The silver lining to the cloud of winter
 

My blessed grandmother taught me to look for the silver lining that every cloud surely has. Even winter seems to have one. Even winter. And I found it. The shoulders are now so nicely clean and bladed off by repeated passes of the snow plows, a fellow does not even have to dodge even one smashed beer bottle or flat cat. Lovely!

Tell that SOB Al Gore that I found a new galcier. It is forming in my driveway. 37mm thick ice measured today in a stupid effort to remove it. I guess that they don't use cinders on the roads down there. They cut up bike tires like a ginsu knife does a Coke can.

It is very hard to find a silver lining this winter. Maybe all the exercise had from scraping the drive is one.

Cross-training! :D

Salt and calcium chloride. Hard on cars and concrete, but not on bike tires. Even so, I was able to flat today. But it was a thorn of all things, this time of year.

I flatted today, also, on a road with 8' paved shoulders. Through inattentiveness, I hit a good sized rock dead on and pinch flatted the rear. The OP's theory didn't hold water on this road, especially since we have had snow almost twice a week average for the last month. This road (and shoulder) would have been plowed just yesterday. :(

Chipseal rroads (crushed rock mixed in with the tar and asphault) around here for traction in the winter and durability make belted (flat protection) tires advisable. They can also turn road rash into hamburger.

I'm curious to see how the springtime road riding will be now that very little sand is being put down on the roads. Traditionally around here, the roads are dangerous untill about June when the street sweapers have cleaned up most of the sand and muck. It used to be possible to find 2" deep sand across some intersections. (depending on vehicle traffic)

I didn't realize there were any rocks big enough to cause a flat left in Illinois, thought the last glacier took them all away....