modernjess

This blog post was published locally in Minnie last winter, heretofore know officially as "the worst winter ever". After a beautiful long fall today we are getting walloped by our first snow storm of the year. Even though this article is Minneapolis centric, it has some good advice and helpful and hopeful words for those of us entering yet another winter on 2 wheels. Hopefully this year won't be "the even worse winter ever"

Becoming a winter biker: Six lessons learned | City Pages

The ride home today is going to be a bear, a good bear.

mcours2006

I admire you guys who commute throughout the winter in the NE. There's no way I am going to be able to do it, studded tires or not. My current commute is about 12 miles one way with most of which is on secondary and tertiary routes, but still 12 miles in the snow, ugh!..But maybe if I keep reading the Commuting forum I might get really inspired.

I don't mind the cold, but I am already dreading the day when the first snow fall comes and I have to put away the bikes.

TransitBiker

A good short read for the new winter rider!

If i had t stop riding in winter, i'd go nuts.

- Andy

mcours2006

Yeah, I've never ridden in the snow before, nor in snow for that matter. I see people do it and every time I think, that guy is nuts! Who knows, maybe I'll be one of those guys someday.

wolfchild

Downtown Toronto shouldn't be a problem during winter, but if you live in the suburbs of Toronto then I feel for you, the suburbs are not easy to bike during good weather and worse during winter...I live in Mississauga and I ride all winter, it's not easy but I am determined and I just do it.

Bizman

My first winter of commuting was last year they say the worst winter in years! I started commuting in May and just kept doing it as I really enjoy riding the bike and the savings on fuel was something I didn't want to lose. It is a 12.5 mile commute with 1900 ft of climbing round trip so with climbing it helps keep me warm, even sweating. I normally commute in to work anywhere from 4-9 pm and home at 3-4 am.

You just experiment with the clothing and tips others have on the forums till you find what works for you. People think I am crazy but I tell them it really isn't as bad as you think! The coldest temp I commuted in was 7 deg F with a windchill of -3. I do think that starting in warmer weather and continuing into the cold season would be easier than starting in the cold months. All I can say is JUST DO IT and once you do you will be glad you did!

ericy

It is kind of funny, but in some ways the dark bothers me more than the cold (and in the fall the days get shorter before the really cold weather arrives). Yeah, I have good headlights - that's not the problem. But on part of my commute it is pitch black in the morning, and it is strange how differently things look when it is like that. I was actually looking forward to going off of DST so that part of my ride could be in daylight.

jhaddad8

You said it, one day you start riding and then you just don't stop.

never say it's too cold, hot, wet, cold, snowy, iced...

gregjones

That's it..............find what works for YOU.

tsl

Studded snow tires are your friend.

tsl

For me, the hardest part of winter cycling is just getting out of the house.

I missed five days last winter, and zero in the seven winters before that. And yet, every single day I don't want to go outside on the bike.

Most days, that feeling lasts right up until I step out the door. Some days it lasts through the first five or ten minutes. It always leaves.

Bike Gremlin

If it's not too cold for skiing, why should it ever be (in Central Europe, at least) too cold for cycling?

Winter cycling is VERY nice and very comfy. The only real inconvenience is late autumn, with cold weather AND RAIN. But we don't get many such days in Novi Sad. When it's under 15 degrees Celsius and the rain starts to fall. Apart from that, year round cycling is very nice for me.

TransitBiker

For me the hardest part of winter riding is when i get home.... i love it, i don't want to stop. There really are only ever 1 or 2 other people i see all winter, though some days i see 3 within a few minutes. Im sure they are out there, just a different route and location than me.

It's also nice that especialy last winter cars actually respected my presence on the road for an entire week of the negative temps. Seems the more severely cold etc it gets, the more people snap out of it and pay attention.

Then there were the geniuses that went out when there was 10 inches of snow on unplowed roads and occupied the FD and PD when they were needed elsewhere as everything shut down........ this was the snow before the ice storm..... few days later there was another huge snow dump....... i counted 6 vehicles and pretty sure all of them were being used for official purposes. This is on a road where at that time of day you could get maybe 800 cars an hour........ 6 over 3 hours.

I can't wait for this winter.... excited!

- Andy

ericy

I have made that same point - the difference is that with skiing I can only ski for a week or so during the winter, but I can ride my bike all winter long.

I guess the major difference for me is that when I get to the office on a bike, there is no fireplace that I can sit in front of.

CrankyOne

I won't ride on roads during winter. Our city has pretty decent paths along nearly every road and does a good enough job of clearing them. Yesterday most were cleared by 10a and a couple of the main routes a second time later in the afternoon.


With some studs to take care of the slick spots they're quite enjoyable. So for us it's just wind and cold. Anything above 25f with a light wind is comfortable, below that not so comfortable but OK, below that I find very comfortable — from the heated seat of my car.

J.C. Koto

I was all excited to go for an early, zero-dark-thirty ride this morning but we got some freezing rain last night and, as I don't have proper tires for ice, it was literally impossible to ride -- any attempt to pedal would spin out on the ice. Went for a walk instead but it just wasn't the same...

So I guess studded tires are finally on the ol' shopping list.

Gresp15C

One of the reasons why I love living in the north. I think that the winter actually forces people to get out of our houses, and engage with our surroundings, and therefore with one another.

Tundra_Man 

A couple people have mentioned it already, but the easiest way to become a winter biker is to first become a summer biker and just don't stop.

I had a friend who tried to jump right into winter biking with no other commuting experience. I think he lasted one ride. But if you just keep riding, as the weather gets colder you gradually adjust and pretty soon the cold mornings aren't anything noteworthy.

As an aside, I rode my winter bike for the first time this season yesterday because they were predicting lots of snow (which never happened, but I digress.) The difference in how much harder my winter bike pedals versus my regular commuter has become extremely noticeable, to the point where I'm not looking forward to the winter commutes simply because that bike is so un-enjoyable to ride. I mentioned it to my wife and she suggested maybe it's time for a new winter bike. Hmmm... I knew there was a reason I married that woman!

ret3

I ride through the winter, but it's not quite the challenge here as it is in the northern climes. I have some lobster-claw gloves, overpants, woolen helmet liner and socks to get me through. I'll ride when it's freezing, or when it's wet, but it's so rarely both (i.e., icy or snowing) that it's not worth the trouble to get studded tires. Besides, when it's even remotely icy, the whole city shuts down, so I don't have to go to work.

Bike Gremlin

But you don't ride to work for 4-5 hours, like you ski all day, do you?

My office is warm, I have an indoor job, so cycling to work is OK in any weahter: I can change to dry clothes, stay in a warm office.

modernjess

Over the years I've discovered the truth about me and winter biking: It's a head game.

- Riding in nice weather is rarely an adventure without conscious input to make it so, ok fine. But riding in winter is an adventure every single time and I enjoy that. In fact the worse the weather is the more I want to ride in it. Adventure and a feeing of accomplishment are really good for my head.

- The right gear from bikes to tires to clothes to lights for the particular conditions is mission critical and I don't mind the mental challenge of figuring it out daily. BUT, the gear will NOT get you out there. The motivation I get from a new of a new piece of kit does not last long. I have to wrestle the demon in my head that says, don't do it, and go do it. I never regret it.

- I had to learn to love the work and accept the fact that winter riding is hard. It will be slower, more difficult, and everything will take more time. But that work is even more important to my mental health than physical health. It gets me through the long dark cold season with out too much trauma.

2manybikes

Explore this site, and read up about it. Icebike Home Page

mcours2006

I don't live in downtown Toronto, but the suburbs. Good weather commute is okay. I have a decent route, but you're right about winter--it would be awful.

my current commute is 12 miles minimum. If it was half of that I could probably manage it in the snow. I figure less than an hour is okay. Any more than that i can't do.

TransitBiker

Absolutely. You really do rely on each other a fair bit when those big storms come in, more than i think most people consciously realize. I mean, this is no off-gridder community in the arctic circle, but there is something about winter here that really transforms the community into a much nicer place to be.

- Andy

TransitBiker

I'm going to suggest that it might be time to consider using the local transit system with bike in winter, if you have concerns about practicality on those snowy arctic weather days. You all have the enviable "extended hours" where buses run far later than in many other places and more service on weekends. I am not sure if you'd use GO, TTC, or some combination, but from what i saw, it would be at least something to think about!

- Andy