What will you do differently next winter?
 

I'm going to have another bike ready with studded tires, get some better (warmer) footwear, get some better lighting and ENJOY the summer!!! (Actually it was winter thoughts that kept me riding last week in the heat and humidity - I rode all winter, just thinking of how nice it would be to ride in the warm, so now that the warm is here, no wimpy "It's too hot to ride" excuses are allowed!!) :D

Not live where it snows.

:) Just think of this guy when it gets to hot outside.You will hear no complaints about the heat from me.Summer is just to short.

Better clothing... that's about it. Otherwise, I enjoyed riding in the winter. Not as much as I enjoy riding now (:eek: ) but I'd continue riding in the winter.

I would like to get a trainer, though...

Weight training and skating in addition to more winter riding. I think i'll build up a fixed gear winter bike as well. I want to be in shape for the spring rides next year.

Ummm not run slicks! haha and get some warmer/dryer stuff for like over my shoes, have some better stuff for cleaning gunk off the chain, and have plenty of booty as batteries for my light system

Brendon

Ride more.

Mmmm fresh, iced air.
Perfect. :beer:

Try to keep my butt off the road :D

Ice skating on your bottom, unstoppable :) heh

Think I might try to pick up an old MTB to use for the commute. loads of LED's that's about it.

More attention to foot care. This past winter was my first time riding and my feet froze too easy. Maybe a new pair of warmer tights too. I got new gloves and they helped alot.

Maybe take the front suspension fork off my MTB. It's nice over ice ruts, but it will kill the fork.

Winter, I shudder to think of it! If I still do not have that career job happening, I going to spend the winter cycling in Spain! Leaving in November, if anyone is interested in coming!

<sigh> Spain.... sounds wonderful!

Unfortunately, I can't join you, but do post and tease us with the wonderful details!

I also plan on getting my bike serviced fully in the fall so I don't end up with the constant problems I had last winter. And the first snow, I will change my tires over to the knobbies I got last winter but was too lazy to put on.

I really do want to spend more time researching how I can layer more effectively so I can ride outside longer in the wintertime.

Also, lots of heavy weight training in the winter, with tapering off in the spring as my cycling picks up. And I want a better training schedule where I can pick up the cycling sooner in the late winter/early spring so that I can do long distance riding next summer.

Come winter, just switch to skiing, and watch Bode Miller do for skiing what Lance does for biking.

I did some of my most epic rides this past winter. Not that I'm complaining about summer, but I'm almost looking forward to the air getting cooler, and the mountains getting whiter. No real goals this winter, just to keep riding.

I'll be getting another disposable MTB. Last year's is wrecked. I saw a really promising 9-speed SRAM Madwagon for about $100 at the sporting goods store the other day.

I need better lighting. Maybe a Trail Rat system.

I am going to get an insulated sleeve for my water bottle. I'll make one out of a telephoto lense cover or baby bottle sleeve.

All in all I was pretty pleased with last year.

Dan

I thought my 10 year old Norco would be wrecked after last winter, but it is still whirring along nicely. I didn't do a very good job of keeping it clean last winter and my chain and Suntour derailleurs got really gunked up with salt and crud. I thought I would have to get something else, but I think she still has another winter left in her.

I think the problem with my old Diamondback was that the bike wasn't well suited to winter riding to begin with.

It has Shimano Exage indexed componentry (entry level 10 years ago) and BioPace chainrings. I am told that this setup is tempermental under the best of conditions. It just went down in flames when asked to shift day after day in wet or single digit temperatures.

The brakes on this bike also needed constant adjustment. Towards March I just gave up on it and used only the front brake.

All of the paint chips and scrapes became places for rust to collect, so it looks pretty bad now.

The wheels are true so I'll save them.

The bike I am looking at now is aluminum, and has no front derailler with a 9-speed SRAM rear derailler. This is simpler and a good deal more modern. I think I will also like the twist grip shifting instead of thumb-levers. It has some really cheezy looking brakes on it, but they look much simpler to adjust than the brakes on the Diamondback, possibly I'll just upgrade the pads to get them to work a little better.

I had toe-clips on last year's bike. I think I'll leave those off this year. They are nice in moderate weather but in really deep snow, I ended up getting tangled in the bike because I couldn't exit fast enough when crashing.

Dan

well, next winter i plan to continue to commute daily as i have the last few years...

i already have studded tires, neoprene overshoes and a good windproof jersey, so most of that covered.

but i am thinking about building up a single speed --- i have heard they are great for riding on ice as you can "feel" the traction better - but mostly i just want to build and ride a singlespeed... but i already have 4 bikes, so it's a little hard to justiy a 5th or find the place to store it (ok, i don't own a car and bike is my primary transportation so i guess 5 bikes would be OK?)

Walk more cycle less...
Get a new lead acid battery for my Cateye front light...
Get knobbly tyres...
Get laods of warm weather gear...
Bugger off to Paris for a coupla weeks...help learn the lingo...
Skid and fall a lot...

I think this winter I'll make it a goal to not end up in Lake Michigan.

I am definately going to say indoors when there is ice on the road! I had two falls, one pretty bad.

The first one, I landed in a row of soft fir like bushes and walked away unscathed. The second one, I hit the curb with the middle of my back, smacked my elbow on the curb, and then my bike landed on me, with the handlebar hitting my in the sternum.

I was stiff and sore for 2 weeks!

I just bought a SS mountain bike to ride in the winter. hopefully I will also cut back on the beer consumption. :)