zipster

Hello everyone! Love these forums so far.

Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Alan Ebbert, 33, and I'm from White Bear Lake, MN, a suburb of the Twin Cities. After taking off a few years of serious cycling due to family priorities, I am back in the saddle. Prior to that I used to ride about 5000 miles a season during my 20s.

Now I am primarily a year-round commuter - just started winter biking this year. Does commuting happen to those of you with kids as well? Time is tough to come by these days, and my daily 22 mile round trip commute really helps both physically and mentally.

The IceBiking as it's better known is more fun that I ever imagined. Granted, we haven't had any considerable snow yet, 3/8 of an inch so far, but I'm looking forward to those challenges. As a matter of fact, studded tires are on the way.

I have oh, let me think here... 1, 2, 3...4 bikes....1996 Nishiki road bike, 2000 Cannondale M1000 MTB, 1993 Cannondale M700 MTB commuter, and a 2006 Klein Attitude MTB.

I look forward to exchanging knowledge with you folks. So far the Winter Biking forum has been a tremendous resource.

Click here for some pictures of my winter commuter.

East Hill

Wow, you have picked up a lot from the Winter Biking forum!

I'm sure the WB and Commuting forums will be happy to have you join them.

Welcome to BF!

East Hill

shoerhino

Welcome to the forums!

I live in Oakdale and I frequently ride around White Bear Lake (in the warmer months, anyway). I don't bike much in the winter but it seems like fun. Part of the problem is that you need to have the right gear to ride but it's been a mild winter so far. We're bound to get some snow sooner or later.

Where do you commute to from White Bear Lake?

Tim

zipster

Hi Tim,
Yeah, the ride around WBL is nice during those warm months, although you could almost mistake today for an early fall day. Maybe we can ride around WBL someday.

I dabbled with winter riding a few times last year. It does take a bit of planning and equipping yourself with the right gear. Since I started commuting in April, I can count the times I have driven to work on both hands. I absolutely love it. It's the highlight of my workday!

Much of my winter biking homework was done by checking out icebike.com and a myriad of Google searches. I have a lot of respect for those who have done winter riding for many years. The high tech fabrics made nowadays really helps, so I feel a little spoiled starting out. My coldest commute so far has been 4 above with a windchill of about -12. I still felt comfortable, but my eyes suffered a bit. Used lots of Vaseline around the eyes and a good dose of Visine once I got to the office. That's one area I'm still trying to perfect, eye protection. I can't stand fogging. Anyway, the snow has to fly one of these days!

I commute from WBL (WB Ave and 694 area) to Shoreview (Lexington and 694). It's about 10 miles one-way if I take direct routes. I take a lot of back roads and avoid heavy traffic, too. In the warmer months I ride about 15-20 miles on the way home.

Alan