SalsaShark

Not sure if this should be posted in winter riding, or commuting forum, but it seems to be relevant here.
To those who commute year round, do you find yourself altering your normal daily routes during a snowstorm? Perhaps for traction, less traffic, better visibility, or other reasons.
I ask this after riding home from work this evening, I found myself taking a different route in the snow. My reasons for this include the fact that there was a decent amount of wind blown snow reducing visibility (for the car drivers), hesitation on my part (concerning traction in traffic) about a couple of steeper hills alongside a stretch of busy road and intersections, and a lack of confidence of the snow driving skills (and perhaps inability to clear their windows of snow and ice) of the automobile traffic sharing the road.
I guess my main concern was being seen, even with two headlights, two taillights, and reflective high vis gear.
I chose to take a longer route including more back toads, and a stretch of bike trail on the outskirts of town that does not get cleared regularly in the winter. I will say that if was a super enjoyable ride. It was nice to let my guard down a bit and enjoy riding in the fresh powder. I made it home in one piece, didn't take too much longer than usual, and arrived with a smile on my face.
Any others occupy the same frame of mind in similar conditions?

Jim from Boston

I’m an early morning reverse, outbound urban commuter from downtown to a suburb, and for winter commuting I ride Marathon Winter studded tires. When it snows, especially at night, I seek out major thoroughfares, since they are the first plowed and the best maintained. I find the Marathon Winters are rideable through up to about three inches of snow.

There is usually not much traffic in my direction at that time of day, and but major concern for snowy roads is still traction for the traffic. I wear a rearview mirror and carefully monitor upcoming (and oncoming) cars for skidding. On one occasion I was able to go up a hill that the cars could not negotiate, so I enjoyed a short traffic-free ride until traffic entered from side streets further up the hill.

Bat56

Definitely.

howeeee

sometime I will ride the sidewalks most of the way, so If i slip and fall it wont be under a moving car

FrankHudson

Yes, I change routes based on road conditions. Frozen ruts are difficult on my fairly narrow winter tires, so I avoid heavily rutted surfaces when I can. Slushy conditions would have me avoiding the otherwise decent wide bike paths down a couple of major streets near me (icy slush "wakes" from fast passing cars).

jhill44

I take side streets over the busier streets of my normal commute just to avoid traffic. Slush makes the bike lanes invisible and I think cars think they are no longer in effect. It takes me longer, but I arrive alive.

Buffalo Buff

Nope. Moved to the Southern US and haven't seen snow yet this winter. One of the reasons I moved

Was actually commuting to work in shorts & a t shirt before this recent cold wave hit us. Now I'm almost to the point I'm going to wear a jacket!

ThermionicScott 

I tend to wimp out and drive if there's much snow or ice on the ground , but when I do ride, I tend to take a different route. Most of it is on a trail (the Cedar River Trail) that runs by the river and apart from some intersections, I don't have to worry about interacting with cars. However, the 1/3 or so closest to work is still shared with cars, and probably has the most pedestrian-unfriendly intersections possible.

I get "raised eyebrow" looks from most people when I say that I'd rather take streets than the trail to work, but at least with those streets, I'm riding with the cars and within their main field of view, rather than at the periphery, waiting for the rare chance to cross.

Daniel4

I take a different route returning home not because of the snow but because of the sun. When I get out of work it's already dark and I don't want to ride through the park trail in the dark where there may be muggers. Yes, in my morning commute to work through the trail, I see park benches moved and ashes of extinguished fires inside the two tunnels I go through.

So in the winter on my return home in the dark, I take city streets. Most of it are side-streets and the major road does cross the highway but safely because I can stay in my lane and the motorist are the ones who have to change lanes around me.

When spring comes, I'll be going back to the park trail to return home.

scoatw

eight inches or above of overnight snowfall will get me to take my shortest way to work. I have two route options. And the short way gets me to the main thoroughfare the quickest where I count on it being plowed. If it is, then the ride isn't so bad. If it isn't then I'm riding down a tire track the best I can to keep moving forward. But in a storm like that I'll leave a half-hour or 45 mins early to make up for the rough weather. And that all occurs at 4am.

cyccommute 

I take a different in the cold but not usually in the snow. Both my winter and summer routes have little traffic by design. But my "high" winter route is about 200 feet higher and 15 degrees warmer than the "lower" summer route. The summer route is along a creek and has zero car traffic for about 8 of the 10 miles to work. The other route has only a little traffic but it is on streets.

modernjess

I do for sure, not wholesale different routes but I will take different segments on any given day depending on the weather conditions, road conditions, and the condition of the MUP commuter trail. It's all about safety and ease of passage. Path of least resistance don't cha know..

In the summer I take completely different routes just to mix it up or get more miles.

wphamilton

Absolutely - the once every 2 or 3 years that it happens. Our drivers lose their minds in snow, literally sliding everywhere and I take a route to stay as far away from them as possible.

purple jelly

I change my routes constantly. Sometimes just for a change of scenery. Sometimes because I want a flatter or hillier commute that day. Sometimes because the street sweepers haven't been around for a while. And sometimes because of stops I need to make on the way to or from work. I don't have snow to deal with thankfully in coastal California. But if there was snow, I would find a way to ride. Because I am hardcore. So hardcore in fact, I am going to go lube my chain whip right now.

Hypno Toad

I ride a longer route on snowy days for all the reasons the OP states. My summer (direct) route is 8.5 miles. I rarely use this route when winter is in effect with reduced daylight and snow/ice everywhere.

My winter routes range from 9 to 13.5 miles. The 13.5 miles keeps me off nearly every road; the couple short stretches of roads are slow residential streets. When needed, I will ride the shorter route in the snow, but it's just a lot more stress. I have prefect control in these conditions, but the cars, not so much. Drivers do the DUMBEST things on the snow.

Unplowed trails don't bother me, now that I have a Pugsley. But even in the past, I'd ride my 26"x2" studded tires on unplowed trails with up to 4 inches of snow. Heck, I've even made a couple PM commutes with my 700x28 bike with up to 4 inches of fresh snow (those days when it started gorgeous & sunny and I thought the forecast was lying to me about snow in the afternoon... and it wasn't).

I enjoy snowy rides, taking the longer, quieter route is enjoyably.

takenreasy

All I do is change to the bike with studded tires.

Crawford53

Both direct routes to work for me are the same length, but one is on busy multi-lane roads and the other is on quiet single-lane backroads. If the conditions are quite poor I try to weigh my concern for the skills of drivers against my desire to be close to a heated building should something go wrong on my ride. Just for aesthetic purposes I tend to take the backroads more often, but they lead me out into some rural lands.