One of the pleasures of commuting in the winter is the fact that any day can be an adventure and turn out to be memorable. Today was unlike any I'd experienced in all my years. Warm temps yesterday thawed a lot of snow and surfaces. Freezing rain overnight coated 95% of my route (which includes 6+ miles of commuter path) with 4mm of sheer ice over blacktop. The whole way. Temp was a comfortable 30F.

I got on the studded tire bike, put the PSI at 45 and set off. Realized that staying focused was going to be the biggest trick. Kept thinking, keep the upper body and grips loose. No sudden movements turns or accelerations. Steady pace, stay in the saddle, stay on the crown of the path. Throw Oscar Peterson trio on the headphones, have a few sketchy moments. Stop half way to let more air out of the tires and get a little more grip, it works. Arrive to work upright and unscathed and with an actual feeling of accomplishment.

Ok, maybe it doesn't warrant a Commuter merit badge but it was a great challenge and adventure and those are good days.

Congrads! The Canadian judge says : 8.5 for level of difficulty, 8.5 for execution and 10.0 for just being there!!

I'm in Minneapolis too. The ice was so variable road to road. The main roads were as clear as can be. The bike paths were like ice rinks.

Had the bike slide out from under me after attempting to make a quick turn to avoid hitting an indecisive tree rodent.

That may have cost me my ice riding merit badge but later on I did my good deed for the day by laying my bike down and pushing two cars up a hill.

The one positive thing about wiping out on ice vs plain asphalt is the lack of road rash. I looked around to make sure no one witnessed any of it, straightened out my fender and off I went.

Yes you do deserve the merit badge! This morning it was about as slippery as I have ever seen. I fell just letting the dogs out, that was enough to change my mind and I drove. By the way did I see you go by on Baker Road this morning?

Stuck the stud-tires on the bike with the most trail, for stability . its slower going ..

26_1.9" with heavy TR tubes.

Fortunately not in MN.. Icy is just occasional, not seasonal..

Riding on ice or rutted up snow is wearisome for me due to the extreme focus I try to maintain. Plowing through snow is physically challenging, but the mental part of it seems to make me just as tired and ready to get the commute done.

Congrats on your ice ride!
Not a commute, but rode up the river saturday.
Glaze, flat ice like a mirror. Truly a beautiful ride.

Like the ice isn't enough right? Rodents never seem to take a day off in fact I saw a freshly beheaded rabbit in the middle of the the trial this morning. It clearly looked as if it had tried to make the leap through some poor cyclists wheel. Even if it was the back wheel I can't imagine that in these conditions it didn't cause a crash. oof!

Definite points for the good deed of the day. Not many people would dismount to help push cars. Good on you!

Thanks, but that wasn't me on Baker Rd. Just another idiot out to get his/her merit badge I guess

I just read your post in my thread question about studded tires - this one's a ringing endorsement for the 106's! I'm on the hunt for studs because about a month ago, unable to ride the mup because it was all rutted ice, I tried to find some side roads so I didn't have to do the whole way home on busy city streets. Go figure, side streets weren't clear either and even though it was under 20F the sun had been out and melted the top layer of ice. I turned, the bike didn't, and you know the rest of the story

Merit badge for you for sure! Any icy commute deserves one, especially if you remain upright the whole way! Similar here in London Ontario yesterday and day before... lots of those inch-thick "ice islands" on the back streets. I've got studded tires and did well with them, but I swear I would rather ride on sheet ice than navigate around and over those bloody things. Had to pull over and let cars go two or three times so we wouldn't scare each other, but never even had to put a foot down. You don't need studded tires until you NEED studded tires. It was awesome and congrats on your similar rides!

Excellent Work!!!

Today, I chose not to ride in because of forecasted freezing rain and not having studded tires (next year hopefully). However, it got me thinking about what the hard-core winter riders do when the conditions are as variable as I've been seeing this year: 15cm (6") snow yesterday, this afternoon is forecasted to have freezing rain (7C, 44F), tomorrow is supposed to be rainy and snowy and similar temperatures and on Thursday, a high () of -13C (9F) which would have the effect of freezing up everything that happens today and tomorrow.

So, what do you guys (gals?) do?

The bikes I choose for commuting during winter months rarely change and they are all outfitted with studded tires. So the only thing I change in response to varying winter weather conditions is my clothing and the amount of time I anticipate the commute taking.

I felt like it was a lot harder to walk on the sidewalks than ride the streets today. That was some slick ****.