Winter Commuting - Ontario Style!
#1
Thread Starter
Born Again Pagan
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,241
Likes: 2
From: Southwestern Ontario
Bikes: Schwinn hybrid, Raleigh MTB
Winter Commuting - Ontario Style!
Old Man Winter returns with a vengeance to Southwestern Ontario:


I will now pay homage to the Gods of Winter Tires. I will prick my skin on the razor-sharp carbide studs, praying that my payment in blood will remain on the Altar of Schwalbe Marathon Winters and not end up on the streets of my commute.
I have not forsaken you, Planet Bike, as I will now sacrifice a cow (in the form of a steak) in honor of your awesome fenders and blinkies.


I will now pay homage to the Gods of Winter Tires. I will prick my skin on the razor-sharp carbide studs, praying that my payment in blood will remain on the Altar of Schwalbe Marathon Winters and not end up on the streets of my commute.
I have not forsaken you, Planet Bike, as I will now sacrifice a cow (in the form of a steak) in honor of your awesome fenders and blinkies.
Last edited by irclean; 02-22-10 at 07:20 PM.
#4
Banned
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 8,701
Likes: 2,506
From: Mississauga/Toronto, Ontario canada
Bikes: I have 3 singlespeed/fixed gear bikes
We got a good dump of snow in missisauga today, but it's all wet and slushy type of snow. No ice so I don't feel a need for studs. Normally I run studs on my winter mountain bike but this year I've been getting around just fine on some touring tires, (1.8 wide with some not too agressive tread). Actually most of this winter I spent riding my fixed gear road bike with skinny tires ( 32mm) wide, it's really good if there is just few cm of snow and slush.
#7
Old Man Winter returns with a vengence to Southwestern Ontario:


I will now pay homage to the Gods of Winter Tires. I will prick my skin on the razor-sharp carbide studs, praying that my payment in blood will remain on the Altar of Schwalbe Marathon Winters and not end up on the streets of my commute.
I have not forsaken you, Planet Bike, as I will now sacrifice a cow (in the form of a steak) in honor of your awesome fenders and blinkies.


I will now pay homage to the Gods of Winter Tires. I will prick my skin on the razor-sharp carbide studs, praying that my payment in blood will remain on the Altar of Schwalbe Marathon Winters and not end up on the streets of my commute.
I have not forsaken you, Planet Bike, as I will now sacrifice a cow (in the form of a steak) in honor of your awesome fenders and blinkies.
VANOC would love a dump of that snow over here here in Vancouver.
#8
Thread Starter
Born Again Pagan
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,241
Likes: 2
From: Southwestern Ontario
Bikes: Schwinn hybrid, Raleigh MTB
No kidding! I've been enjoying the "Spring" Olympics, nonetheless.
#9
Call me The Breeze
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 3,702
Likes: 8
From: Cooper Ontario
Bikes: 2004 Litespeed Siena, 1996 Litespeed Obed, 1992 Miele (unknown model), 1982 Meile Uno LS.
hey I run a bike shop.... I could do with a couple more weeks of winter to get some projects completed!
#10
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 903
Likes: 1
From: Rochester, NY
Bikes: 2010 Kona Dr. Dew, Moose Bicycle XXL (fat bike), Yuba Mundo V3
Rochester honestly isn't that bad this year. We've had snow on the ground more-or-less continuously since late November, but haven't had multiple feet dumped on us in a short period of time. Feel sorry for the people down in Washington DC and Virginia. They got dumped on, and weren't prepared for it.
#13
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 448
Likes: 0
[QUOTE=irclean;10436579]Old Man Winter returns with a vengeance to Southwestern Ontario.
QUOTE]
South Central Ontario as well.
Rode to work yesterday on dry roads but my return home at 6:00 PM was quite a challenge. The snowplows were slow getting out after so many weeks of dry roads and the ruts the cars left in the snow had me using all of my cycling skills just staying upright. At one point my forward momentum came to an abrupt end when the wheels jammed with snow. Twice I hit the ground when the front wheel hit a hole or dip under the snow and I have a fist-sized bruise on my left side. My normal 20-minute trip took over an hour. It is the first time in many years that I had to walk the bike because I could not cycle through some snow banks formed at intersections from the car traffic. At 7:00 AM this morning the roads still had not been plowed completely and I was forced to clean about a foot of snow off the car.
QUOTE]
South Central Ontario as well.
Rode to work yesterday on dry roads but my return home at 6:00 PM was quite a challenge. The snowplows were slow getting out after so many weeks of dry roads and the ruts the cars left in the snow had me using all of my cycling skills just staying upright. At one point my forward momentum came to an abrupt end when the wheels jammed with snow. Twice I hit the ground when the front wheel hit a hole or dip under the snow and I have a fist-sized bruise on my left side. My normal 20-minute trip took over an hour. It is the first time in many years that I had to walk the bike because I could not cycle through some snow banks formed at intersections from the car traffic. At 7:00 AM this morning the roads still had not been plowed completely and I was forced to clean about a foot of snow off the car.
#15
Thanks. We are never prepared especially for the back to back storms of 4-5 ft within 1 week!! We even had to put bike commuting on hold for almost a week. It has been difficult even now, almost 3 weeks later. While roads are mostly clear we still have lanes vanishing into huge snow piles. We have another due tomorrow through Friday. Glad I left the studs on. Enjoy your snow, we are tired of ours;-)
#16
Funny thing was I got a flat on my winter bike the night before the big snow storm hit, so on the snow day I commuted on my hybrid with slicks. Worked out okay, actually. It did not even take that much longer than normal commute, although I did decide to play it safe and make most of my left turns pedestrian- rather than vehicular-style.
#17
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 961
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From: the Georgia Strait
Bikes: Devinci Caribou, Kona Dew Plus, Raleigh Twenty
Funny thing was I got a flat on my winter bike the night before the big snow storm hit, so on the snow day I commuted on my hybrid with slicks. Worked out okay, actually. It did not even take that much longer than normal commute, although I did decide to play it safe and make most of my left turns pedestrian- rather than vehicular-style.
#19
Thread Starter
Born Again Pagan
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,241
Likes: 2
From: Southwestern Ontario
Bikes: Schwinn hybrid, Raleigh MTB
#21
BTW, more snow coming and I still did not get around to fixing the winter bike's flat. Wish me luck...
#22
Thread Starter
Born Again Pagan
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,241
Likes: 2
From: Southwestern Ontario
Bikes: Schwinn hybrid, Raleigh MTB
#24
Banned
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 8,701
Likes: 2,506
From: Mississauga/Toronto, Ontario canada
Bikes: I have 3 singlespeed/fixed gear bikes
I love those pics, I wish I could see something like that around here. Canadians and Americans are a bunch of Wimps.
#25
perpetually frazzled

Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 2,469
Likes: 9
From: Linton, IN
Bikes: 1977 Bridgestone Kabuki Super Speed; 1979 Raleigh Professional; 1983 Raleigh Rapide mixte; 1974 Peugeot UO-8; 1993 Univega Activa Trail; 1972 Raleigh Sports; 1967 Phillips; 1981 Schwinn World Tourist; 1976 Schwinn LeTour mixte; 1964 Western Flyer








