Snow Day Part Deux

I am often jealous of my co-workers short commutes to work. By short I mean less than a mile and, for a few,  mere blocks. You forget how much day you have when your commute to and from work is less than 15 minutes. Especially when compared to sitting in 2 hours of slug paced traffic. Though I sometimes grouse about the drive (yes H. sometimes) I would much rather have the long commute to work if that means a short commute to the trail.

I got the "if it's bad don't be stupid and try to drive in" phone call from the boss last night. Early this morning H. informed me of how poor road conditions were. The amount of snow we got would never even make the evening news in my home town, but then again they are used to and prepared for such occurrences given the months spent covered with snow. Plus they don't have the steep terrain with which to contend.

Here in middle TN, we don't get a lot of snow so there isn't much preparedness on the part of TDOT aside from de-icer spraying. So add 2-8 inches of snow across the state to the narrow, non-shouldered, twisty, mountain back roads and 3 major interstates and a little snow quickly becomes a big problem. Luckily once traffic settles down, it usually melts away pretty quickly. You just have to be able to out wait the idiots. I am grateful my boss allows us to out wait the idiots. 

Since it wasn't wise to attempt fate (looking at you Hannah) to drive the 53 miles to work, it wouldn't be right to attempt to drive to a trail for a snow ride. That is where living 53 miles from work is a blessing. I can ride out the back door and get to a trail without ever leaving the property.  There are many aspects of Joelton that I love - great roads to ride, small town friendliness, open spaces, mom and pop shops, elevation and terrain -  but the one I love best is having singletrack in the back yard.

It reminded me of last winters Clayville snow day adventure. We don't have the Cotton Mill Preserve mileage, but we've got the elevation with MB-esque soil.  And it's out the back door. Which brings me to the above photo. Last year my bottles froze to slush on the ride. The past few rides I've done have also resulted in frozen liquid. Recently I remembered that benevolent sponsor Backcountry Research had sent a care package a while back with extra goodies.

Contained in the package was a Camelbak Podium Chill. The only bottle I've found that fits in a standard bottle cage and keeps drinks from freezing. Last year heading to the afore mentioned Clayville ride, gRant left his chill bottles on the bike in the back of the truck for the hour+, 70+mph drive.  Then we spent hours out on the trail and his drinks never froze.  I'm happy to report that during yesterdays snow adventured and today's, my bottle never froze. This year I should probably test them out in the heat of Kanza (There's a thought).

Speaking of Backcountry Research. Unlike Doug and Dumber, I opted to use the new improved higher tech Awesome strap accoutrement today. YMMV.