Motolegs

I'm sure everyone who posts here has heard it. Lately here the question has been coming up a lot more than usual, with morning temps hovering in the 5 degree F mark, along with icy roads.

It's strange to me that no matter how many times I explain that it's not as bad as you think- along with discussing proper gear and attire, that people don't get it. If they understand but don't agree it's fine... different strokes and all...

But when the same people hit you with the question time and again? One guy at my place of work is almost comical in his questioning. Notable quotes: "Why do you DO that?" and just yesterday, "Dude, your LUNGS will freeze!"

To the above I explained about Winter sports in general, and that I don't think anyone has suffered a case of frozen lungs during the Winter Olympics... or during really cold football games. This seems to have satisfied him for now!


So I was just wondering about other posters' attitudes towards "The Question"? Does it get under your skin after the umpteenth time? Or are you able to approach it with a good sense of humor?

canadian deacon

I just tell them it was too cold to ride so I just took the bike for a walk instead.

That eliminates futher and future questions.

chandltp

It stops after the 2nd or 3rd winter for the most part.

But I always found it fun that people were so amazed.

jrickards

"Found this bike in the parking lot, watch for the email asking the owner to come forward and collect it"

Leebo

I relate ice fishing, snowshoeing, skiing and the like. Some people get it, some never will.

intransit1217

"It makes me feel macho".

noglider 

My cow-orker said she's impressed that I ride to work, because it's almost 14 miles each way. This was not in the context of winter cycling. I think a big hurdle for noncyclists to understand is what cycling for transportation is like. I'm sure many people have played a one-hour game of squash or basketball or hiked for an hour or done something vigorous for an hour. I try to explain that that's what it's like. It is not a herculean feat. But it's hard for them to imagine.

And I only ride to work approximately two days a week. Now that I've been at this job for a year, I've started to enjoy the commute more, so when the weather warms up, I might do it more than twice a week.

Jim from Boston

"Did you ride your bike today?" fatigue

Boston rarely suffer the extremes of Winter for extended periods, but nonetheless Winter cycling here is viewed as dangerous and/or crazy. For me, its an adventure, and dressing in the morning is likely getting ready for a space shot.

That Question is usually phrased to me in the negative, “You didn’t ride your bike today, did you?,” and asked with amusement and respect. For me it’s a motivation and enhances my reputation. A frequent reply to them is is,“Well, asking that Question encourages me to ride.”

There is a dark side though to that Question. Some people are hostile to Winter cyclists, partly for cyclists exposing themselves to road hazards, but also imagining that they themselves as drivers might hit a cyclist on the road. I tread lightly and respectfully around them, with a serious reply that my routes are pretty safe, and I’m careful. Also cycling appears more dangerous to the auto driver ensconced in the vehicle than to the exposed cyclist. My best answer, IMO is that I’m Hardcore, not Stupid.

Squeeze

*giggle*

mr geeker

I usually reply "sure did" cause it's a well known fact around where I work, even amongst those I don't know, that I ride a bike to work. Heck, earlier this week I even rode in/through winter storm kayla and was called things ranging from crazy to a beast and even abominable snow man!

I was once asked the stupid question "Why do you lock your bike up?" to which I asked "You locked your car didn't you?"

Motolegs

I really dug this quote!

Jim from Boston

To embellish that quote, paraphrasing the Navy recruiting commercial ("It’s not a job, but an adventure”):

“Its not a Ride, but an Adventure, and dressing in the morning is likely getting ready for a space shot.”

When I arrive at work and walk down the corridor in my helmeted “spacesuit,” full of the rush of the ride, I recall this scene from The Right Stuff (beginning at 2:58 in this trailer). Play it with the sound on.

PS: The quote was originally intended to be"...dressing in the morning is like getting ready for a space shot...; two different meanings, I think.

chandltp

After I got rid of my truck, I got to say:

"If I didn't ride, I'd have to walk."

noglider 

I don't understand what the premise of that question is (the one posed to you).

mr geeker

The guy who said it noticed I was locking my beat up huffy (and yes, my huffy is fairly beat up looking) up at work while he was heading in to the building. I figure he thought it wasn't worth locking up and that's why he asked.

lanahk

People pass my bicycle on the way into work and still ask, "Did you ride your bike today?" Yes, yes I did.

My hat is off to all you hard-core winter commuters. If there is snow, ice, or winds, I'm trucking it instead.

Jim from Boston

"Did you ride your bike today?" fatigue

So today at about 35° with a frigid tail wind, I left at about 5:30 AM and rode my usual safe route arriving at work at 7 AM. The roads were literally caked with salt, with scant, easily seen ice at the sides of no consequence to my studded tires. As I was getting off the bike, my most hostile “nemesis” as describe above, walked furiously past me muttering something about “ice.” I couldn’t quite hear her remarks, but they were not pleasant.

Now, this is otherwise a pleasant lady with whom I’ve had many cheerful conversations, and I don’t look forward to seeing her in the halls; she’s not a direct co-worker. I see no use in arguing with her, with reasons as above.

My only thoughts were my actual co-worker merely asked “How was the ride,” and my wife (and former touring partner) doesn’t mind my ride. (My wife does occasionally chide me when I ride in inclement weather, “You just want to ride and write about it on Bike Forums.”) Furthermore, since I was already involved in a serious bike accident on a warm night in June, with three months off work, this lady certainly sees justification in her attitude.

Anyways, this problem may be even more vexing if I ride in tomorrow’s predicted snowstorm. If so I intend to leave home before 5:00 AM to further avoid traffic, and I have a reverse, outbound route from the downtown to a suburb, through residential light commercial neighborhoods on well-tended roads, but probably the bikepaths will not be useable.

However, this is one circumstance when I really dread the Question.

PS: Later this morning, about 11:00 AM, I got a call from Cape Cod from an old acquaintance about a business matter. As is my reputation as a Hardcore Cyclist, he casually asked me if I rode in today. The snowstorm had already begun down there. When I replied "Yes," he said "You're my Hero."

Daniel4

Actually, there's a question I'm tired of asking. It's to one particular person. "Did you use the shower this morning? 'Cause the floor's all wet."

He told me to put up a sign. After a while, I finally did. But the mess started up again. Now I'm thinking of just bringing my own floor mat.

MZilliox

Haha, this stuff. people are funny. we like being comfortable. like 70s comfy

Jim from Boston

“We,” as in Left Coast (S Oregon)??

All us hard-core winter commuters tend to be in New England, Upper Mid-Atlantic, Canada, and the Upper Midwest (I’m from Michigan, now living in Boston). My personal Heroes reside in Rochester, NY; Minneapolis; and Edmonton, AB. The Edmonton subscriber has quoted this treatise, Lexicon of Urban Edmonton Ices – By Robert Clinton.

noglider 

Yesterday, I attended mass at a church because my cousin had died. The family met at my cousin's son's house a half mile away. My wife and I walked while everyone else drove. We just left our car in the church parking lot. Some relatives said they noticed we walked along the snowy road. (This was on Long Island where there's still plenty of snow on the ground.) Yes, we have legs.

Motolegs

Makes you wonder how we as a species made it this far without four wheeled, heated transport.

erig007

Without??

Chris Bamford

Or perhaps he figured no one else would be nutty enough to ride in that weather.

Although I generally bike more than drive these days, including winter, my usual four-wheel transport is one of several vintage cars. Photo below in my 1926 Model T Ford one December morning in 2010 when our city was -35°C/-32°F and was, that particular day, the second coldest place on earth next to some Siberian outpost. Just like winter cycling, it's all about how one prepares for the journey. I also remove one of the floorboards to allow a few BTUs of engine heat to reach my shoes.

noglider 

@Chris Bamford, that's fantastic.