NoRacer-Check your e-mail, sent you an e-mail and private message. I checked out the roads, and these aren't conditions I'm comfortable with, no shoulder, ice and snow on the shoulder. If it wasn't for the unexpected snow I would have gone. F---! Ride canceled. 10-20 miles in snow? Maybe. 100? no.

Harry, I know you're feeling frustrated, but I think you made the right call.
I rode up to the ORR/BBC start this morning and took it SUPER easy and SUPER slow and enjoyed my ride. But I was in relatively low traffic, had no time constraints, was riding in fresh snow and it was light out. You would not have had many, or any, of these conditions on your ride to DC.

Abort! Abort! Abort! :trainwreck:

I was still willing to give the trip to DC a try. I wound up packing my backpack, because of the light shoes I needed to bring in case of the need to walk. Then, I added a spare pair of wool socks, glove liners, spare hand, toe, and foot warmers, a second knitted and extra jersey to be worn with a pair of wool arm warmers, spare batteries for my taillight, camera with batteries, pack of beef jerky, some sugar tablets, bike cable lock, and just in case, a First Aid Kit. On the bike, a coffee mug.

When I woke up I realized that my alarm didn't go off. Hmmmm, it's almost 6am! Apparently, I forgot to turn the sound back up on my cell phone, which is my alarm clock, too. It was still set to vibrate for when I'm at work.

I start a pot of coffee. I still have hopes that I may be able to leave closer to sunrise since my thermometer mounted outside showed that the temperature was only 17 degrees F. The sun would be welcome for raising the temperature of the day and for the visibility it would provide.

I turn on C-SPAN's Inauguration coverage. As I listened and watched (they took calls from folks all across the country--some of them real kooks, others who just wanted to hear their voices on TV, most--legitimate well wishers), I realized that DC IS NOT A PLACE TO BE. There were way too many people on foot to make bicycling around DC possible.

So, giving up on the idea completely, now, I'll enjoy my time off, probably going to work in time to make a meeting that I put off. It'll be interesting cycling in at 9:30am. The difference in traffic will be appreciable, but hopefully many others will be off due to the inauguration and the roads will be clear of ice.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...0120090701.jpg

I'm at work (the only one in today :mad:), and I've had the TV on since I got in. I think you made the right call on that. The pictures of the crowds, even early on, were flabbergasting. It will be interesting to hear the ride reports of those who did decide to cycle in.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=487752
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=503605

I have been reading this thread with intrest as I have been riding the last few days in cold weather, yesterday it was 29 when I left, and my toes get sooooo cold too. I tried several different methods of keeping warm, ie. toe warmers....didn't do what I was hoping but maybe I didn't warm them up before putting into shoe( I heard that you need to open them then rub them in your hand a few minutes before you place them in shoe?) seveal different socks, and number of socks and I still get VERY cold toes.
I have tried sock liners with thin wool socks and then thick wool socks and liners and then I have a old pair of thermal type socks I had for sking and used those as well. All the same result...cold toes!!!
My next plan is outer covers for the shoe like the wetsuit material to keep the wind out. The idea that the cleat is a heat sink is interesting as well. I sort of find it hard to believe it could but what do I know. I use Crank Brothers Candys pedals but to think they are transferring cold? Wow that is interesting for sure.
The weird part is I use no face protection at all and face never gets cold I just use a ear warmer so ears are warm. Toes and then at the very end of my 18 mile rides fingertips get cold.

For my feet for today, I wore:

- thin CoolMax running socks (WrightSock)
- toe warmers
- thick Merino wool socks (SAM's Club)
- road shoes
- neoprene booties
- fabric booties

My toes stayed warm.

Tuesday
 

NR-Sorry I blew that ride-and you probably don't want to hear what I ended up doing. I was up around midnight working on jobs that would be due Tuesday and the idea that I was going to miss the inauguration was killing me, would have driven down if possible, trains sold out. I hatched a plan around 12:30am of driving out to Needwood Lake in Rockville and riding the Rock creek trail in, so I did. I thought about leaving you a message but didn't really know how we would work out meeting up, or if you would even get the message.
I guess I saw riding on a snow covered trail as somehow safer than riding on icy roads. And after doing this ride I'm glad I didn't do that century, even if the roads were clear, the length of the ride would mean no time in DC and I was exhausted just doing 58 trail miles, can't imagine doubling that. Must have been the panniers, heavy bike, not hydrated or well fed and an incredibly frustrating route.
Let me tell you, I have read that the Rock creek Trail is badly signed and kind of chopped up. Holy Crap!! You need to be a psychic to ride that trail. If I didn't have a GPS I would have been totally screwed. Even with the gps I got turned around so many times. Looking at the gps track is comical, literally going round in circles. I suppose that if I hadn't been in such a hurry and if I had more light on the way home I could have stopped to "think" more. Once I got down to Beach Drive it was smoother sailing as most of the road was closed to cars and I had that loaded as a route on my gps. Still like 5 plus hours ride time for under 60 miles-crazy.
I got to DC just in time to park my bike with the bike valet, head up to the Wash Monument, snap some pics, see the inaugural address on the jumbo tron and then head back. I did not want to be caught on that maze of a trail after dark.

I guess I was glad I did it, seeing the mass of humanity was pretty wild but that trail was a drag. I guess I could do it again now that I know where I screwed up.

Water bottles were frozen in both directions and even though I drank when I got there I let myself get badly dehydrated, and didn't eat enough either. Getting out of the car back in my driveway my leg went into a YOWZAAAA! spasm.

NR-Truly sorry for screwing up your schedule but still glad I bagged that route and distance, on the few stretches of road that I was on in Maryland the ice was bad. The road cleared once in the district, Beach Drive was clear, doesn't look like they got the same amount of snow.

Link to my blog.
http://web.mac.com/harrycampbell1/iW...28BB71DB1.html

GB-Wasn't the BBC ride canceled on MLK Day. Did you just ride up to O Ridge and back?

P.S. My toes stayed okay. I had my regular mtb shoes with one pair of wool socks with toe warmers. I had some over priced Performance toe covers over the shoes and then Iluminite covers over that. Trashed one of the Iluminite covers, ripped the zipper clean off. I'm tired of winter riding, too much crap to think about. I want to just put on my bib and jersey and go.

Harry, you didn't screw anything up. I was going to go the next morning without you, but the "data" didn't look good, so I gave up and went to work. If I absolutely wanted to go, I would've done something similar to what you did, but to be honest, I was happy watching the event at work on my laptop, cafeteria TV or our auditorium TV. Besides, I'm glad I attended the meeting I tried to blow off. It was good that I was there.

Harry - FYI:

Checked out your blog. I grabbed a portion of the screen to show you a possible problem--on my PC, at least, the text is hardly readable due to the font setting.

See the attached.

This is how all bike stuff should arrive. For my 520. Apparently they take forever to break in but last a lifetime.

I hate to even take it out of the packaging, maybe hang it on a wall.

NR-Thanks for the heads up. If you get a chance can you let me know if it's fixed? I emboldened the type.

Harry, it looks fine, now. (but, different computer now: @Home; use Firefox at home; display font is bigger at home)

greetings folks: I also blew off the inauguration due to snow and fear of traffic. I was going to drive and bike. I come to find out (friends drove/biked)that there was no snow south of Columbia so the roads were fine and car traffic "to" DC was not bad. Bike riding was also good due to so many road closures and no government workers. Rhode Island was empty!! WABA bike check in also went very well. I did enjoy it from home, warm and toasty though. I wish I had gone. Though standing for 8 hours was never one of my strong points.
none-the-less...awesome inauguration.

Harry nice seat, glad you made the inauguration. You did what I wanted to do. Rock creek is a crazy trail.

kr32 make sure you have good blood flow to your feet. In other words don't wear tight shoes. Too many socks can make for a tight fit. My shoes are 1/2 size bigger for winter....but my feet get cold some days. What the heck do I know.

I have not driven a car (to work) since the week before Christmas but that streak comes to an end today as I have to help my parents. It's kinda cold anyway.

[QUOTE=HC203;

I'm tired of winter riding, too much crap to think about. I want to just put on my bib and jersey and go.[/QUOTE]

I think this might be the best post for winter riding I have read so far! I agree 100%

Balto Charlie....I know what you are saying about being too tight and no "room" for all the socks. I really think with a neoprene booties and covers I will be fine. When I have tried all these different size socks I wear my mtb shoes which seem a tad bigger than road shoes. I justdo not want to spend too much for what may be not too much riding in the very cold weather.I ride for fun and not commuting like a lot of you guys so spending on "winter riding gear" seems almost not worth it to me in the long run. Thing has been though sitting inside with the bike staring me down saying " lets go for ride" gets me out there in the cold.

Harry, I'm at work using Internet Explorer. The text in your blog looks light-gray making it difficult to read even when emboldened. Weird that there's such a difference between how IE 6 SP2 and Firefox render the pages.

Yes, most of my mileage the past two weeks has been from commuting to and from work:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...r/activity.png

...but, it's nice to have the cold weather gear anyway. It's not like the stuff will "expire". They'll last for years whether you take advantage of having it or not.

Big kudos for your log and all the biking! I sort of wish I could, well I really "can" ride to work, but being 23 miles one way and I leave at 4:15 am so roads are dark and people drive like madmen ( speed limit is 55 but people go at least 60-65), I do not feel safe. I might give it a try this summer though at least once just to see.

I more than likely will buy a few more winter gear items just for the reason you stated. You never know and better to have them to not and freeze! You know so far the cold has been not all that bad when the wind is not blowing, the wind is the killer for me.

NR-I'm using Firefox on a Mac, I'll go in and darken the type, weird.

Charlie,
I wasn't standing very long as I just got there when Obama was being sworn in, walked around a bit and then got my bike from the valet. But on Saturday in Baltimore I was standing in line and then standing in front of the stage for a long time. When I stand too long my back and flanks tend to ache, legs stiffen. This is gross but about two years ago I had some veins removed from my left leg as the pain had become pronounced and the veins quite visible-a hereditary issue, but helped quite a bit. I have weak valves in my leg veins so blood doesn't get pumped back to my heart very efficiently, so standing for long periods is not good. Right leg isn't so bad and I think more riding has done it good. I'm sure you've seen cyclists with big old nasty veins popping out all over their legs, same deal.

On feet-Tuesday was the first freezing temp day where I didn't have issues with my feet. Brought my hiking shoes along to swop out but never did. I think the neoprene booties that I have actually made things worse as they are tight, especially over socks. This time i just went with wool socks, tie warmers, and an exterior wind bootie.

This is the first winter that I've done any appreciable riding, mostly inspired by y'all, so I'm still figuring it out, learned a lot this year. My thinking coming back from DC was that if I was going to do winter riding every year that I would rather but winter cycling shoes rather than have to go through the elaborate gearing up process. A good hard shell would be appreciated as well. Now I'm using my rain coat over a Ibex wool jersey over a synthetic base.

Bummer about your legs. I had knee surgery years ago and also have problems standing for long periods.

I think you might have it right with the shoe. I have been eying these recently. Are these what you used
http://www.bicycleclothing.com/Rain-...hoe-Cover.html
Before I buy them I will use plastic or something similar to test my theory. In fact I should wrap one foot and leave the other alone. Barry made the point to treat your feet like your body to reduce sweat. He says his feet sweat. My feet don't sweat a lot. I don't feel my feet produce heat like my body core. Thus stopping wind from removing the heat and reducing heat sinks(pedals/clips) is the direction I am heading.

Jacket hard shell, don't like it except for heavy rains. Look at Powershield fabric @ Foxwear or jackets made w/ schoeller(sp??) fabric. I wore the Foxwear w/ light poly top and medium wool sweater during last weeks low teens and was perfect. It even resists light rains. I only carry my rain jacket when heavy downpours are predicted. Softshell all the way....IMHO

Bottom line on all of this is that people are different so what works for me might not work for others.

Charlie,
Sort of like what I used. I had these Performance toe covers over the shoe and then Illuminite booties over those. I think I paid like 35.00 bucks for those Illuminite booties last Feb and they're trashed, shredded bottoms from walking and ripped the zipper off zipping them up on Tuesday. I think I can still milk some riding out of them though, don't want to spend any more money, for now.
I replaced the cleats on my Sidis last night and am starting to realize that if you don't put cleat covers on them when your hobbling around then you need to replace several times a year. Those are the roadie shoes, the spd's last forever.

I guess I don't really know the difference between hard shell and soft-Will a soft shell repel water?

So, is anyone riding this weekend?

I think I'm going to do an easy ride tomorrow, probably BWI to Annapolis via the trail and on Sunday, the DC Randonneur ride.

........Help! I'm getting dropped!
And, youz guyz?! _:giver:_____:speedy::speedy::speedy::speedy::speedy:___
________________________________________________________________

I am itching for a ride, but 35 degrees with 25 mph winds . . . yeesh. Maybe I'll go hiking instead.

I'm not sure what, probably get out tomorrow. I did Montebello yesterday and today so won't be doing that. Maybe just head up to Loch Raven.
Sunday not sure, temps will drop so I may be indoors.

Anyone who might be interested in discount gear- there is a great bike swap meet up in Westminster every year. This year it's sunday, feb 8th. Lots of good deals from shops getting rid of old inventory to single sellers with exciting (to me) boxes of old parts. Clothes, too.
Anyway, I'm going and I can carpool if anyone else is interested.
link to a pdf of the flyer: http://www.stopswapandsave.com/SWAP_FLYER_2009.pdf