Living in Phoenix prepares one for many things. An eternity in Hell for example. With summer temperatures routinely topping 110 degrees, few Phoenicians will have much problem with the weather should the bad place really exist, and they end up being sent on the long trip downstairs. One thing for which Phoenix does not prepare you, is winter driving. In Phoenix, driving in winter means you switch off the air-conditioning and roll down the windows. After the sun has gone down that is.
In Colorado however, particularly in the mountains, the same rules do not apply. While it’s not the arctic north many people, particularly those in Phoenix, imagine it to be, Colorado does indeed have real winters, with the snow, freezing temperatures and idiot drivers that go along with the mix.
We figured out fairly early on that our little Nissan wouldn’t be able to handle mountain living in a winter climate. Day 4, I think it was, when a 6-inch snowfall left us totally stranded and unable to get off the property and onto the (already clear) road. We moved here at the tail end of winter, so other than a handful of snowfalls in the first few weeks, we had several months grace. However, before the next winter kicked in, we were the proud owners of a rugged looking, 1988 Toyota with 4-wheel drive. I’ve never owned a 4-wheel drive vehicle before, so this was something of an adventure.
Now I don’t hold a whole lot of respect for people who are convinced they need a 4-wheel drive vehicle the size of a small apartment, just because they have 2 children and need something “roomy”. I’ve seen too many of them sprawled across two and sometimes three spaces at the supermarket, or creeping along in an inch or two of snow, to realize that many of these people have no concept of what they’re actually buying or what’s required to drive them.
However Angus, for that is his name, is 15 years old and while he was probably quite a large vehicle when new, is by today’s standards, positively dinky. Plus, he regularly obtains a quite respectable 20 plus miles to the gallon, which affords me the moral superiority to continue thumbing my nose at the people driving 8 mile per gallon behemoths. Nothing like a clear conscience when you’re looking for reasons to feel superior.
Other than playing around in the driveway however, it was a little while before I got to use the 4-wheel drive in anger. Unlike today’s vehicles, switching to 4-wheel drive in Angus requires the driver to get out and manually turn a dial on each of the front wheels. It’s a straightforward enough process, if not the pleasantest task when the weather’s nasty. There are times when it’s tempting to drive just that little but further in 2-wheel drive, perhaps in the vain hope you’ll make it all the way home. However, the adrenaline rush experienced with an unscheduled detour towards a steep drop off at the edge of the road is generally sufficient incentive to get out and take care of things.
Commuting as I do, for around a hundred miles a day, I’ve had quite a bit of experience of winter driving since then, and one thing I’ve learned is that while 4-wheel drive is a magical tool, it’s not the cure all some people think. Hit a patch of ice and it really doesn’t matter whether you have 4 wheels or more, there’s still a good chance you’ll end up spinning. Curiously, this simple fact eludes many other mountain residents who seem to be under the impression their $40,000, leather seated, VCR equipped people movers will handle anything ol’ Ma Nature can throw at it. True enough, the fact that many of them weigh more than your average office building does keep them on the road, but if you check the vehicles sitting on their sides in ditches during any winter storm, a surprisingly refreshing number of them are SUVs. As a broad rule, people in little cars tend to have a slightly better grasp of the laws of physics.
That said; I’ve had a handful of exciting moments myself. The first, and probably the most dramatic was on one of the first frosty nights of early winter. Not too far from home we have a short downhill stretch with a bend at the bottom. Forgetting momentarily that the normal rules of driving don’t apply on ice, I did what I always do and tapped the brakes to control my speed before the corner. You know what’s coming next of course. In a moment, I was sliding at a ninety-degree angle to the road while heading, at an ever increasing rate of knots, towards a steep banking which dropped some twenty feet towards a grove of trees. I’d probably have screamed if I’d only had the time, but in fact I was too busy wrestling with the steering wheel. I must have done something right because after about a year; I had corrected my skid towards the banking and was instead, sliding the other way, directly into the path of a large pick up truck. More wrestling ensued and soon I was headed back towards the banking once more. Becoming more than a little frustrated by this time, I continued spinning the wheel, pulled out of the latest slide and headed back, across the road again. I finally came to rest, on the wrong side of the road, facing back in the direction from where I’d originally come and sweating in a way I hadn’t since leaving warmer climes. In care you’re wondering, the golden rule of driving on ice is; you don’t touch the brakes.
Of course most of the time, winter driving involves nothing more dramatic than sitting in interminable lines while the traffic inches along painfully slowly. It’s in these conditions I have to admit a luxury vehicle would be an advantage. Angus has all the basic pre-requisites, in that he’s equipped with seats, windows and a roof. But it’s true, there are times when it would be very nice to take advantage of a heater with settings somewhere between freezing and searing-your-eyeballs. A decent sound system would be good too. Actually, any sound system would be good. I currently have a cassette tape jammed in mine, trapping me in the hell that is rush hour radio, but that’s another conversation.
However, for all his quirks, he’s chugged his way through everything Colorado has thrown at him and never let me down yet. This is despite clocking up a respectable 200,000 miles this week. I think I’ll keep him for a bit yet.
In Colorado however, particularly in the mountains, the same rules do not apply. While it’s not the arctic north many people, particularly those in Phoenix, imagine it to be, Colorado does indeed have real winters, with the snow, freezing temperatures and idiot drivers that go along with the mix.
We figured out fairly early on that our little Nissan wouldn’t be able to handle mountain living in a winter climate. Day 4, I think it was, when a 6-inch snowfall left us totally stranded and unable to get off the property and onto the (already clear) road. We moved here at the tail end of winter, so other than a handful of snowfalls in the first few weeks, we had several months grace. However, before the next winter kicked in, we were the proud owners of a rugged looking, 1988 Toyota with 4-wheel drive. I’ve never owned a 4-wheel drive vehicle before, so this was something of an adventure.
Now I don’t hold a whole lot of respect for people who are convinced they need a 4-wheel drive vehicle the size of a small apartment, just because they have 2 children and need something “roomy”. I’ve seen too many of them sprawled across two and sometimes three spaces at the supermarket, or creeping along in an inch or two of snow, to realize that many of these people have no concept of what they’re actually buying or what’s required to drive them.
However Angus, for that is his name, is 15 years old and while he was probably quite a large vehicle when new, is by today’s standards, positively dinky. Plus, he regularly obtains a quite respectable 20 plus miles to the gallon, which affords me the moral superiority to continue thumbing my nose at the people driving 8 mile per gallon behemoths. Nothing like a clear conscience when you’re looking for reasons to feel superior.
Other than playing around in the driveway however, it was a little while before I got to use the 4-wheel drive in anger. Unlike today’s vehicles, switching to 4-wheel drive in Angus requires the driver to get out and manually turn a dial on each of the front wheels. It’s a straightforward enough process, if not the pleasantest task when the weather’s nasty. There are times when it’s tempting to drive just that little but further in 2-wheel drive, perhaps in the vain hope you’ll make it all the way home. However, the adrenaline rush experienced with an unscheduled detour towards a steep drop off at the edge of the road is generally sufficient incentive to get out and take care of things.
Commuting as I do, for around a hundred miles a day, I’ve had quite a bit of experience of winter driving since then, and one thing I’ve learned is that while 4-wheel drive is a magical tool, it’s not the cure all some people think. Hit a patch of ice and it really doesn’t matter whether you have 4 wheels or more, there’s still a good chance you’ll end up spinning. Curiously, this simple fact eludes many other mountain residents who seem to be under the impression their $40,000, leather seated, VCR equipped people movers will handle anything ol’ Ma Nature can throw at it. True enough, the fact that many of them weigh more than your average office building does keep them on the road, but if you check the vehicles sitting on their sides in ditches during any winter storm, a surprisingly refreshing number of them are SUVs. As a broad rule, people in little cars tend to have a slightly better grasp of the laws of physics.
That said; I’ve had a handful of exciting moments myself. The first, and probably the most dramatic was on one of the first frosty nights of early winter. Not too far from home we have a short downhill stretch with a bend at the bottom. Forgetting momentarily that the normal rules of driving don’t apply on ice, I did what I always do and tapped the brakes to control my speed before the corner. You know what’s coming next of course. In a moment, I was sliding at a ninety-degree angle to the road while heading, at an ever increasing rate of knots, towards a steep banking which dropped some twenty feet towards a grove of trees. I’d probably have screamed if I’d only had the time, but in fact I was too busy wrestling with the steering wheel. I must have done something right because after about a year; I had corrected my skid towards the banking and was instead, sliding the other way, directly into the path of a large pick up truck. More wrestling ensued and soon I was headed back towards the banking once more. Becoming more than a little frustrated by this time, I continued spinning the wheel, pulled out of the latest slide and headed back, across the road again. I finally came to rest, on the wrong side of the road, facing back in the direction from where I’d originally come and sweating in a way I hadn’t since leaving warmer climes. In care you’re wondering, the golden rule of driving on ice is; you don’t touch the brakes.
Of course most of the time, winter driving involves nothing more dramatic than sitting in interminable lines while the traffic inches along painfully slowly. It’s in these conditions I have to admit a luxury vehicle would be an advantage. Angus has all the basic pre-requisites, in that he’s equipped with seats, windows and a roof. But it’s true, there are times when it would be very nice to take advantage of a heater with settings somewhere between freezing and searing-your-eyeballs. A decent sound system would be good too. Actually, any sound system would be good. I currently have a cassette tape jammed in mine, trapping me in the hell that is rush hour radio, but that’s another conversation.
However, for all his quirks, he’s chugged his way through everything Colorado has thrown at him and never let me down yet. This is despite clocking up a respectable 200,000 miles this week. I think I’ll keep him for a bit yet.
