In an attempt to beat some of the rainy weather that was supposed to hit this afternoon I got on my way around 8:30am for what I hoped to be a 3-4 hour ride. Things were going smoothly....feeling pretty good. Roads were clear of snow with only the occasional spot of snow/ice near the shoulder. As I got further north those spots became a little more frequent. It eventually got to the point where I was riding more on snow than pavement. Now normally I wouldn't mind that at all but the problem is there was rutted ice patches beneath the snow. The roads I take are not too busy but when they did come along I had to get even further into the deeper sections of snow and control started to become and issue. Needless to say I eventually turned it around and headed back. On the way back I was pummelled with ice pellets which wasn't too much fun. But I still got 2.5 hours in which isn't too bad and I felt pretty good the whole ride. I just want to get mileage going....not too worried about structure....that will come after Old Pueblo.