So, how ya' getting home?

Great thread. I'm going to expound when I have more than a moment's time. Watch for an edit.

nXp

EDIT -  Bet ya thought I forgot about this on, eh?


I work 32 miles one way from home.  Travel time is interstate, which copious county roads going from city-plex to city.  Switching to a county road option (which has been done multiple times due with inclement weather, traffic backups, etc) adds a bit more milage on to the count.

There is a train route that could be reached within a few miles of work/home but it's industrial not passenger and they frown on walking the tracks. 

I did attempt a "BO-Walk" this last summer.  It sucked.  Seriously, sucked.  And it's not because I'm an overweight slob that uses wheeled transportation, I walk/run everywhere during the day at my job, I'm always on my feet and moving - hint, this is where it bit me in the rear end. 

Fact of the matter, after being on my feet all day I was spent and my feet had had it.  Wrong shoes for high milage, tired feet, and urban/country traversing landed me at mile 15 with being pooped, sore, and running out of daylight quick.  Any thoughts of doing making it home afterwork during viable sunlight was a nogo.  So, regroup and buy ice - time to rethink this.

In the event of incliment weather, I can stay at my job until the threat passes.  I have access to food/bed/cable/you name it.  That said, in the event of a serious issue (mass casuality/bio/etc) my work will become overrun immediately, yay hospitals.  This will greatly effect my ability to leave.  Toss on there natural barriers, and it starts getting complicated.

What I've come up with, is the good ol' midwestern idea of shelter in place if you're stuck and find a fast mode of transport if you must move.  I'm looking into a bike for the spring/summer/fall that can hang out in the car as I go to-from work.  Doesn't need to be fancy, just available, dependable, and comfortable.  In the winter, there's always a snowkit in the car, along with my icefishing gear and float suit, but really sheltering in place is a better idea.   Family knows what to expect, I've done this job for years, they're used to seeing me later in the week if I'm stuck somewhere.

Still evaluating routes, transportation methods, and above all else safety from Ma Nature.  Idiots will be idiots, and can't be fully accounted for, but enviromental safety can be.

I'll poke more holes at this later....

So which ones are they?

www.skechers.com/men/styles/dress-shoes

Cool. Just wondering.

I have a pair of Rockports like that. They're my wedding/funeral shoes right now. For work we have to wear boots, but when I switch to being hospital based that'll change.

Fatbike.  Go with a fatbike.  They handle snow quite nicely.

Well I have a GHB in the trunk with better socks and minimal supplies so the weight is around 12# including 2 liters of water already in it. I'm about 8 miles from "home" right now. The bag has an empty bladder which I can fill at the office if need be. Most of the road home is storefront and warehouses. It wouldn't be too bad imo. I'm guessing a 3 hourish walk home.

I'm working on updating stuff for my truck; I swear, at this age, it's easier to just take an extra couple changes of clothes for the munchkin than to keep a set of clothes in the truck. Either way, there's not really a serious plan for a bug-out by foot. Being fairly geographically isolated has its own pros and cons--driving about an hour (minimum) to get ANYWHERE makes hiking more like plan c. Or d.

Work is about the same. As nice as it is to have a work truck, it does limit some of the things I can keep in it. No weapons of any sort, for starters. I do keep a little extra food and water in my work bag; I need to add some longer term foodstuffs in the truck, but if poo strikes oscillating blades of any sort while I'm at work, my plan is to either ride it out for the day, or get home ASAP, depending on the poo, the blades, rotation speed, and so forth.

Edit:  Do have a couple of alternate routes home, depending on incident and road conditions--every direction home from work involves 40-50 miles and at least one bridge.  Unless for some reason I really need to take the long way around--then we're looking at unpaved, occasionally maintained (but rarely traveled) dirt roads, at least double that distance, and still a bridge or two.

Granted, getting across the river with bridges out, and only what I can keep in my work truck is pretty low on the "things I worry about" list, but it is something I ought to consider, I suppose.