Riveting

Today was my first commute on studs too! 700x35 Schwalbe Marathon Winter, 75 psi. They have so much traction on ice and packed snow. I need to keep reminding myself over and over "Go slow around the corners", especially on dry ground, since I've been warned that studs cause a 20% loss of traction.

snow_echo_NY

lovely haha. i guess can't always win. i posted a separate thread with more detail on the commute, but i wanted to know what the wintery conditions were like for everyone, how the ride was, and people were doing... but no one's responded! https://www.bikeforums.net/winter-cyc...nowy-ride.html

i only saw one other cyclist on my ride in which is really unusual. and (s)he was walking his/her bike up the BK bridge, i imagine b/c of regular tires.

HardyWeinberg

Hi 30s, damp but not wet. I wound up leaving later than I could have 'cause I wanted enough sunlight to see the gauge on the tire pump rather than just turning on the garage light and pumping it up there.

spivonious

Well that was a lot more snow than we expected. They were calling for 12-18" and we got 33".

I have no snow gear for my bike, so I normally drive the day after a big storm to check out the road conditions. My car couldn't make it out of the driveway, so I had to have my wife drive me to work in the Subaru. I'm glad I didn't ride; even major roads only had space for two narrow lanes and lots of snowy spots.

I have a feeling it will be a few days until I can ride again. Lancaster city is still under a snow emergency, and lots of area cities have travel restrictions.

Darth Lefty 

I tried the Priority on my commute today. More in that thread; otherwise normal. I did figure out that going to a meeting off-plant, it was way faster to take the road than the windy hilly MUP.

I realized halfway to work that I'd left the headlight on another bike! Doofus. SWMBO may bring it.

wphamilton

That felt good; the rides were good, work was good, this amber lager, it's all good. It put me in mind of the discussion going on, Are you spending a lot of money on bicycle commuting? Even if I was, you couldn't really buy this.

mr geeker

My ride to work this morning was uneventful, however my ride home sucked. I forgot to bring my goggles and it was snowing.

KCBikeCommuter

Ride to work this morning was really nice. Around 33F and light winds. Connected with another bike commuter I sometimes meet as I cross the Missouri River. He comes from the NW side of town and I'm from the NE side, but we both cross the river at the same point and our commute-schedules are fairly similar.

The ride home had about the same temperature, but the winds REALLY increased. Luckily it was more of a cross-wind than a direct head-wind.

mgw4jc

Back on the bike after a week off. Really though, I only missed riding on three days last week. Monday was MLK day and the office closed on Friday due to the snow and ice storm that went through.

I drove yesterday and checked the bike route on the way home. There were a couple of spots I knew would refreeze overnight, but I rode anyway. The overnight low was only about 34, but the melting shady areas froze. There were about 5 sections - none of which were more than 50 yards long - that I had to slow down and pedal easy. On a couple of them I unclipped one foot just in case. No falls happened.

We don't get enough of this kind of weather to justify snow tires. So I was crossing the ice on my 25mm skinny tires. There is a chance of rain late tonight with the low in the mid 40s, so that may even help clear off the icy spots for tomorrow.

rhm

I did not go to work yesterday. Instead, I borrowed my wife's car and drove over to the train station with a snow shovel to see what my bike locker looked like. Here's what I found.


For the people who rent the lockers at the right, this is not good. Fortunately my locker is the one at the far left. A half hour with my shovel, and my locker was clear.


So today I rode. No problems. Kinda cold, but I was expecting that.

arsprod 

Glad so many are enjoying their studly tires - I'm enjoying not riding my studded tire bike! Remember, studs don't do anything for snow so don't get lulled into false sense of security! 34F and wicked crosswind this morning - the kind I have to lean into to stay upright

snow_echo_NY

the commute was good, much like yesterday. lots plowed and getting plowed, lots not plowed. they were working on clearing the rest of the brooklyn bridge so yay for that! so glad to be able to dial in to 311. however they've been so swarmed their form isn't always working. i've started using their app instead.

HardyWeinberg

Pineapple express definitely coming in, so fingerless gloves an shortsleeve t-shirt under the raincoat this morning. Got passed on the right and cutoff to reach a red light by a schoolbus.

Tundra_Man 

Got another inch of snow yesterday, but the north wind blew things into big drifts on east-west routes. I got up early and blew the drifts out of my driveway with the snowblower, then hopped on the bike for an uneventful ride to work. Had to blast through a few drifts, but nothing too crazy.

Friday is supposed to warm up to above freezing, so that means my ride home on that day will probably be a slushy mess as all the hardpack starts to defrost. Then when the temps drop back below freezing that evening we'll have nice rutted ice all over the place.

buzzman

Boston dodged the big storm. After last winter we deserved a break. Got some snow but not much and today much of it melted away. Even the bike path was easily passable.A nice ride in and a nice ride home.

timvan_78

Description of my AM commute: dark & raining sideways when i started. Not when I finished.
Description of my PM commute: dark & raining sideways when i started. Not when I finished.

I have to drive tomorrow and Thursday.

rhm

It's melting pretty fast. Here's how it looked on Tuesday afternoon:

dcb23

Well that was a rough one and I don't think I can make it back tonight. First ride in since the big storm.
What is usually a 50-minute ride at 11 miles turned out to be 11.7 miles, 1 hour 50 minutes, with a good three miles of pushing the bike though some heavy slushy snow. My legs are sore, back is sore, wife is mad at me....

The good news for VA/DC commuters is that the 14th Street ped crossing is totally clear

tarwheel 

My first outdoor ride today since the big winter storm. Temperatures finally warmed up enough where ice was not a problem, despite a few lingering patches of slush on the roads. The forecast had called for rain this morning and radar showed a line of showers approaching when I got up, but the rain was very light and basically over by the time I left for work. I might actually salvage 3 commutes this week if the rain holds off tomorrow. I racked up so many miles in the first two weeks of January that I should easily top 600 total miles for the month, despite missing a week of riding from the snow.

Tundra_Man 

18 F and very humid, which made the cold go straight through me. Pretty stiff head wind. I somewhat under dressed and my thighs were a bit cold when I arrived. Had to work from the company office today so it's 8 miles each way. Some of the back streets I ride were pretty drifted over due to the wind blowing the snow across the fields, but yesterday afternoon they re-plowed the MUP to remove drifts so that portion of the ride was icy but clear. Took me about 50 minutes total.

I've had tougher rides but I've had easier too.

PatrickGSR94

Tuesday's morning commute was surprisingly slow despite a 12 mph mostly tail wind. 15.5 miles took 1:19 moving time.

Coming home was even worse. I was tired, it was windy, and I took a couple of detours to miss some big hills. That made it 15.8 miles and it took 1:29 moving time. Compare that to a couple weeks ago where I had a tail wind going home and it only took 1:07.

I didn't drink any coffee in the afternoon yesterday, I'm wondering if that would have made a difference.

mr geeker

Not sure what the temp was on my way home, but this mornin it was a lovely 23°. I do know it was supposed to almost reach 40. I'm fairly certain it did being as I was roasting with my windbreaker and fleece lined hoodie.

dcb23

No ride in for the first time since October, 2010 booooo! Riding Metro was really strange since it's been so long.

Last night's homeward commute sealed my decision...at one point I was walking the bike over a set of packed snow almost as tall as me. A sidewalk near my neighborhood that I need to use in order to access our streets is totally unplowed and I was up to my knees walking through it. With the freezing temps back I need to wait until Monday to try again, hopefully there will be some melt off over the weekend or cleaning.

rhm

And Wednesday:


I guess I'm the only one using my locker on a daily basis!

tarwheel 

Chilly ride this morning temps in the mid-30s. It felt colder than I expected, probably due to high humidity, but I made good time because I was trying to keep warm by burning more calories. The forecast is calling for a 30-40% chance of rain this afternoon, but I decided to ride anyway because I've lost so many riding days due to the winter storm. Hopefully the rain will remain to the south and east, as it was doing this morning. In a way, I wish we would get a soaking rain to clear all of the salt off the roads. I need to give my bike a thorough washing to remove the salt, but it's pointless until we get a good rain.