It snowed again late Monday night into the morning–this bike commuter’s worst nightmare–but fortunately I have back up plans and excellent friends and neighbors, so I tossed a text M.’s way and got Brompty and I a ride to campus. By the time I left in the evening the new snow had melted, along with some of the old stuff, and it was a temperate pedal to the MARC train for the quick ride home. And when I say temperate, I mean it; I didn’t even wear gloves or a hat! Miracles! The side effect of all this snow and melt, though, is salt, salt, salt, everywhere. Parts of Brompty are practically encrusted, and the taste was on my lips, my tongue, my fingertips–everywhere. I rode over piles of the stuff on the way up the hill, a reminder that roads don’t get clear by themselves, and how we clear them brings its own set of issues.