This morning was the first time I was ever a little worried about my safety when riding in the winter. Last night there was some freezing rain (or something like that), and there was a glaze of ice on everything. I've never really had a problem with ice before since I usually just ride on busy streets where the ice melts quickly due to the traffic and the ridiculous amounts of salt. I live on a side street and when I pushed down on the crank trying to get into the saddle, the rear wheel just spun and the bike didn't go anywhere! I don't think that's ever happened to me before. now I understand why people use studded tires.

I wound up walking the bike to a busier street and conditions seemed better there. Nevertheless I was a little anxious about hitting some ice. I basically stayed in the right tire track the whole way (normally there's enough room on the right to stay out of the way of traffic). I wasn't about to tempt fate by riding through the slushy-icy mix on the right. Eventually on that road, a bike lane appears, but I had to stay out of that too since it was covered. I didn't get any abuse from motorists though, which was nice.