Last night while I was working, we had a strange wet, then icy snowfall. When I got off duty and went to get on my bike, it was covered on every surface with more than an inch of fuzzy white snow. Everything, even each individual spoke and the bottom of the bottom bracket, looked like it was made of snow.

I brushed the saddle off and the levers, but tried to keep the rest of the coating intact. Miraculously, everything worked fine, even though covered with ice and snow. Sorry fixie-fanatics--the shifters and brakes worked great! :)

I rode through the parking lot, where my co-workers were busy scraping ice and snow off their vehicles, no doubt dreading the slippery drive home at midnight. I yelled in a cheery voice, "What are you guys doing?" One answered, "Well I have to be able to see!" I yelled, "Funny, I don't sem to have that problem!" as I sped away.

Instead of going straight home, I took a long detour through the city, where there was almost no motor traffic. I even went on a trail for a bit. As always, there were already fat bike tire tracks in the snow on the Rivertrail. I sure would like to catch up with the unknown rider who always beats me onto the trail when it snows!

By the time I got home, I was covered on every surface with snow, just like my vehicle. A snowman riding a snowbike! :D

got on mine this morning and it was iced, even the saddle is a frozen brick, I had to use warm water on the lock so I could get it open

Snowed-over bikes look real cool, no pun intended.

And yep, before I leave the house inthe morning, I put a few cups of water in the electric kettle and set it boiling. That way if I go out and my lock is frozen, I can come back in and know that hot water is waiting for me.

The lock de-icer, sold for cars in little squirt bottles, works on bike locks too. I suppose it would also free up frozen brakes.

If you squirt WD40 in your locks every so often they are less likely to freeze up.