A Snow Day

Snow build up after a trek home
After the ride up the hill...
106 Carbide Steel Studs. Yes, Josie, I said Studs.
Taken at work after my ride in from Downtown.

Some of you may be wondering if I rode in today. The answer would be YES. I can't speak for Sean or Bob, both dedicated commuters like myself and owners of the finest studded winter bicycle tires on the planet, but yes, I'm on the bike!

4am-wake up to snow falling. Turn on news to see what kind of doom and gloom they are spewing.
4:30am-get dressed and load up the pannier.
5am-at the bus stop, waiting, waiting, waiting.....several minutes pass. Hmmm, if I head down to the corner so I can see down the street, and yes, here comes the 159.
5:45am-creeping along Kent Kangley, now all the way down to 116th! (Total distance covered, about 6 miles)
6:15am-pull into the Kent/Des Moines P&R. Roads seem to be OK. We are usually in Seattle by now.
6:20am-I5 NB and brake lights as far as the eye can see. Switch DMP over to FM for traffic info. Bad move-carnage and mayhem. Change back to latest pod cast of "More Hip Than Hippie".
8:10am-bus pulls off FW to first stop. I'm out the door. Left side of bike (side that faces front while on bike rack) is W H I T E and I have to brush about a half inch of snow off bike seat.
8:40am-arrive at work via B.G. Trail. The bike part of the way in was actually very fun. It was a blast cruising by the cars. I saw a few other bikes on my way that were obviously not equipped with proper tires as they struggled mightily trying to stay upright much less move forward. Saw several other tire tracks, most MTB.

I have to say that riding in the snow is VERY fun. Its a ride, you are outside, OK, its not the same as a great summer day, but it is fun in it's own rite. My full endorsement goes to the Nokian Hakkapellita studded tires. They rock.
And yes as a matter of fact, those are Christmas lights.

FF to 2pm.
So, self, lets ditch work early to avoid a repeat of the commuting FUBAR from this morning. Self, good idea! Lets catch the first Sounder south-should be no traffic problems to deal with that way. OK. Leave work at 2:50pm. That leaves a solid half hour to get to King Street Station. Should be no prob.
3:30pm. Five minutes to spare; great. Head down to platform. Self: is this the train home after a Seahawks game? Train cars are packed-standing room only. So, there I stand with bike, waiting, waiting, again.........
3:45pm Next Sounder pulls in and doors open. Good, heated waiting area for next departure time @ 4:20pm. What's on the DMP? Hmmm, some Rush sound good about now.....
4:20pm Train leaves. Suddenly PA crackles: automated message says-"Attention ladies and Gentlemen" (self: BOHICA) "All passengers riding Sounder must wear shirts and shoes at all times; Thank you for riding the Sounder" That is no joke! Good thing they dug that one out in time.
Self: hmmm, that sucks, I was just getting ready to strip down to my tighty whities....Its hot in here.
4:25pm Train slows to a crawl, then stops. Self: Wonder if they have to chain up?
4:45pm PA crackles-"Attention ladies and gentlemen, we have a signal malfunction and we have to wait for 2 trains to pass us before we can continue. Should be about 10 minutes."
5:10pm train starts to move, again.
5:17pm arrive at Tukwilla Station. Now, I've seen people load into the cars in all sorts of weather but today was a record. Everyone was off the platform and into the train car in about 5 seconds. They were muttering something about being cold.
5:25pm Arrive Kent Station. Mimics something from a Stephen King movie. All but abandoned. Usually, this time of the night things are busy with people catching connecting buses or friends or family pick ups. NOTHING.
That's fine, I'd planned on riding home anyway. Streets are sheets of ice. Sidewalk offers packed snow which affords most excellent traction for the Nokians. Sidewalk it is. All the way home. I was a bit cold until the climb up Canyon. Had to watch BTU output vs ability to shed heat. Got a nice pace dialed in and kept body temp very comfy. Besides, anything much above 13mph would have been a bit dicey-the cars had still managed to spew road slush onto the sidewalk and it was freezing into large boulder like chunks. I can hear you saying "13mph!? that's a slug pace!" Normally, yes. Keep in mind there was never pavement available-always on something water based and below 32 degrees and often finding snow that was as deep as the tire/rim. In those conditions, 13 or so is just dandy. Besides, riding in snow and ice like that is a bit more of a work out than dry pavement. It was a pretty fun ride even if it was on the sidewalk. The traffic volume was pretty low and there were times when all I could hear was the crunching of the snow under the tires. Very cool. It was still snowing lightly on the way home and the trees were fully covered with snow. It was awesome! Saturday night calls for a ride up the Soos Creek Trail for sure.