep hills. The "backroad" route to Bloomington has two hills that have a 20% grade. Total elevation gain on the "backroad" route is 1,150 feet on the way to bloomington, and 1050 feet for the way home. I can't possibly do a 40-mile RT commute 5-days a week if I lug my 60-lb. loaded touring bike (plus my 165 pound self) up these hills day after day. It wears me down too much. The highway was built to dept. of transportation standards, and has mild gradients. Plus, I think it's safer under most conditions.

Regarding e-mailing the police department - I'll do that, and will post again with their response.

And just a point of clarification - I am not really mad at the officer or the police department. I just feel that the weather conditions were not dangerous, and the officer was not within his rights to redirect me. However, I do see his point. I can see where it would be difficult for snow plows to do their job with me on the road... I'm just interested in what my rights were at the point when the officer redirected me.