Two deer grazing and nine turkeys strolling in Red Lodge, and a couple snowplows resting at Vista Point after a busy spring clearing the Beartooth Highway of snow. The snowplows can now hibernate until autumn.

#Montana #deer #turkey #snow #snowplows #photography

On a Scale of Toughest to Wimpiest

It is overwhelmingly agreed that motorcyclists are tough as nails. They brave traffic with nothing to protect themselves but helmets and leather jackets. Every car on the road has a weight and hardness advantage over a motorcyclist.

We don’t want to see the motorcyclists get killed, so in the spring there is always messaging to be on the lookout for motorcycles. Usually in car/motorcycle accidents, the motorcyclist is severely hurt – even possibly fatally. While the car driver, with their airbags and crumpling architecture, can usually walk away from the accident.

But car drivers in their turn, are tougher than minivan drivers. The heavier minivan usually survives more of the crash while most of the danger of loss of life comes from the car driver and their passengers.

Then can we all agree that the wimpiest drivers on the road are pickup truck drivers and SUV drivers? They are in the safest vehicles of all except for big commercial trucks, snowplows, road graters etc. all of which demand a better licence. Usually these other drivers drive a car, minivan, SUV, pickup truck or motorcycle on their own time.

But wait one moment. If the motorcyclist wants to be tougher than nails, They can simply take off their helmet and leather jacket. So wouldn’t they be tougher than anyone else on the road? Not so fast.

Bicyclists share the road, too, in lots of parts of the city. Slowly we are building more bicycle infrastructure but for now, they’re half the time on road with the SUVs and all the bigger vehicles. Have you compared bicycle helmets with motorcycle helmets? The motorcycle helmets seem quite a bit more substantial. And cyclists almost never wear a leather jacket.

If motorcyclists are as tough as nails, bicyclists are as tough as titanium nails.

But pedestrians are the toughest of all. They have no safety equipment except for their clothes. Yes they have their own lanes, better known as sidewalks, but still have to cross other traffic.

Are jaywalkers the toughest type of traffic of all? With no equipment of any kind for their safety, they cross against all kinds of traffic without any laws to protect them if they get it wrong.

Jaywalkers are as tough as diamonds. Diamonds are the toughest of all substances known to man. SUV drivers should look on in awe, instead of honking their horns like wimps, when they see the jaywalkers.

WTTW: ‘Abolish ICE’, ‘Caleb Chilliams’ Among Winners of Annual Snowplow Naming Contest. “A push to name one of Chicago’s snowplows ‘Abolish ICE,’ clearly linking the humorous pun to efforts to oppose President Donald Trump’s mass deportation effort, won the city’s annual snowplow naming contest, officials announced.”

@ascentale @bikenite
Does anyone have experience plowing snow using a bicycle? The best source of inspiration I've found is this article, but it doesn't have detailed build instructions: https://flatbike.com/blogs/cyclist/snow-plow-bike

I have a frontloader cargo bike that seems like it would be ideal to me, the Riese and Müller Load4 75 Vario: https://www.cyclingelectric.com/reviews/riese-and-muller-load4-75-vario-reviewed

But I imagine lowering and raising a plow to be mechanically complex and finicky, and I would love tips.
#BikeNitePQ #bicycles #snowplows #WinterBiking

Portland is holding another contest to name some more snowplows! When we have the climate of San Diego, I'm not sure what we'll be naming then, but here are the candidates in a poll! Now everyone in the Fediverse has a chance to offer Portland our valuable opinions!

#Portland #PDX #snow #snowplows

Maps Mania: The McGritter Tracker is Back!. “By 6:00 AM this morning, Skate Bush could already been seen trundling up that hill, and Sled Zeppelin was hard at work sanding the stairway to Leven. Yes, Traffic Scotland’s Gritter Tracker is back in action – your one-stop, salt-powered, pun-splattered window into the heroic world of gritters battling Scotland’s icy roads.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/11/29/maps-mania-the-mcgritter-tracker-is-back/