I have new (greater) respect for you guys who regularly ride in snow. I decided that today was the day to see whether I could actually do it, and... I guess the answer is yes, but I don't plan to make a habit of it.

mid to high 20s as I started, and I was doing okay on a snowy stretch of MUP until I came to my first hill. I pedaled part way up, then lost traction a few times, resulting in coming to a near standstill. I walked the rest of the way up that hill. Lesson learned -- gear down more than usual for hills. Didn't have to walk any more, but I did get sideways a few times. More nerve wracking, though was going down hills. Disc brakes or no, traction is limited by tires, and on cold snow, there wasn't much. Once I got to a street portion of my commute, things were better, as the roads were pretty clear (the first MUP portion runs along a high-ish speed two lane with way too much traffic to feel safe on the road). The ride on the towpath was uneventful, and the CCT was fine other than quite a bit of sliding as I went from packed snow to looser snow and back. No other cyclist in my sight, but plenty of others had been there before me :-). The rest of the ride was uneventful. I was the third bike on the rack at the office :-) Metro home tonight (planned) and hopefully the weekend will bring great melting so that my ride home on Monday will be simple.

Given the amount of snow we usually get, I can't see investing in studded tires, but I wonder if the knobbier tires on my MTB would help at all?

Knobs help on snow. Studs help on ice (and possibly very hard packed snow).

Beautiful morning! Hardly a cloud in the sky. Fair and mild, a throwback to September! First dry roads in god knows how long.

18f Im hoping the cold weather is messing with my freewheel it was acting up again i really really wanted this wheel set to last more than a year, oh well the local bike co-op is having a 50% off everything sale so say goodbye to money after work.

Yeah -- That's what I was thinking. As I see it, the problem is that in most cases, a day or two after it snows most of it will be ice, and it could be there for a day or for several weeks, depending on the temps. This seems like a no win for those of us at the southernmost tip of the regular snow zone.

There was actual ice on the road this morning, but I wound up putting the bike on the car and driving w/ my wife to an appt in the opposite direction of our offices. She dropped me w/ bike afterward and I will ride home.

For loose snow, knobbies will help. For ice and hardpack, studs are the only thing that'll make a difference. Instead of buy studded tires, you could stud a set of old/cheap knobbies. There's a how-to thread for DIY studded tires in the winter forum. If you only ride them a few times a year, then they'll probably outlast the decade.

Awesome commute until the very end when I hit the mental wall. 30F and dusk/dark with winds from the W @ 6mph. Normally when I stay late, I take the short way home even though it's much steeper, and now I know why. I decided to take the longer way to avoid the steep hill to my house, which ended up being a big mistake. I hit a mental wall and just had no energy for climbing that hill, even though it's a lot less steep than the other one. When I got to the flatter sections, I had absolutely no power and I could only cruise at slow speeds. It almost felt like I was carrying an anchor behind me. Besides that, it was a really great and enjoyable commute home.

It was nice, but I was waaayy overdressed for it. And my clever layering wasn't easy to strip down so I just suffered with some sweating. I need to work on that :) Maybe they'll clear the snow on my street/driveway so I don't have to take the long way soon...

Back on after 2 weeks off due to family business (my parents') taking over my life for a while. My knee had been bad enough to not want to walk on it. Riding today cleared it right up. Got off a stop early and did a 7.5 mile leg #4 rather than a 3 miler. So about 15 miles today.

Should have had the studs on on the way in. Sketchy wet bridge-- was taking on condensation from the river beneath. Slowed WAY down for it.

Semester's over and it's back to work for the winter break (believe or not, but this is a good thing). Unfortunately, that reduces my commute from 15 to 5 miles, round trip. So, after work, I rode out to campus and back anyway.

-10F/-23C, no wind. Saw about a dozen other cyclists on the MUP, all balaclava'd and pogie'd up. The beardcicle was about half an inch thick by the time I got home. South of Fish Creek, I saw these tracks heading out across the tidal flats:

http://i787.photobucket.com/albums/y...y/iceflats.jpg

No idea where they were going, but they're braver than me. It sent chills down my spine just standing there, listening as the ice creaked and cracked under tidal pressure.

I must say I admire and have a lot of respect for our Alaskan neighbors North of us here in Edmonton, Alberta. I'm a novice to bike commuting and winter cycling. The coldest temperature I'd bike in is a calm and windless -15celsius; if warmer than that but with wind gusts that send windchill factors colder than -15c, I just don't bother as I'm paranoid about frostbites and exposed skin that are mostly numb when frigid north wind is a blowing.

Tonight, was my first long-ish commute (16km or 10mi) in snow covered streets. I stayed on the sidewalks as my knobby MTB tires (nostuds) can't negotiate the brown & white mush. Or maybe I'm so new and inexperienced I have not learned the art of pedalling really crazy to stay balanced and moving along. Oh yeah, it's a calm -12celsius - beautiful. I'm getting to like winter cycling - even through the falls and dismounts and walks. I'm learning I can't be in a hurry. So it was a playful and fun leisurely ride.

Between the back giving up on me and the side roads being nearly impassible I took a few days off from cycling... looks like the main roads are nice and clear so tomorrow should be nice.

You're welcome. I wish that I could take credit for the idea, but like most good ideas, I gleaned it from someone else's experience. In this case it was SixtyFiver's. Read about it and many other great winter cycling tips on his blog here: http://ravingbikefiend.com/?page_id=269

Beautiful pic! I think that's the first image of the Seattle skyline I've seen that didn't include the Space Needle (assuming that's Seattle, of course).

I put on the studs at the first signs of freezing temps, and I leave them on all winter. I run 700*35 Schwalbe Marathon Winter tires, and their conservative, non-aggressive design makes them liveable on days when there's little snow or ice. OTOH, having the studs there is insurance against unpredictable winter weather. When funds permit, I would like to build a bike with aggressive studded, knobby tires for deeper snow and crappy road conditions, but for now my setup handles the majority of my winter commuting needs.

Still got a nice weather here(17-19cํ), i changing tires from Kenda 700x32 to Schwalbe Blizzard 700x25 because rainy season is over.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5163/...79375452_b.jpg
Alone by Madanial, on Flickr

wow that is an amazing pic! I'm gearing up for the week. My first forays in the snow last week really went fine, just some slush to deal with on Thursday.

Yesterday(Sunday) i decided to go out and shoot some pics, didn't know that there is a folding bike's meeting at Lumpini Park.So i took some photos there. :)


http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5248/...17bc11d1_b.jpg
Folding bike 01 by Madanial, on Flickr

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5201/...e5c1dda5_b.jpg
Folding bike 04 by Madanial, on Flickr

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5170/...e63e3f86_b.jpg
Folding bike 03 by Madanial, on Flickr

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5003/...5d07eccd_b.jpg
Folding bike 02 by Madanial, on Flickr

A guy in orenge shirt is Mr.Kagi(His nickname that cyclist use to call him), one of the well-known cyclist in Thailand. :)

thanks! :)
not bad for an iphone. :D
the iphone 4's camera has been more then useful for me.

most skyline pics you see of seattle are from 1 of two places:
queen anne hill looking south... makes it look like the needle is "part of downtown" altho its way north of it (forced perspective trick)
west seattle/admiral looking east.. the one where the water is in the foreground.

my fav view of seattle is looking north like this.

anyway..
looking forward to a getting as much commute riding in before the holiday break!

Thanks a lot, now we got a King's ceremony here so Ratchadamnoen Rd. has decorated with beautiful light until Jan. next year.A nice chance to take pictures. :D

Worst day yet for commuting, -11C/12F, very cold! ends of fingers and Toes started to go numb. snow has frozen, making for a bumpy ride to work, but still feel sense of accomplishment, although some of the journey had some scary slips.
At least i only have another 2 days and then off for the holidays!
:)

Mardmakarm, thanks for the pics. It is nice to see warm weather and very pretty lights.

Somehwere around 20 F ( -6 C) at the start. I am still on my MTB, but will switch back this afternoon, as the main and secondary roads
are decent. The winter solstice is the big thing this week, as we can slowly get back to light, even though it is a long trek, it is in the right
direction.

First bike commute since 12/10 with temps in the mid-20s F. We have had snow/sleet/freezing rain three times in the past week, and can't remember ever having snow here in December before. So far, it's the coldest December on record with temps running 20 F degrees below normal. My excuse for not riding is not the cold, but the black ice. My commute route been unsafe to ride on due to lots of wet spots that have been freezing over at night. I finally got out for a 32-mile ride on Saturday afternoon and it started snowing again 15 minutes after I got home.

20F/-6C with calm wind. Diggin' my new Ice Spikers. :p So far I've ridden on ice, packed snow, and deeper loose snow. The peds have packed down a path on the MUP but it is (as usual) very rough. I get off the MUP as soon as possible (only about a half mile on it) and stick to the road. It's fun because the shoulder is all white with a thin layer of snow, so the cagers avoid it, all the while thinking I must be mad for riding on snow.

I got a honk on Friday, riding home. I get a honk at this spot once in a blue moon. There's a straight-ahead lane that I need to use, and a right-turn-only lane. Once in a while I get the low-IQ motorist who doesn't understand why I'm in the straight-ahead lane and doesn't know how to deal with me. Some guy in an ancient Chevrolet sedan of some sort.

Too sick to commute today :( I decided to stay home rather than infect my coworkers with this nasty cold virus. Plus, it's windy out there (gusts at around 35-40mph) so it would have been a rough ride in.

Had not one but two taillights in front of me there for a bit this morning...guess people want to work off those holiday party pounds! Cold, headwind again, but earable. A bike commuter colleague in the locker room reported a fall on ice..gotta watch it out there.

Least fun commute EVER. When they warn that driving is hazardous, imagine the freaking headwind on the bike. This morning's commute was 19 minutes longer, and the entire journey was spent in the small ring. Blech.

Cold Commute was Cold. Left the house and it was about 10 degrees out, had to take the longer, hillier route since the MUP is now a cross country ski trail. After 4-5 miles, I warmed up enough to enjoy it, and by the time I got to school 17 miles later, I was spinning and grinning wishing I had more riding to go. Should be a little warmer for the ride home, so I'm looking forward to that.

I didn't go to work on Friday and hadn't check in on BF since then, so I han't really commuted on Thursday night's commute yet. It was a load of fun - riding through a couple inches of fresh snow. There was no ice, just snow and some tire tracks from other brave commuters. Stuck with it on the MUP for a couple miles and then bailed out to ride the rest of the way on treated roads. Still a lot of fun. Kinda made me wish it happened more often. With a little added security from some studded tires (which I don't have), I think snow/ice commuting would be fun for me.

As for today, pretty decent commute in. There's some icy areas along the trail, especially bridges (naturally), so I had to take it slow in places, but it was still a pleasant ride. Only saw two or three bike commuters in the five miles or so until I got to the 14th Street Bridge, then I saw at least a handful more in the last two miles between there and my office. Gonna have to take it slow this evening since those icy patches might be harder to spot in the dark, though I'm hoping that ethe sun and some above freezing temps today may help to melt away some of it.

Only six more commuting days left for me in 2010... well five if you don't count today. Been a good cycling year all in all. Need to ride more non-commuting miles next year, though.

Going down the hill at 30mph+/-.... Something slid under my wheel and... I slided down for what seem to be 5 seconds or so... I was able to break fall for majority of it but it did suck.
small bruise and gash on my right arm/big bruises and some blood from upper right thigh. One tight torn... One shoe torn, one smart wool sock torn, one newly bought Gore Phantom jacket's right arm torn... (I wonder if they will just replace right arm for me at whatever cost instead of having to buy new jacket)...
Considering the speed I was going down at, I am glad I came out with minor injury. Kept riding for next 8-9 miles in for work while constantly chastising myself for not being able to recover from that slip while shaken from whole incident was not that cool. I guess I did ride faster than usual though without realizing since I still made the train in time...

28f Frozen snow, slush, and ice quick ride in though. I like it when everything is frozen solid its so much easier to ride over ice than snow.