slip sliding away
First time I have driven in weather conditions that were completely unnavigable for me.
I went to martial arts on Friday to help out with belt tests and stayed for jiu jitsu. During jiu jitsu the ice started coming down, and freezing slick and solid on all the surfaces it touched. After class, Tim told us he was still going to run camp like normal, but a trucker had come in to say it was really bad outside and his vehicle was not doing well on the roads. Tim told us to put our safety first and if we wanted to go, get.
I peaced out, scraped my car down, and started off. I was about three hundred feet from the school, driving up a hill of ice and my car wouldn't go any more. I pushed it and the speedometer started oscillating like the critical threat gauge on a nuclear reactor during melt down. The analogy is a little extreme, but my speedometer did jump a lot.
I tried for a while to get my car up the hill, but it was only willing to slide backwards (or stay put if I put the emergency brake on). I tried just letting it roll down backwards (in the wrong lane), but it had no traction and fish tailed all over the road. I tried correcting for it, and went off the edge. Thankfully I ended up going off the side with a ditch on it instead of the side with the ravine. My front two wheels hit leaves and dirt, my back two stayed on the ice road. I tried going in reverse, but my wheels just spun on the ice. I started to get out of the car to look at it, and the car began rolling forward. I got back in, and sat on it for a bit, but realized I was going to have to get out. The car, thankfully, stayed half way on the road. I figured I had enough space in front of me and traction on the ground to turn my front around on the road. It took some effort and more fish tailing but I got my car turned around and went back to the school.
I finished up the camp with everybody, and then, along with two other guys and Brandon, spent the night on the mats. Not as hard a surface as camping outside in the woods, but still not comfortable. Outside the yellow flashing lights of salt trucks could be seen through the windows as they passed by.
In the morning the roads were safe enough to travel on again, and I was able to go home. I had to deal with semis spraying dirt on my windshield constantly, and sliding on the up ramp to the interstate, but otherwise it was fine.
I went to martial arts on Friday to help out with belt tests and stayed for jiu jitsu. During jiu jitsu the ice started coming down, and freezing slick and solid on all the surfaces it touched. After class, Tim told us he was still going to run camp like normal, but a trucker had come in to say it was really bad outside and his vehicle was not doing well on the roads. Tim told us to put our safety first and if we wanted to go, get.
I peaced out, scraped my car down, and started off. I was about three hundred feet from the school, driving up a hill of ice and my car wouldn't go any more. I pushed it and the speedometer started oscillating like the critical threat gauge on a nuclear reactor during melt down. The analogy is a little extreme, but my speedometer did jump a lot.
I tried for a while to get my car up the hill, but it was only willing to slide backwards (or stay put if I put the emergency brake on). I tried just letting it roll down backwards (in the wrong lane), but it had no traction and fish tailed all over the road. I tried correcting for it, and went off the edge. Thankfully I ended up going off the side with a ditch on it instead of the side with the ravine. My front two wheels hit leaves and dirt, my back two stayed on the ice road. I tried going in reverse, but my wheels just spun on the ice. I started to get out of the car to look at it, and the car began rolling forward. I got back in, and sat on it for a bit, but realized I was going to have to get out. The car, thankfully, stayed half way on the road. I figured I had enough space in front of me and traction on the ground to turn my front around on the road. It took some effort and more fish tailing but I got my car turned around and went back to the school.
I finished up the camp with everybody, and then, along with two other guys and Brandon, spent the night on the mats. Not as hard a surface as camping outside in the woods, but still not comfortable. Outside the yellow flashing lights of salt trucks could be seen through the windows as they passed by.
In the morning the roads were safe enough to travel on again, and I was able to go home. I had to deal with semis spraying dirt on my windshield constantly, and sliding on the up ramp to the interstate, but otherwise it was fine.