IMHO, if the conditions are bad enough that I can't trust OTHER cars to not hit me, then I shouldn't be out in them in a car either. Here are the conditions in order from good to bad, IMO:

- roads are good, ride the bike
- roads are worse, ride the bike, look out for cars
- roads are bad enough that cars can't be kept in control - stay home.

Because 6" of snow is no reason at all to not go out in a car?

heck, I used to live in Michigan's UP, and I'd go out in 12 inches of unplowed snow in a Ford Probe, which had like 8 inches of clearance. I just had to drive slow enough so that the snow that was over the level of the front of my car didn't come slinging up and onto the windshield and blind me.

You can get around in really amazingly deep snow in a car, provided you know what you're doing and aren't in a hurry.

There are some snow depths that I probably would drive but not bike. For shallow snow and ice though, I'd always rather ride a bike.

Wilbur, you can definitely get away with a single speed in Sactown. The biggest "climb" on my commute is the Sutterville overpass near Hughes Stadium. I just get out of the saddle for a minute and that's it.

I've grew up in the Sacto Valley and I've seen snow flurries and hail, but never freezing rain. My only experience with that was living in Almaty, Kazakhstan. I was walking home one evening and when I reached my apartment I tried closing my umbrella but it was stuck. I yanked on it and then it "shattered." That was weird.

Well, it's not courting imminent death if you're sensible like you say, but I don't think that quite translates to "no reason at all not to go out in a car". Particularly if the 6" of snow is happening in a city, it can easily slow down traffic to the point of causing jams and gridlock, and every car makes the situation worse. Imagine someone who needs an ambulance to get through to them in those circumstances. Not adding to the problem, that's a reason not to go out if you don't have to, I'd say.

It's not how much snow, it's what KIND of snow.

That's only if they bother to salt/sand which they don't where I live (and I'm fine with that, really)

Cars still have seatbelts and airbags that cyclists don't have.

Good point.

The worst storm I've ever driven in though happened while I was at work and was not forecast to be nearly as bad. I stayed later to avoid rush hour which may or may not have been a good decision.

Snow depth was one problem but visibility was worse. Even when my wipers weren't icing up everything was white to the point that I was only vaguely aware of where the road was. Fortunately some opportunely spaced cars in the ditch on either side provided some guidance.

This was a number of years ago and I don't remember if there's a particular reason I needed to go home other than not wanting to be stranded at work.

At any rate, in my 4 years of winter cycling there's been a few times that I've felt I should have left the bike at home/work/train station.

In 25 years of driving, there's been maybe only one or two times (though I don't really remember any) that I drove and wished I hadn't attempted it.

Part of that I'm sure is because I have good backups to riding even if it comes down to jogging, whereas for some driving trips the alternative is to stay where you're at.

If there are predictions for freezing rain, your best bet to take the most highly trafficked roads you can find and ride right where everyone is driving. The heat from the cars will keep anything from freezing and it'll be just like riding in the rain though you personally might get covered in ice.

The last bout of freezing rain we had here I witnessed in the first mile of my ride one SUV pass me then proceed to slide halfway off the road around a curve, a car going down a steep hill spin out and slam into a telephone pole, then a third car attempt to avoid the second flipped onto it's roof. After that, I turned around and rode home on the flatter main roads. My studded tires never once gave any indication that they had poor traction even when standing up to climb a hill out of the valley I rode into during my first mile. I could have ridden without the studs on the main roads though I'd have crashed in a second on my normal backroad route with standard tires.

I do hope you had a chance to re-think that today. Aside from the cold (which I don't mind) it was AWESOME. I left around 6:30 and it was around 30 degrees and clear. The roads were completely dry.

Coming home there was no wind or maybe just a very slight breeze from the north.

Emphasis mine. That's actually not reliably true with freezing rain; I've had plenty of experience to the contrary. Each "freezing rain" situation is different, any any of them can turn a riding/driving surface into a skating rink. It's a sketchy situation, and there aren't any tricks that work every time.

My boss calls me at home last night.

"You already home ... !"

"Yeah ... ?"

"I am still stuck in traffic ... meet me at the bridge tomorrow; I am riding"

"Ok ... see you tomorrow."

... and completelly forgot about him.

He gave me the finger when he rolled in at the dealership

I'm glad you pointed that out. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I typed that but what I typed is not what I meant "The heat from the cars will make the freezing rain situation better than it otherwise would be" is more along the lines of what I intended to say. If the temperature is borderline and there is a lot of slow moving traffic like there tends to be when these freak storms hit, you have a much better chance of riding on water than you otherwise would.

Didn't have the chance to rethink it. I leave at 5:00am so the decision was made the night before. I wasn't feeling it....

This mornings ride was sweet though.

32 degrees F

Snow, sleet, freezing rain? Snow is where the the moisture begins in freezing temperatures and ice crystals are formed and falls as snow. Sleet is where a warm layer of moist air over rides a thicker layer of cold air. The moisture begins falling as rain, freezes on its way down, and hits the ground as ice pellets (thus the stinging). Freezing rain is when the cold air is a thin layer close to the ground. The moisture falls as rain and doesn't have time to freeze until it hits the cold surface. We had some of that in my part of Ohio Tuesday night. A perfect storm is when you have a little freezing rain which changes to sleet then a few inches of snow then changes back to freezing rain then a cold front comes through and drops the temp to 0 or below for a few days. We had that happen about a decade or so ago. About three inches of solid ice and it was too cold for salt to touch it. Life was a mess for a couple of weeks. I am actually looking foward to cold weather (ie highs in the teens and twenties). Here in Ohio this time of year when we range from the 30's to the 40's we are almost always cloudy. We have barely seen the sun since October. The colder air usually brings with it those crystal clear arctic skies and sunshine. I am tired of the constant dreariness.