Winter Weather Logistics

The snow that has covered the city streets here in Springfield mostly melted away over the weekend. With much of the snow gone (for now), I thought this might be a nice time to reflect on some of the logistical challenges that we faced during our recent bout of winter weather.

Since becoming a one-car family, Ginger picked up a new job that requires her to commute to the Branson area three times a week. This means that for those three days, I'm responsible for getting our son to preschool and myself to work without a motor vehicle. In mild weather, this is not a problem; I hitch the trailer to my road bike, load up the boy, and off we go. In rainy conditions, the trek is a bit soggy, but not terrible. Winter weather is a bit more tricky, though.

The first few days after the snow fell, I hitched the trailer to my mountain bike and made my usual commute. But even with 2-inch knobbies, the mountain bike gets bogged down in loose snow, and I pitifully went down in a few inches of powder trying to get home on the second day. I was also a nervous wreck during the trip to preschool, absolutely certain that my son and I were going to be struck by someone driving like an idiot in the poor road conditions.

After giving up on the bike, Ginger spent a few days working from home, and I was able to use the car for the commute. But one of the final days in which the roads were still covered, I was without a car, I had given up on travelling by bicycle, and if I walked, I knew I was going to be carrying the boy on my shoulders most of the way. So we took the bus. There's a bus stop right around the corner from our house, with the next stop just three-or-so blocks from my son's preschool.

The bus schedule worked out perfectly with our normal morning routine, and the kiddo loved riding the big bus. As a bonus, he didn't have to wear his seat belt, which made it that much more cool. I think as far as efficiency and safety are concerned, Springfield's Transit Services will be my go-to commuting method during winter weather from here on out.

So I was wrong...again

A couple months ago, I wrote a post that reflected on a year of cycling in Springfield. I then posted an update a few weeks later discussing my recent rash of flat tires. And now I'm going to add another addendum.

I was maybe a little harsh on the Ozark Greenways; insinuating that, however great they may be for recreational riders, they're pretty much useless for commuters. About two weeks after I posted that comment, I had a business lunch down on the south side of town - near Battlefield and Lone Pine. I loaded up and pedaled over to Fremont, which took me to the Mercy campus. I headed east on Seminole until I could hop on the Galloway Trail, which took me the rest of the way to Battlefield. At that point, I cut through a couple parking lots and arrived at my location. The ride was brisk, but I don't mind that a bit. And riding across town was a great break from sitting at my desk in the middle of a weekday.

The moral of the story is that I spoke way too soon about the Greenways' capacity for bicycle commuting. It's not like I'll be using that route every day, but I can't deny that my ride was a commuting-related activity. The Galloway Trail was a super handy way to get where I was going, and I hope that I can schedule another lunch down in that area so that I can make use of it again.