Winter Cycling - Anyone else getting excited yet?

Still only September, but I am already looking forward to studs, fenders, low-gearing, wool pants, shooting mittens, hiking boots, facemasks, and ski goggles.

Anyone else out there willing to admit the same?

jim

Just put my fenders and lights back on the Tricross. Studs are waiting on the wall, Winter clothes are washed and organized, I'm counting the days till the snow flies in Colorado.

Actually, all this summer I've been daydreaming about winter biking.

I think it has something to do with that we've had like 3 genuine "summer" days all year - it's just been a cold summer, it's never quite *felt* like it was really summer.

I just feel like a wimp doing summer biking, lol. I feel like I'm really "doing something" and roughing it when I go winter biking. :-)

I hate people who encourage winter. You are the reason it comes back every year.

I hate people who encourage winter. You are the reason it comes back every year.

El-Nino. Please, dear God, more El-Nino.

I am excited... unfortunately I find that by January I want it to be summer again :(

Well I just pick up my winter beater yesterday. Its an 8 yr old CCM that a co-worker bought at Canadian Tire. He used it 2-3 times. The little rubber things are still on the tires. This winter will be a first for me. :-)

Oh heck yes! I'm going to be gone for about 6 weeks on a trip. I totally expect there to be snow on the ground when I return. I'm totally stoked to put the studs on the bike, dress up like a dork, and wear ski goggles.

Seriously.

Ah, nose icicles; how I miss thee. No need to carry Kleenex, just break them off at the nostril.

No matter how well I dress I can't help but focus on the one area, wherever it may be, that's feeling cold the most. I can't seem to ever attain total warmth coverage.

Still only September, but I am already looking forward to studs, fenders, low-gearing, wool pants, shooting mittens, hiking boots, facemasks, and ski goggles.

Anyone else out there willing to admit the same?

jim


I hate people who encourage winter. You are the reason it comes back every year.

:lol: This the beginning of my second year on Bike Forums and last August I was pretty happy to post about my solution to eyeglass fogging while wearing goggles. This year during our first heat wave of the summer, I threw in my $0.02 in reply to "How do you handle approaching snow plows?", posted on 7-23-09 :eek::

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=565606

So Bring It On (just take it away by March :twitchy:).

Got the studs ordered. Digging out the cold weather gear.

I'm looking forward to winter! I'm going to upgrade rain pants, get some shoe covers, and probably get a beanie for my head. I've already got my fenders dialed in.

I'm dreading the onset of the-air-that-hurts-when-it-touches-my-skin, but
I look forward to the opportunity to ride through my local forest preserves
on the creeks and streams.

I look forward to the opportunity to ride through my local forest preserves
on the creeks and streams.


Interesting idea... i may have to look for those opportunities too. I don't do enough recreational winter riding... only commuting.

It's a nice change to get out of traffic into the woods and get dirty looks and
self-righteous comments from cross-country skiers instead of motorists.

Still only September, but I am already looking forward to studs, fenders, low-gearing, wool pants, shooting mittens, hiking boots, facemasks, and ski goggles.

Anyone else out there willing to admit the same?

jim

freak.

Maybe less freakish because I am not in the greater Western Canuckistan metroplex area. What we call Winter here would probably not impress you much. But, I mean it when I say I wish we had more Winter here. Yes, I am a freak.

jim

Maybe less freakish because I am not in the greater Western Canuckistan metroplex area. What we call Winter here would probably not impress you much. But, I mean it when I say I wish we had more Winter here. Yes, I am a freak.

jim

I like winter and like riding in the winter which also makes me a freak... have ridden at -46C which makes me a freak.

But I am too busy enjoying one of the nicest Septembers I have ever seen to be thinking about snow and ice and staying warm.

I like winter and like riding in the winter which also makes me a freak... have ridden at -46C which makes me a freak.

But I am too busy enjoying one of the nicest Septembers I have ever seen to be thinking about snow and ice and staying warm.

Maybe yours seasons are different there - I'm not the OP, but I live in Minnesota, and we've had one of the lamest summers ever. I feel weird complaining about a lack of heat, but it just never actually got hot here. It's been sorta spring-ish all summer. Last weekend it finally actually got hot! - buuuuuut now it's getting cold enough to start carrying a light jacket with you for the evenings. :-(

I don't know why this makes me look forward to winter, but it does...somehow...

ever since we got our unusual big dump of snow last winter, if been itching for it to happen again. funny how a foot of snow here practally shuts down the city. tho makes for less cars on the road.

ever since we got our unusual big dump of snow last winter, if been itching for it to happen again. funny how a foot of snow here practally shuts down the city. tho makes for less cars on the road.

But then the plows and the salt trucks make their messes and all the stoopid people go on about their stoopid business in their stoopid heated cars with the fogged up/snow covered winders. Winter would be much better if we just let the snow lie.

I am not a masochist, therefore I do not look forward to the arrival of cold, wet, miserable conditions for my commute to school.

<<<Check under the name...:innocent:

My favorite biking memory has got to be of riding in a thunderstorm last winter in the freezing rain... at night! Now I'm craving ice.....:love:

I just got a little more excited. I finally ordered and received my new handlebars. I ordered them for a trifecta of reasons:

Wanted longer bars for comfort/handling
Bought Ergo grips, but they were too wide for my old bar (due to my grip shifts)
Bought a mirror last year for winter cycling but it didn't fit in the end of my old bars


So I just installed it and the long, black bar with Ergo grips automatically looks more bad-ass than my old wimpy silver bar.

http://rrff.cc/images/bars.jpg

Still only September, but I am already looking forward to studs, fenders, low-gearing, wool pants, shooting mittens, hiking boots, facemasks, and ski goggles.

Anyone else out there willing to admit the same?

jim

He's not serious folks, he's just off his meds....move along, nothing to see here.

Yea, I'm ready for -20f, sunrise at 8:00am, sunset at 4:40pm.
Not!
Hope I can keep going despite the above.

Yea, I'm ready for -20f, sunrise at 8:00am, sunset at 4:40pm.
Not!
Hope I can keep going despite the above.

Oh jeez, I forgot about the sunset at 4:40pm thing. I'm definitely *not* looking forward to that part. :-(

I'm looking forward to some frozen lake and trail riding, but am going to enjoy the mosquito free fall first!

Excited, a little bit.
Almost a month now that I'm planning and rebuilding my last season winter bike, thinking of the improvement I can make.