well, seems like the next bike purchase will be a flat-bar commuter with disc brakes... I usually ride my Major Jake in weather like this, but today I rode without fenders, so when I got to work and started to place the bike in its rack I noticed the shavings of aluminum covering the fork crown. I tend to keep my bikes fairly clean and regularly check the brake pads for debris, but this is nuts! I don't know how much of this my rims can take.

tl;dr: disc brake-equipped road bikes make more sense in the city.