Almost got hit in a crosswalk this morning! I was waiting for the left turn signal to end and the pedestrian signal to light up at a busy intersection. As I got halfway across an oncoming smaller Cadillac SUV decided to turn right. They saw me and stopped, but then immediately proceeded again. I blew the AirZound Airhorn reflexively and saw through the windshield the look of shock on this older, well-dressed woman. It was then I realized the sun was right behind me, and even with the flashing daytime helmet and bike lights I was probably obscured by the brilliant low sun. I hustled to catch up at the next light and motioned for her to roll down her window. I said "I realize you couldn't see me against the sun." She said, "I'm sorry! I didn't see you until halfway through the turn!" I said "It's okay...we're good!"

There's someone here on bikeforums that used to remind us that "Long shadows point towards danger." meaning that a low sun behind you makes a long shadow and any car in that shadow may not see you.

The rest of the ride was just peachy, clear and a cool 23F.

The ride home was nice too, in the mid 30s. There's a light downtown where I make a left and if I am first in line if often fails to trigger the signal. I remembered that at older induction metal detecting lights I lowered my bike flat on the ground to trigger them. So I turned my bike sideways to help trigger this newer-style optical sensor. It seemed to work.

Attacking out of the sun like the Red Baron

Took the longer trail-to-trail route today. At 40-44F it was the warmest morning commute in a while, but with overcast skies blocking the sun it felt a little colder than the actual temperature. I rode my main commuter and enjoyed enough of a tailwind for a very quick ride.

Worked a little late (again!) night had fallen as had the temps...38F dipping down to 35F, and even though I dressed with one less layer, lighter gloves and no balaclava, it felt warmer.

First time I've read that; I'll remember it.

Steel wheels for the win! (though they are "for the loss" the rest of the time)
[img alt="1977 Schwinn Suburban
That is not a tanwall/gumwall tire; just a VERY old whitewall!"]https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikeforums.net-vbulletin/2000x1504/img_9014_c8ad91b7a376a7392968eef4ffa9030e4ea16141.jpeg[/img]
1977 Schwinn Suburban That is not a tanwall/gumwall tire; just a VERY old whitewall!

The last few days have been just the typical (for this time of year) 4 mile daily commutes, with temperatures in the teens, and winds varying from 7-15 mph.

I gave up on the Boeshield T-9 paraffin spray-on dry wax on the chains of my winter commuters. They were not keeping the ironworm at bay. Back to 3-in-1 oil until I get some gear oil and some kind of dispenser for it. I'd rather wipe off the "grinding paste" and re-apply than to have to wire brush rust off and re-apply the much more expensive T-9.

No ice or slush on the surfaces?

Some claim to have the perfect solution. I don't believe them.

I recently bought liquid wax for chains. I don't remember the brand. I hope to try it soon.

It was 23 years ago when we last had a 9-day stretch here of no temperatures above freezing. That, combined with the "big" snowfall a couple of weeks ago, and we have the most disgusting, dirty, ugly schmutz, narrowing our paths and making life miserable. I was just telling myself I gotta get back on the bike, but I was inside when I said that. I look around and say no way. Too dangerous as well as unpleasant. I need to join a gym. The temperature has now briefly peeked up above freezing but only briefly. In the forecast, there are few or no more such peaks.

There's some shallow, sandy snow on my neighborhood street for about two blocks, but very little traffic and the street is wide, so I just keep vertical.
There's some areas in the bike lane with ice or deeper snow, but I just ride around them.
The majority of the streets are salty and either dry or wet.

You made a good point earlier. Since you ride in such close proximity with automotive traffic, your stakes are much higher than mine in my much smaller city. I rarely get passed during my commute with less than 5' of cushion.

The tires on my folder do have some tread. Far from knobbies, but not slicks either. You can see it in the left side of this pic:

"street tread"

You might consider fitting gravel tires on your bike for the winter. They do fine in snow too:

These handle < 2" of snow just fine. I wouldn't risk much ice though.

Smaug1 I do often ride in bad conditions on slick tires. For instance, I'll ride in mud or dirt on my pseudo-gravel bike, and it has slick-ish tires. I'm not saying this is a good idea, just that I know how to handle a bike when traction gets bad. At my age, I'm becoming more risk averse. I don't think better tread will change that. I can almost always plow through the slush/ice patches, so traction isn't the problem normally. Hmm, what am I trying to say? I guess I'm saying that slipping isn't highly likely but the consequences of slipping could be very bad. And that's why reducing the likelihood of slipping doesn't help much.

Well there is one way to reduce it realistically which is to ride Citi Bike. The tires don't have much tread. But the tires are wide and the bikes are very heavy and upright. Not only that, the bikes have Sturmey Archer drum brakes which work like champs in bad conditions. Before the snow/schmootz melts, I'm more likely to ride a Citi Bike bike before my own bike.

Today's bike commutes were a little more entertaining and uplifting than usual. I left earlier and didn't have that urge to rush. I took a route I hadn't taken in a while...that's always entertaining. Again, all the weather reporting stations showed higher temps than I actually encountered. I dressed for the upper 30s (F) and the bike thermometer showed 21F. By the halfway point I was warmed up and comfortable.

Instead of leaving a half hour later at 5:30 as my busy work days have me doing, I changed into my bike clothes at 4 and left at 4:35. There was a very stiff, very cold wind coming in from the northeast, which is the direction I head home. It was overcast and I could see snow falling on the foothills to the west. I took a route I haven't taken in a couple of months, and not with so much daylight. In fact, I arrived home before nightfall.

I had Alan Alda's podcast in my right ear on the way home, and all in all it was a very satisfying, uplifting bike ride.

In my corner of the planet, the constant freezing temperatures have been replaced with freezing temperatures in the morning and late afternoon (often with a bit of precipitation), and 5-6°C (~40°F) in the middle of the day. That wouldn't be so bad if the weather change didn't also bring strong winds, which sweep over the hills I ride over and around on the way to work. This wind pretty much ensures there is always at least a very thin layer of ice, which is often very hard to notice but which you become aware of when someone suddenly go both feet up and land on their back, or a car just slides off the road. So, I am very cautious about moving around the city and riding a bicycle is absolutely not an option.

On Monday, the bus I was on on my way to work in the morning stopped in the middle of nowhere and told us to get off unless we were ok with going back. A long line of cars and city busses were stranded on a small hill and both its sides, because it was impossible to navigate the ~1.5km/1mi section of the road with a relatively mild slope, where a bunch of vehicles had slid into each other and jammed up the road (simple two lane road). I walked to work the remaining several kilometers and managed to stay on my feet all the way, which was not an easy feat because some parts felt like walking in an ice rink. It was also funny because every other car's driver rolled their window down and asked me the same question "what's going on?" as I was the only person or vehicle going in that direction, while hundreds of cars and busses were standing in the other lane. It was funny because I was barely managing to stay on my feet, so not only was it obvious what was going on but I believe the whole scene looked like something from a cartoon.
Still managed to get to work on time (I usually arrive ~40 minutes early) and that morning coffee felt really, really good.

I started using studded snow tires on my MTB 10 years ago on my old commute routes. One winter was very icy and one of my favorite things about it was pedaling up this one icy street where cars would always be stranded. My least favorite thing was this one long residential street where the ice kept melting and refreezing into deep tire ruts, lumps and bumps. I never fell, but the bike would be thrown around and I had to keep sticking a foot out as the slow forward progress would be stopped by a rut or ridge.

There was also a large flat parking lot by a lake where, pre-studs, an unexpected ice sheet appeared mid left turn at speed and my wheels slid out to the right. I slid across the ice until reaching dry pavement where the wheels hooked up, I was thrust upright and continued on, amazed. Years later I encountered the same ice sheet conditions at the same location and the studs did their thing, keeping me upright and secure. Of course, after the first icy slide I was always remembered there might be ice there...even in the summer I'd remember.

rode in 3 days straight this week so far (usually I telecommute T/Th so consecutive riding days unusual). On track for 5/5 in the office this week actually (and today I only rode in to get a car which I return tomorrow and then bike home...)

Interesting story! What IS your corner of the planet? (consider populating a general Location area in your profile, so it shows up next to your posts and we have context)

As BobbyG said, studded tires make all the difference on ice. They might even turn you into a winter commuter. Sounds like your city buses could use them too...

Typical commute this morning. No wind, which was refreshing and that made for an easy commute. I took it easy, low Zone 2 or high Zone 1 heart rate. No sweat at all.

Hallelujah! The discussion inspired me. Yesterday after work, I decided to try it. There is a Citi Bike station near work. I grabbed a human powered bike. Some bike lanes had been used to dump snow banks. I need to notify the City because the beloved mayor has promised to clear snow from bike lanes. It wasn't long before I was on the bridge. Space, already scarce, is made scarcer with the snow, so I went slowly through City Hall Park. Murray St is the normally chaotic street on my route, and it was made worse with the snow. At one point, I left the eternal traffic jam and moved to the sidewalk. At the end of the block, I jumped the curb back onto the street. Hey, it's not my bike! But I didn't damage it.

I had rehearsal so I bypassed home and went on to the rehearsal site which is 8 miles from work. These bikes are annoying, and I rarely choose to ride them more than 4 miles. But I was so hungry to ride, I was glad to confront the annoyance. I pedaled hard and got there in an hour. That's 8 mph! But I'm not complaining.

At one point, I rode slowly across a crosswalk against the light. I misjudged my distance from a pedestrian who had the light. He said, "Hey come on, man!" Fair enough. I said, "I'm sorry. My mistake." Maybe he heard me; I don't know.

Thanks for the inspiration, especially from Jeremy.

Nice, Tom.
I snapped a couple pix during my commute of the most hazardous part.


Right outside my building is the most hazardous spot of the commute. There seems to be a heat leak somewhere that is causing snow to melt and the water to run off the property, across the sidewalk, and into the bike lane, where it froze again, causing ice sheets. They put some cones up to warn me, but I hope they fix the root cause too... There's also ice on the sidewalk.



I try to keep the lock away from the chain grease, so it doesn't end up on my clothes. I figured out a hack to use the bottle cage to route the chain jacket away from the chain.
Look at that salt spray all over everything. This poor bike is going to be a rusty mess, come spring!

Yay, Tom!

Jeremy, can you hose off your bike after you get home? I feel super lucky because I live in a (small) apartment building, and people don't normally have access to an outdoor hose. Our bike room has a separate entrance from the street level, and that's where the building's hose is. I lean my bike against the outer wall of the building and hose it down.

But hmm, you're in Wisconsin, so does that make outdoor hoses completely out of season?

By the way, I know a (bike) guy in High Falls (rural area) who installed a HOT water hose on his house for cleaning his bikes. Clever, eh?

Massive crash along my Route. Took out a hundred feet of the median. I have not worked out what happened. Traffic backed up half a mile.

This is very close to where the girl was killed a couple weeks ago.

Icy roads are a problem, but studded tires would solve only one part of it - the one where I could slip and slide under a car or a bus. They would not solve the problem of other cars hitting or swiping me because they don't always have complete control. Roads here* are much narrower than in the USA - look at Smaug1's picture of the street above and imagine a two-lane two-way road, but only slightly wider than a single lane in that picture. European cars are smaller and roads are narrower, especially roads that were built many decades ago. And then there are no shoulders, not an inch, so I ride with traffic (right edge of the road). So, it is enough for a car to slide half a meter to the side (20in) and I am hitting whatever is on the right side of the road. Now, not all roads are so narrow, but most are and the ones I use to get to work definitely are. Whether I am commuting or just going for a ride out in the country, I always choose least important roads with least amount of traffic, which is always nice and more pleasant... but it also means poor maintenance, poor lighting and usually not even two lanes but just one where vehicles can pass each other only with lots of caution and at lower speeds.

So, there is a point - i.e. weather and road conditions - where I simply put my bicycle away and wait for better times. There is no point in taking big risks, especially when there is much more stress than fun in doing it.

* Smaug1, thanks for reminding me to enter location in my profile. When I registered two years ago, I wasn't sure if I would keep coming, so I gave only information that was necessary at that time.

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 2284:

The snow/ice is mostly gone from the pavement, and what's left is easy enough to ride around. There's still plenty of snow on the grass, but I don't ride there. I wanted to take the road bike this morning, but I already had everything packed in my pannier bag and was too lazy to unpack and transfer stuff to my backpack. Instead, I decided to ride my hybrid bike with the rack, which according to my spreadsheet hadn't been ridden since last September 17th. While not as fast as the road bike, the non-studded tires was at least some improvement in speed vs my winter bikes (although not as much as I expected.)

Temp this morning was 28°F which is the warmest morning temp we've had in almost a month. The humidity was really high so the air had a damp feel to it, but even with that it wasn't a bad commute. There was a 10 mph headwind. It took me about 52 minutes to ride the 8 miles to the office.

The tires on this bike were quite flat from neglect, so I had to put a lot of air into them before I left the house. For the first 1.5 miles I was hearing a weird buzzing/grinding noise. It kept getting louder. I know the front hub bearings on this bike have been getting a little iffy, so I assumed that was the cause. It finally got loud enough that I had to pull over and investigate. When I spun the front wheel, it was near silent with just the usual slight ticking from the aforementioned bearings. When I spun the rear wheel, it was loud. But now that I was off the bike I could easily see it was the fender rubbing on the corner of the tire. It must have gotten bumped out of whack at some point while the bike was just sitting. So a quick adjustment got me back on the road quickly, now in relative silence.

Only three more commuting days until my 10 year anniversary since the last time I drove a car to work. I was hoping to do some sort of celebration, but with the rest of life clamoring for my attention I didn't get around to planning anything. So it looks like that morning will be a typical one without fanfare. That's OK.

Yep, spigots are turned off and hoses disconnected until at least April.

As for the hose-down, I think the best I can do is bring the bike to the basement and rinse it off with warm water with just a BIT of detergent. Problem is, the bike will look like this again the very next day.


These days, the most likely thing is DWI = Driving While Intexticated. No one wants to admit it, so they lie and say they fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thursday is my driving day, picking up Stanzi after work for dinner out 20 miles away. It's snowing again; we're supposed to get another inch.

My eFatty is having rear brake issues. The pistons seem to be freezing up in the calipers, probably due to rust from salt spray. I expected chain issues due to rust, but not brakes too. I may risk a drop of oil in strategic locations to free them up. Here is another advantage to rim brakes I never thought of. There just seems to be fewer things that can go wrong and they're more rugged.

That's a big leap from no evidence or statement at all, I think. All the police told the reporters is that they scraped up the driver with major injuries and sent him to the hospital. Given the level of damage, I'd be making different guesses. The engine was sitting on the road and a fair sized tree was uprooted with its foliage sheared off. But that kind of wreck usually has a sportier car

When I posted the photo of the Tesla in the light rail station a couple weeks ago no one did the SMH-FSD routine that I kind of expected, I thought that was pretty responsible of y'all

Nice but unremarkable rides yesterday. The ice field by the green bridge has diminished enough that it is possible to ride past it on the soggy grass. It was in the 50s the last couple of days and should be again today so it's possible the sidewalk will be clear by Monday.

I've been taking my main commuter, the 2015 Charge Plug (non electric) out of convenience. It, the Rockhopper and the 16" Dahon Getaway are the easiest in and out of the shed. But today I'm thinking about the 20" Dahon Boradwalk. I could swap to non-studded wheels on the Rockhopper in under 10 minutes...I'll see.

Speaking of the Getaway, and brakes (from the posts above), it has an enclosed rear band brake, which after adjusting works phenomenally well, especially in the rain. Looking through the drain hole it looks like the band was replaced shortly before I bought it two years ago, although at the time the adjustment was way off, rendering the brake worthless. And it was the only brake. Even though it works well, I added a front caliper in anticipation of the higher speeds of adding a larger front cog.