I could put that right next to the "Activate Common Sense" button. :lol:

I did wonder how it was going to be for you this year. The fat bike = winter bike thing is riding on snow, ice seems like it would be the same problem it ever was.

When the MUPs and streets here get like that ^^^^, you don't see fat-bikes, except the studlies.

We haven't had very wintery weather here in NYC this winter. I've had only a small handful of days under 32ºF, and lately, they're closer to 41ºF. I'm not happy about global warming but it doesn't stop me from enjoying the weather.

Today I decided to rest from the bike, and I took the subway to class, mostly just for a change but also because we might have heavy rain later today.

At 7 am, it was 50 degrees and misty in Portland. Had to stop halfway and remove a layer.

I feel okay skipping the ride yesterday after seeing the rain and tornado watches / warnings all day long. Some damaged homes and other buildings I hear. Local schools are on 2 hour delay which meant much less traffic.

At 4:30am the strong winds woke me and my wife up. It was blowing at 15-20mph with gusts over 30. And thus I had a fun ride to work. Some gentle inclines required a much lower gear and standing up to pedal. I stopped twice to push blown-over trash bins which were laying in the road. And through one neighborhood I dodged quite a bit of small tree branch debris.

Anyway - Happy Friday!

Rutted ice is why I have side-studded tires - we get it a lot. 25F this morning, more snow than ice

I've got studded tires on my other winter bike. They work pretty well for smoother ice, but when it gets really rutted like this I don't notice much difference between them and the 5" wide fat tires running low pressure. The fat tires will bend and conform to the ruts, whereas my studs will slide off the sides of the ruts to find the low spots. Either way, I have to ride slow and careful through spots like this.

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 890:

15F today with a 15 mph headwind. We got a dusting of snow, but not enough to really affect the commute. Went slow between the wind and the ice, but I made it. Wind isn't supposed to shift, so I should get a nice push on the way home.

I notice someone must have gotten sick of the rutted ice on the MUP as much as me, because on my way home last night I saw a few areas where someone had attacked it with an ice chipper. They cleared out a narrow path through a few spots. In the grand scheme of things it didn't make much difference, but I certainly recognize and applaud the effort.

I had the same experience with my first set of studs, Nokian 160's. Someone told me to try Schwalbe Marathon Winters (NOT Schwalbe Winter, Marathon Winter) and the skies opened and the angels sang! The Marathons have studs closer to the sidewall - night and day difference for me.

that's nice if you can keep your wheels in that path. how long a stretch have they done?

hmmm looks like they plow that path? wonder why there's so much buildup?

I've been known to change my route after winds like that -- especially since that day a few years back when I climbed and lifted the bike over a blowdown on the MUP, only to find out two days later that trunk was lined with poison ivy runners. :O That front passed us with nothing more dramatic than flooding, and news of a couple deaths of people who didn't turn around and then drowned.

Nothing too dramatic this morning besides a few snow flurries. WTH? It was 70F three days ago. Apparently the warm weather at the beginning of the week rushed things, spring-wise. Daffodils and our japonica bush are blooming -- the japonica normally blossoms out around Easter, and we're still 3 weeks away from Ash Wednesday!? And I was treated to a killdeer's broken wing act in the parking lot, so it must be nesting.

We had a pretty good ice storm two days after Christmas, then a big wet snow on top of it. The bottom couple inches froze solid and while they were able to plow off the top layer, the frozen stuff at the bottom remained. During the winters here it doesn't get warm enough to melt things off very quickly, so ice can stick around for months.

It's actually a lot better than it was a few weeks ago. A good portion of the pavement is now clear, it's just the low areas and shaded spots (like this one) that still have ice.

Probably a total of a hundred feet, about 18" wide. I can imagine they were pretty sore after that!

I think right now I'm running Nokian 106s. I used to run Nokian 240s and those were admittedly better on ice. They had a ton of resistance on dry pavement though, so when they wore out I decided to try the 106s. I'll probably go back to something more aggressive next time around, as I haven't been as happy with the 106s on ice, and really they don't roll a ton better on dry pavement either.

50F, misty. Despite biblical rains, floods, school closures, creek along MUP not notably elevated. Weird. Where it is usually highest, was marked off w/ 'danger' tape though.

I would be too, and not physically. If the city maintained the roads like that, a LOT of people would be sore. They should spend the taxpayers' money equitably, and make the daily commute safe for all users, of all forms. The economic arguments against it are phony; this kind of treatment/maintenance always pays for itself, in increased safety, quality of life, etc. Moreover, compared to maintaining car-based transportation, it's pennies on the dollar.

Telecommuted the first two hours this morning; head-banging technical issue burned the full two hours, plus. So I'm late out the door for the ride in, rushing, and the bridge of my glasses broke pulling on my balaclava. Scrambled to find my cheap Zenni spare pair, made up part of the time hammering it down the MUP, aaaaannnddd... the Monona Terrace elevator is being serviced. This is equivalent to a bridge over a creek being out on a county road. Only imagine if they put the "Bridge Out" sign AT the bridge, rather than at the intersections a couple miles down in either direction. Nearly doubled my commute distance, backtracking to the overland route.

wouldn't that button always be on ? or turned up to 100? haha

Bike has been in the shop for a week. :eek: I thought I could upgrade to 10 speed GRX but they are backordered for 8 weeks. I thought about putting 10 speed deore on it but bike shop said that would not work after checking with shimano rep. I did not see his email yesterday until late but i doubt I replied in time for him order parts. :( probably wont be able to get it back for next week. I have gone to the gym to days so far this week might be able to go Saturday. Not too sore either.

Taking my off days since Wed because of the rain going on in PNZ.
Didn't affect my place, but lots of people affected, small creeks ballooning and flooding all around, roads flooded and closed.
Today is a bit drier day, but drove to bring in my ski gear for next week team ski :), so I can ride bike with dry days next week.

An eventful start this morning. Less than four minutes into my 10-mile ride this morning I got hit by a car. Nothing hurts and nothing is broken.

Early morning and still dark and my bike was lit up like a Christmas tree. I was cycling on the footpath attempting to cross a busy roundabout and as I approached the unmarked crossing (i.e. where the kerb drops to allow wheelchair users and pushchairs to cross) a motorist stopped and I thought that's good of him. I looked away from him to make sure that no one was about to overtake him (it does happen right there) and as I crossed he just drove into me. I dabbed one foot down and pirouetted around and despite a right old clatter I stayed upright and no damage was done (I did turn the air blue though). 50/50 blame I guess but I do think he was a bit selfish in not allowing me to cross. I guess he was running late or just more important than a cyclist!

Eleven.
^^^ Whew, glad you're okay. I think I heard some of the cussing from here, where it would have been the middle of the night still.

Here in the states, he'd be 100% at fault. What you described is what we call a crosswalk. A crosswalk is NOT necessarily a "marked" crosswalk (zebra crossing). Any continuation of a pedestrian walk (footpath) across a road is considered a crosswalk. Once a pedestrian has entered a crosswalk, vehicles are required to yield. And yes, if you're crossing using a bicycle, not going at an excessive speed, crossing (to use the language that's in virtually every state law here) "in a manner consistent with that of a pedestrian", you are, by law, crossing _as_ a pedestrian. IOW, if you had been walking, pushing a pram, pulling a Radio Flyer wagon full of groceries, etc., that car would have hit you anyway, and would have been 100% at fault.

Local schools (Durham, NC) were closed today due to wind. Seriously? I've done snow days, cold days, hurricane days, and flood days, but never wind days!

Anyway, I rode (much to the concern of people at work). The wind was fine - maybe a 5 on a scale of 1 to Wyoming. I've done worse. I was more annoyed by trying to navigate around the tree vomit from yesterday's storm.

A couple years ago most of my coworkers, or at least their jobs, were transferred to Huntsville. Now a couple times a year they have to go down to the tornado shelter. Never had to do that in Sacramento...

I'm jonesing for a new bike and really trying to rein it in. We have car repair and home improvement on the docket first

Welshboy - glad you're okay. Can't imagine what that driver was thinking!

Back to the Monday. I left early and rode to the gym for a little time there before going on to work. Still quite a bit of wet spots and debris on the MUP from last Thursday's storm. And more rain is forecast for this week, so it's just gonna stay messy I suppose.