While the snow ride in to work was a blast, the ride home was
THE SECOND TOUGHEST BIKE COMMUTE IN 33 YEARS!!!!
I did not anticipate the snow accumulation throughout the day. My studded snow tires are good up to 3" of snow, and I've done 4", but forward progress is so slow at that depth I might as well walk.
When I left the office it was 28F. There were a couple of inches on the bike path. A mile later 3 inches of wet, heavy snow. The bike was slipping more than I liked, so I dropped the tire pressure from the snow and ice setting of 32psi to the deep snow setting of 25psi (estimating how much air I let out) Things were better until a mile or so after that when I hit 5 to 6 inches of heavy, wet snow. A fat bike with studs might have let me ride over everything, but my 26x1.65 studded tires just sank. The snow packed up in the treads so they lost grip and the wet compacted slush gave the studs nothing to grip. It was like riding in mud. And while the bike never went out from under me, between the slipping and sliding and forward resistance from the snow I ended up walking a few sections.
Then conditions improved dramatically about a mile from the house with actual pavement for the tires to grip. But after two more blocks it was back to 5-inches of slushy snow.
My toughest commute was eight years ago on the old 9-mile route from the old job. It was bitterly cold after a sunny day melted the snow enough to re-freeze in icy ruts. That commute took 110 minutes to go 9 miles, although I never had to walk. I also rode to work once last winter where there was 4" of wet, heavy snow in the middle 3 miles. I also did not have to walk that time...and it took 55 minutes to go the 6 miles to work.
Tonight's ride saw me walking for quite a few stretches where I could not maintain my balance for more than a dozen yards. And just pushing the bike through the deep snow was difficult, It took me 90 minutes to go 6 miles for an average speed of 4 mph.
One saving grace is that I never put toe clips on this bike as I did on its predecessor. On that bike, when conditions were slick I'd flip the pedals over to ride on the flats in order to quickly put a foot down, but then the toe clips would often drag on snow over an inch. The "new" Rockhopper pedals, when they did encounter snow didn't have the added surface area of the toe clips to drag through it.
Also, the rear wheel of the old Nishiki Blazer would often kick out to the right under power in slick conditions. I now wonder if that is because the frame was flexing on the right chain stay where it eventually snapped at the beginning of last winter. For all the sliding this evening, The rear of the Rockhopper didn't deflect under power. It's the exact same tires and wheelset from the old bike.
Another observation: Despite all the wet, heavy snow building upon the V-brakes and rear derailler, shifting and braking were still excellent. The old Nishiki BLazer had trouble braking in the snow with its original cantilever brakes. When I switched them for V-brakes the old girl did much better in the wet and snow.
Anyways, good, to be home. The sense of accomplishment is great. It was a tough, tough slog but I met the challenge six weeks shy of turning 64 without complete exhaustion or mental anguish.
I will however respect the projected snowfall totals a little more and avoid riding when the accumulation could top 3"...that is unless I buy a fat bike and get some knobby, studded clownshoes for it.
OMG, will I ever grow up?