gerv 

We had 5-6 inches of snow the night before last.

I got the bus to work yesterday, but today my winter bike was ready for action.

I'm working at a new location... downtown... and the bus service is pretty good. The bus stop every 15 minutes just outside my door and lands me about 1/2 mile from work.

There's also a cycling route that is mostly on bike lanes, so I'm pretty pleased with this new gig.

How's your winter going to shape up?

Roody

Only 1.75 miles by bike, but I often walk instead. The first part of the trip is on the Rivertrail, on wooded bluffs high over the Grand River. Then on shaded residential streets with big old houses. The Rivertrail is plowed before the sidewalks, and often even before the streets get plowed, so I'm glad one-third of my commute is on the trail. If I'm running late on my bike, I can take streets instead of the trail, and shave a couple minutes off my time.

The bus comes by my house only every 50 minutes, and I have to transfer downtown to get to work. If I take the bus, I have to leave about 15 minutes earlier than when I'm walking. Or a good 30 minutes earlier than if I ride my bike, even allowing time to change clothes when I get to work on a rainy or snowy day.

dcrowell

3.5 miles of city streets each way. Traffic is either light or slow depending on the road. I have a set of studded tires in the basement that go on the LHT once I have to worry about ice.

I can take a bus on the really cold days, but it's usually crowded and I prefer to be on the bike.

Artkansas 

Well, the temps should drop down into the 30's tonight.

My current commute is 5' so I'm not worried about the weather.

The bus stop is half a block away. If there is snow the bus system is helpless.

I have a hiking staff for walking in the ice/snow. This year I harvested a piece of bamboo to upgrade with, so I can have a lighter staff. But I haven't figured out how to mount a nail in the bottom so I can crack street ice when I walk.

Roody

Why do you want to crack street ice?

tsl

For a second there I though you hired people to walk for you. "Walking? I've got staff to do that."

As for my winter, the Nokians are still resting comfortably in the basement. I'm still happy with the decision I made to work farther from home so I can get adequate exercise in winter from commuting alone.

The bus? Yeah, I live and work on bus lines but the last time I rode one to work was in July 2006. Other than that, I've only used it so I don't need to ride home from the eye doctor's with those stupid drops in my my eyes.

missjean

[QUOTE=tsl;13480423]For a second there I though you hired people to walk for you. "Walking? I've got staff to do that."

lol! Or, they could carry him through the ice and snow.

Artkansas 

Doesn't everybody? Or is it just we of the 1%?

Fargo Wolf

0.o It's 11C (52F) out at the moment. Quite warm for this time of year. The norm should be just below freezing and generally with snow.

tsl

< points and shrieks > "One-percenter!"

bjjoondo 

When the wife and I "walk" and it's icy, we use "Yak Tracks", they slip on the bottom of your boot or shoe. Works great even on slippery downhill's, FYI! https://www.yaktrax.com

gerv 

The winter has temporarily abated here, so I'm back to my road bike for getting around.

One big problem with my winter bike is that I replaced the FD this Spring and now dicover that the Nokians, the fender and the FD don't play very nice. So I took the FD off.

Now I only have one ring working in the front

JeanSeb

Hmmm... not sure how my winter's going to be. I can't wait to get more snow to add to the pleasure of riding in the cold.

Although snowstorms may prove to be dangerous on the highway, but I'll just deal with it when I get there.

cycleobsidian

Kudos to you, JeanSeb. It's ccccold in Alberta!

Roody

But the weather's good there in the fall, according to the song.

JeanSeb

Thanks. I'd have to say it's not thaaat bad, depending on what you're used to.
According to most Albertans, we have two seasons here: winter and July.

Roody

That's colder than our weather. In southern Michigan, it's 8 months of snow and 4 months of mud. In northern Michigan, it's 10 months of winter and 2 months of bad skiing.

CarFreeFam4

Winter for me involves breaking out the rain gear since I live in the Pacific Northwest. We had snow once last winter, it was great for riding in because people freak out and no one leaves their house when it snows. We didn't encounter a single vehicle on our four-mile ride to the grocery store.

Since I work from home, and we are home schooling our son this year I actually don't need to go out very often. My outings are generally at my convenience, so I can wait for a break in the rain if I'm not feeling inclined to ride in it (mostly because I don't want to hear the complaints from the kids about the rain).

Antaresia

It's getting colder, I need to invest in warm leggings soon.

I also found out today that the city salts the bike bridge! It's cool that they do this for the cyclists; the roads weren't salted at all and it wasn't even that cold today. I'm going to have to take extra care of my steel frame though.

Roody

Try to find some touchup paint for that steel!

Artkansas 

Well, tonight I tested out my new Thinsulate gloves with the tight weave nylon outer surface. The weather report said it was 34 degrees when I rode back. My hands were cool but comfortable. And I discovered that the palms are a rubbery substance that made lifting up the bike to carry it upstairs easy. I'm gonna have to go back to KMart and get another pair.

JeanSeb

Hmmm... I'm finding myself needing warmer gloves now. I have an old pair of Thinsulate gloves (but no nylon outer cover) and my hands were cold for the first kilometer of my ride (strong head wind... hand wind? lol) and then they warmed up by themselves. I know that anything colder will leave me with blue hands. It was about -5C but was a lot colder with the wind.

gerv 

We got 5 inches of snow a while back, but it's been glorious riding this week. I keep thinking winter is headed somewhere else. It was around 50F here today and will be warmer tomorrow. Sunday is around 40, but even that is quite bearable.

coldfeet

My Winter is shaping up to be much better than last year. New job means commute has gone from 18 km one way, to 8. I have a lock up room for the bikes, in the Summer it can get crowded, but when it's cold, it's usually much easier to get the big dummy in there. We have a locker room with showers. I can buy cold weather gear at a discount, and have pretty much got all conditions covered. I just picked up some Continental Top Contact Winters, they're going on bike #2 for "transition" days, the Dummy will have the Ice Spikers for the days the buses stop moving. I've had a couple of days when things got a little nippy, but not too bad, and this will improve as I add some refinements to my setup. Best of all, if it really gets vicious there's a car share car in the car park!

Roody

How does a longtail handle in slippery conditions, compared to a traditional bike?