Arctic Glass

This morning on the path into work, a Modest Mouse song came on the pod and just fit the bill perfectly.."on the arctic glass..." Blue sky and 5 degrees when I left this morning with sheet ice and snow on the roads and bike paths. It didn't FEEL like 5 and breezy cause the sun was shining, and the studs on the tires were keeping me glued to the road. I am not exaggerating when I say I had the best commute of the year this morning and last night (it's still early).

It started yesterday afternoon. In a meeting from 10-12, I spotted a coyote hunting outside my office. I knew right then that it was going to snow even though the weather channel wasn't calling for it. They have a 6th sense on weather: get the hunting in before the weather stops that from happening. The burst of snow that dropped 4-6" on Boulder and nowhere else (my house in Ned got NO snow) dropped wet snow that froze instantly on the warm pavement. I've never seen so many stopped cars on so many roads at the same time (except for LA maybe) and so few people on the bike path! I left the farmhouse (my office) for a downtown dinner with my cousin's family at 5 and stayed off the roads. It's only 6 miles, but it felt like an epic in these conditions.

Fresh tracks on the bike paths and I didn't need to use my light as all the ambient light from all the car lights in traffic reflected off the snow and lit the way more than enough.

Then this morning, it was absolutely beautiful. The roads were snowpacked and the studded tires stuck to the road. I walked the dogs around the yard before getting on the bike and i think that's what saved my fingers and toes from freezing on the 3k drop into town. That, and I seriously recommend Moose Mitts. I've been using these for winter commutes for several years and they make a huge difference.

Topped off the day with a rolling tasting with Timmy. Brown Shugga ale from Lagunitas is an interesting experience as it changes taste and gets better as it warms.

Seeing Van Halen tomorrow night for some serious arena rock...i never saw them as a kid and i think it'll be a pretty fun show to see with the Redneck and Guitar Hero. Full report on Saturday.