Commuting - Cold weather

So, what is it about the cold weather that shuts the cagers' brains off???

Had two rather close calls, and one incident this morning riding to work in the snow.

Someone pulling out of the high school cut in front of me with less than 2' clearance, even though all the other traffic was only going about 15 mph because of the snow... I had to dodge left between cars to avoid a collision (There was no way I could have stopped in the snow and slush). I felt better after pounding on his window a few times and yelling at him. (He did apologize afterward....)

Then someone tried to pass me while I'm IN the lane making a left turn (He made the same left turn, right beside me, into oncoming traffic) ... He took the corner too fast and slid towards me. I managed to avoid connecting with him by going more straight instead of rounding the corner like I should have.

Then someone buzzed me. That's the one that got me, as I was already fairly close to the edge of the road, and hit a bad spot in the pavement. I went over, banged the bike on the ground and slid about 10 feet through the snow and slush on my back. No injuries, but when I tried to get back on the bike it wouldn't pedal... turns out the left crank got bent, and is hitting the frame.

I should have been farther left in the lane... and I had been till moments before. I slid a little, and had to let the bike go to the right to keep from going down, and the car took advantage and blew by me. Didn't even stop to see if I was ok.

Then I had to ride the bus the rest of the way in, and had no fewer than three close calls on the bus. I mean, hell, who cuts a left turn 5 feet in front of an oncoming bus in near-blizzard conditions????

People in Denver don't know how to drive in snow. Not all. Just most.
Wether driving a car or riding a bike I avoid the first few snows or ride\drive very carefully during them. Inclement weather = panic or bad drivers turn even worse.
Good god that was wet heavy snow. Fun to shovel.

I live in a Condo. No snow shoveling for me. :p It was interesting to ride in, though. A bike with wider tires would definitely be an advantage in that slop. Slush and snow on 1 1/8" road tires is an interesting experience in bike control. :)

bmc yer a Man. Drivers were HORRIBLE this morning! Sucks about the bike. Whatcha need to repair? I might have somethin...

I'm kickin it at home. yahoo!

What is it about people not knowing how to drive for the area they live in? Is everyone in every town a transplant from some other climate?

Lived in Cincinnati, an area prone to freezing rain and heavy snowstorms: Everyone drove like a dumb@ss in the snow and freezing rain.

Now I live in Seattle (KNOWN FOR IT'S PERSISTANT RAIN) and when it rains, traffic slows to a crawl for one of two reasons: A) Some jerk tried to take a turn at eleventy brazillion mph, slid out, and caused an accident across 3 lanes of traffic, or B) Somebody won't do more than 25mph because the street is wet.

Someone told me once that it's the SoCal transplants that can't drive in the Seattle rain, but I don't know how much truth that holds. Besides, that wouldn't explain the midwest snow experiences, because who intentionally moves from someplace sunny and nice, to Cincinnati?

I'm kickin it at home. yahoo!

Me, too, now. :)

Got about 3 hours of work to do from home. Better than being in the office.

bmc yer a Man. Drivers were HORRIBLE this morning! Sucks about the bike. Whatcha need to repair? I might have somethin...

I bent the crank. It's an old 70's Japanese bike with cottered cranks. I'll pull it off tomorrow and see if I can fix it for a ride or two. The wife and I are planning on going to Veloswap Saturday... hopefully I can pick up a fork for my other bike (an '88 Raleigh Technium). I'd rather be riding that one, anyway. :)

okay, cause if yer interested I do have cranks (and BB) from my Le Tour if you want em--

Me, too, now. :)

Got about 3 hours of work to do from home. Better than being in the office.


The only problem with working from home is that I actually work more. Been working nonstop since 4:30 am with little breaks. 12 hr day instead of my usual 8. yuck
Still, working from home is a great option.

Shoot, it doesn't need to be cold weather. We are having a steady rain all day, in an area that gets about 60" a year. So the local newsite had this posting:
5 p.m. traffic update:
Amanda McElfresh
amcelfresh@theadvertiser.com

Police are working several traffic-related incidents in the area this afternoon, including multiple accidents on Cameron Street.
As of 4:45 p.m., authorities were reporting incidents at the following locations:

7500 block of Cameron Street
Ambassador Caffery at Dover
Willow Street near Hebert Road
Verot School Road near Digby
Moss Street at Mudd Avenue
Cameron Street near Adrienne Street
Gloria Switch Road near the Evangeline Thruway
Wilfred Road at Cameron Street
Congress Street at Arnould Boulevard
Surrey Street near Pinhook
Evangeline Thruway near the airport

:eek:
Not bad for a city of 200,000.

I think snow kinda takes everyone by surprise and they still rush to where they're going. After they get used to leaving earlier to get where they're going, then they start to drive a little better, but some people never learn. Especially the ones w/ 4WD or AWD w/ traction control and ABS. Somehow they think the car won't spin outta control w/ all that stuff on snowy, icy roads when travelling 90 mph around a corner.

Sometimes i wonder if a large percent of the population never checks the weather. When they wake up in the morning the don't look out their windows. They walk into the garage, get in their car, and start to drive. On snowy days... especially early in the season... they don't recognize the fact that they are indeed driving through snow, ice, slush, etc. They just drive ... until they find they can't stop or turn. Then they maybe perhaps slow down but probably not. Even if they do they retain no lessons from the experience and by the next storm they have forgotten all experiences from the last one.

Lucky for me ... I have a bike path available most of the way in. Nice and empty this morning!

I did ride in this morning. All of 4 mile to the bus and 1 mile to my work from the end of the bus line. Holy crap it was icy. I managed to fall twice. Very low speed falls. Like 2 mph.
Bruised my palm and bent a fender. Very hard to fix that one. All of 2 secs.
60F when I leave after work! I am not missing that ride for the world.

There are lots of people who really have no clue how to drive in the snow but here in the snow belt most of them have enough experience to know that if you go slow enough there is no problem. It may slow traffic some but that isn't a problem for my bicycling. The biggest difference is the cities and state are prepared to handle the snow so roads usually are mostly clear and major routes stay free of ice. Ofcourse that mean tons of salt killing everything along the roadsides and rusting out all vehicles.
The problem with poor weather is that those people who can't stand to be slowed down are forced to go much slower by all the other traffic. When they see a small opening they rush to fill it and try to make better progress. Some drivers will do this even in good weather but the fustrations build up quicker with slower traffic in poor weather. The best defense is not giving them an opening. I learned that after being taged by a mirror in my first 6 months of commuting. Now I'm the a** that takes the whole lane.
Craig

People in Denver don't know how to drive in snow.

...or in the rain, or fog, or when its sunny out, or at night, or if its cloudy, or pretty much ever. Worst drivers in the country.

...or in the rain, or fog, or when its sunny out, or at night, or if its cloudy, or pretty much ever. Worst drivers in the country.


+1000

Except that my home town in SE Washington state is even worse. Crud. That does not bode well for me. Thank goodness I hardly drive. :p

...or in the rain, or fog, or when its sunny out, or at night, or if its cloudy, or pretty much ever. Worst drivers in the country.

Take it from someone who grew up in Denver and now lives in Utah, you've got it good. Two months in Utah and you'll be dying to drive with those Colorado jerks.

It's the same thing here. For the first snow storm of the year, just stay home.

you want bad snow driving, come to Texas. Glad you survived your ride.

So... I took the crank arm off, put it in a vice, and whacked it a few times with a hammer. That metal is pretty darn soft.

Hopefully I'll be able to find a new fork for my other bike at Veloswap. :)

What is it about people not knowing how to drive for the area they live in? Is everyone in every town a transplant from some other climate?

Lived in Cincinnati, an area prone to freezing rain and heavy snowstorms: Everyone drove like a dumb@ss in the snow and freezing rain.

Now I live in Seattle (KNOWN FOR IT'S PERSISTANT RAIN) and when it rains, traffic slows to a crawl for one of two reasons: A) Some jerk tried to take a turn at eleventy brazillion mph, slid out, and caused an accident across 3 lanes of traffic, or B) Somebody won't do more than 25mph because the street is wet.

Someone told me once that it's the SoCal transplants that can't drive in the Seattle rain, but I don't know how much truth that holds. Besides, that wouldn't explain the midwest snow experiences, because who intentionally moves from someplace sunny and nice, to Cincinnati?

I know your pain, I'm a native on the PNW (grew up on Whidbey Island) and I'm baffled how people around here can't drive in the rain or the snow. I manage just fine, my GTI makes it up Mt. Baker in the worst of conditions still rolling on 235 Z-rated directional street tires. Fancy tires & AWD help, but are worthless if you don't have the brains to match!

you want bad snow driving, come to Texas. Glad you survived your ride.

+1

Lived in Austin last year and we had 1 snow day. The median and shoulder on Hwy 183 were full of cars that had spun out. I'm sure the towing companies had a field day though.

My hometown is prone to several freezing rains each year. Fortunately, a majority of the bad drivers tend to sit those out. Nothing beats a good old freezing rain.
I had one christmas eve the coated everything in at least 1/16" to 1/8" of ice. 3 hrs to slide 20 miles home.
I pray that this never happens in Denver. The thought of what would happen with our drivers brings chills.