Thoughts on winter commuting
03-08-10, 12:07 PM
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Thoughts on winter commuting
Now that spring is knocking on the door and beginning to melt winter's icy grip, I thought I'd post some thoughts that banged around my head over the last four months. I've been off the forum for a while so my apologies if I'm repeating content from previous threads.
1. Thanks to everyone on this forum who kept my spirits up during the winter. This was my first winter commuting season and there's no way I would have done it or stuck with it without the wisdom, encouragement and camaraderie found on the forum. Even the occasional barb helped "keep it real."
2. Studded tires rock. I only really needed them maybe 7 days this winter (I got them in late December and missed an early storm or two). Otherwise they hummed over asphalt daily. Still, they gave me the confidence to ride through the season. Personally, I wouldn't winter commute regularly without them. On the days I needed them they came through big time (BTW, I did not ride in deep snow, I've got a 4wd car for that).
3. Don't skimp on front lights. A good set of powerful red blinkers in the back is critical, but I can't stress enough how important it is to have adequate lighting in front. I learned this the hard way a few weeks ago when a snowplow almost took me out. I was cruising down the main street in light snowy conditions and a snowplow approached a stop sign coming down a small hill. I had my standard front blinkie on but not my more powerful spotlight. The truck didn't see me and the bastard was going to just run the stop sign since he didn't see any traffic. He finally saw me and slid through the stop sign, into the main street and I skidded to a stop maybe 6 feet away. (Maybe he did see me and thought I would stop first.) I think most dangers approach from the front or side. A car making a left turn in front; a car coming out of an intersection from the left or right, a car parallel parked pulling out of a spot; a car backing out of a driveway. Each of these happens fairly regularly and they need to see you, sometimes just from a mirror when they're not expecting to see you. I mention this because I see so many riders with not-great front lights.
4. I'm good to about zero. With due respect to the hardened northerners, personally I'm out of the game at around zero degrees F. That's when I start to feel the pain. Chances are I will ride again in the negatives but it's the same situation every time. Why put myself through this? I own a car.
5. Keeping it clean. I learned this winter that I like to keep my ride somewhat clean, like every couple weeks. Mag-chloride is nasty stuff. Cleaning is a pain in the ass in winter. First I tried washing it in the bathtub, which was an ill-advised disaster. Then I took it to the car wash. That was funny. It was about 25 degrees and the water pretty much froze on contact. I stepped back sufficiently from the bike so that it got more of a mist than a powerful spray. I ended up putting it inside to drip dry and then wiping it down. Which seems like the only way to reliably clean a bike in winter.
6. Wild dogs at night. I encountered a house with a couple of mean dogs on the loose. They were there at night only and not every night. I thought about counter-attacking with pepper spray or packing some kind of club, or maybe even a whistle. But in the end I adjusted my route and it turned out to be better anyway. Lesson: Stay flexible.
Cheers and happy spring riding.
1. Thanks to everyone on this forum who kept my spirits up during the winter. This was my first winter commuting season and there's no way I would have done it or stuck with it without the wisdom, encouragement and camaraderie found on the forum. Even the occasional barb helped "keep it real."
2. Studded tires rock. I only really needed them maybe 7 days this winter (I got them in late December and missed an early storm or two). Otherwise they hummed over asphalt daily. Still, they gave me the confidence to ride through the season. Personally, I wouldn't winter commute regularly without them. On the days I needed them they came through big time (BTW, I did not ride in deep snow, I've got a 4wd car for that).
3. Don't skimp on front lights. A good set of powerful red blinkers in the back is critical, but I can't stress enough how important it is to have adequate lighting in front. I learned this the hard way a few weeks ago when a snowplow almost took me out. I was cruising down the main street in light snowy conditions and a snowplow approached a stop sign coming down a small hill. I had my standard front blinkie on but not my more powerful spotlight. The truck didn't see me and the bastard was going to just run the stop sign since he didn't see any traffic. He finally saw me and slid through the stop sign, into the main street and I skidded to a stop maybe 6 feet away. (Maybe he did see me and thought I would stop first.) I think most dangers approach from the front or side. A car making a left turn in front; a car coming out of an intersection from the left or right, a car parallel parked pulling out of a spot; a car backing out of a driveway. Each of these happens fairly regularly and they need to see you, sometimes just from a mirror when they're not expecting to see you. I mention this because I see so many riders with not-great front lights.
4. I'm good to about zero. With due respect to the hardened northerners, personally I'm out of the game at around zero degrees F. That's when I start to feel the pain. Chances are I will ride again in the negatives but it's the same situation every time. Why put myself through this? I own a car.
5. Keeping it clean. I learned this winter that I like to keep my ride somewhat clean, like every couple weeks. Mag-chloride is nasty stuff. Cleaning is a pain in the ass in winter. First I tried washing it in the bathtub, which was an ill-advised disaster. Then I took it to the car wash. That was funny. It was about 25 degrees and the water pretty much froze on contact. I stepped back sufficiently from the bike so that it got more of a mist than a powerful spray. I ended up putting it inside to drip dry and then wiping it down. Which seems like the only way to reliably clean a bike in winter.
6. Wild dogs at night. I encountered a house with a couple of mean dogs on the loose. They were there at night only and not every night. I thought about counter-attacking with pepper spray or packing some kind of club, or maybe even a whistle. But in the end I adjusted my route and it turned out to be better anyway. Lesson: Stay flexible.
Cheers and happy spring riding.
03-08-10, 12:23 PM
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This was also my first winter commuting, and I have to say +1 on the studded tires... even home made ones. I picked up some super cheap clearanced cyclocross tires before the snow fell, and put some sheet metal screws in the front tire (as per the diy thread in the winter forum). I rode most of the winter that way. I didn't notice how much they were helping until I rode my new bike a few weeks ago that didn't have clearance for the studded tires. Boy, what a difference... I almost didn't make it over the pile of packed snow at the end of the driveway!
03-08-10, 02:55 PM
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I messed up my right leg's UT Band by riding in a snowstorm on new year's eve
- saddle was too high
- gears were too high
- temps were too low
I'm laying off the hills for a while and this might mean I only ride oin the weekends here and there for a while
- saddle was too high
- gears were too high
- temps were too low
I'm laying off the hills for a while and this might mean I only ride oin the weekends here and there for a while
