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So Phil (my riding bud) and I were heading home from a fairly successful race trip to Moab. He got a 3rd in the Hill Climb, and I got a 4th in the Cross Country time trail (my best Sport finish ever!).
We stayed around Moab for the award ceremony Sunday, so Phil could get his cheesey plaque.
We headed home about 2:30PM, toward Denver.
The snow started around Vail, and it just got worse. We made it through Vail Pass, through the Eisenhower tunnel, and we were almost to Silver Plume. It seemed like we'd make it home, late, but that's better than staying in the mountains (when you have to get back to work).
Then, all of a sudden, the rear end of the Land Rover decided it was jealous of the front, and started catching up. Understand that Land Rovers aren't that stable at speed, with water (or snow) on the road.
I tried to correct (careful to not over-correct), but turning had no effect. I might as well have been on solid black ice. :-( I just had time to yell "hold on, we're going over", and we went over.
We ended up on our top, after spinning 3/4 of the way around, in the median.
We could have bought the big one in so many ways I won't list them.
Good news: nobody physically hurt, and lots of nice people stopped and helped us! We had to wait 2 friggin' hours for the tow truck -- the police never did show up. (I talked to them, and they said "we ain't comin!").
Here's a pic of the Rover. Doesn't really show the damage, like the puddle of oil in the median, nor the fact that the key won't come out and it's stuck in park (which makes towing it interesting).
Bottom line: if you have a big ol' SUV (like I used to have), slow down in the snow or end up like we did! I'm drivin' a darn micro-rental around for who knows-how-long!
BTW --- we had a Thule bike rack on the back, with two kind-of-expensive bikes, and the only damage was one wheel getting taco-ed and the bike rack getting bent. I doubt we would have been so lucky with a roof rack. Just a data point.
We stayed around Moab for the award ceremony Sunday, so Phil could get his cheesey plaque.
We headed home about 2:30PM, toward Denver.The snow started around Vail, and it just got worse. We made it through Vail Pass, through the Eisenhower tunnel, and we were almost to Silver Plume. It seemed like we'd make it home, late, but that's better than staying in the mountains (when you have to get back to work).
Then, all of a sudden, the rear end of the Land Rover decided it was jealous of the front, and started catching up. Understand that Land Rovers aren't that stable at speed, with water (or snow) on the road.
I tried to correct (careful to not over-correct), but turning had no effect. I might as well have been on solid black ice. :-( I just had time to yell "hold on, we're going over", and we went over.
We ended up on our top, after spinning 3/4 of the way around, in the median.
We could have bought the big one in so many ways I won't list them.
Good news: nobody physically hurt, and lots of nice people stopped and helped us! We had to wait 2 friggin' hours for the tow truck -- the police never did show up. (I talked to them, and they said "we ain't comin!").
Here's a pic of the Rover. Doesn't really show the damage, like the puddle of oil in the median, nor the fact that the key won't come out and it's stuck in park (which makes towing it interesting).
Bottom line: if you have a big ol' SUV (like I used to have
), slow down in the snow or end up like we did! I'm drivin' a darn micro-rental around for who knows-how-long!BTW --- we had a Thule bike rack on the back, with two kind-of-expensive bikes, and the only damage was one wheel getting taco-ed and the bike rack getting bent. I doubt we would have been so lucky with a roof rack. Just a data point.
