Anyway, thanks Bradley and City Pages for the backhanded compliment.

-29 °F / -33 °C windchill this morning. When the English and Metric systems almost agree, you’re fucked. made the commute today. Its gonna take a thick juice jacket to get me home tonight.

I guess I don’t pay enough attention. Check out this article on a proposed interstate highway system for bikes. More like a million new signposts as opposed to dedicated roads but it sounds promising.

State officials and bicycle enthusiasts are stitching together more than 50,000 miles of pedal-friendly pavement to form a vast network of bicycle routes connecting byways, cities and offroad trails in a system like the one created for cars and trucks over half a century ago.

Update! See? Things are more awesome come winter.

Four inches of snow yesterday and a few the day before and still no snow emergency in Minneapolis. That bullshit aside, my commute down the Light Rail Trail was problem free because it was plowed and ready for me before 8am this morning. Which is more than I can say for the streets in my neighborhood. Thats thanks to the fine fellows who plow the Midtown Greenway and the Light Rail Trail when it snows. Read more about how they get it done in this February 2008 article on the city of Minneapolis web site.

After a snowfall like this one (which occurred overnight), both drivers arrive around 7:00 am. Depending upon the severity of the storm, they are sometimes called in early. Scott starts at the St. Louis Park side of the Midtown Greenway, and Jeff starts at the downtown end of the Light Rail Trail. They work toward each other until they meet.

The Midtown Greenway takes between five and six passes with the truck before it is cleared of snow (since it’s so wide), while the Light Rail Trail takes just two. After the trails are cleared through, work begins on the access ramps.

The springs hold tension lost during the braking process and helps turn the pedal at the re-start. Mmkaaay. Via FGG.