They look like they're having fun-kinda. It looks like nothing helps in the deep snow, except maybe those unbelievably fat tires they use in the Iditabike.


I need to get studs for next year as my drive back from the gym this a.m was slow, a long snarled backup. But as I sat there I wondered whether I would have done better on a bike, not sure I would have as the cars were right up against the snow, no room to maneuver though I probably could have taken some alternate routes through backyards and stuff.

Yeah, some of those endos looked a bit dubious as to how much fun they turned out to be.

If you get studs, get ones with aggressive knobs. I'm sort of wishing I had a set of these, too (or instead):

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/imag...xtsideview.jpg 700c 622mm (29er) Extreme 294 version of pictured

or

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/imag...tires/w240.jpg
40-622 700c Hakkapeliitta W240 (29er-622mm)

Finally.
http://bikingbeerandtoast.blogspot.c...orture-us.html

I'm in the club.
I really wanted to put studded tires on my 650b Kogswell wheels, but no luck this year.
So, I bought 700c Nokian A10's and mounted them on the COHO for this evening's commute home.
They look out of place on that frame, but they ride smooth and easy over icy patches. Glad I got 'em.

ALSO, as I was headed down Park Heights ave I encountered Barry. :)
He was shooting pictures of me :rolleyes: while I was waiting for some of those hyper crazy front-loader operators to finish blocking traffic. I had a very short catch up with him and then we wandered off in different directions. No discussions of an alternate sendoff meetup.

Woohoo! Now, I won't be the only one sucking going uphill! LOL! I guess that I may see them on your next ride.

I won't forget your knitted cap, again, like I did for Janet's 100 mile ride.


Did he mention when he's leaving or if he got the semi-local job?

The 3-foot law passed:

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/articl...aryland--25054

I just get to work a little cold and tired of the icy patches and read your report. I didn't know if I should be happy for you or cry....I cried. PG county needs to learn how to clear off the roads better , not to mention down tree removal. Balto Co. is light years ahead of PG. I don't use nor need studded tires for my ride from home to train. I'm sure it varies throughout the county though. But there's no way I can bike from the train to work in PG
Nice report Bob. My wife has been bugging me to go there this winter.

Welcome to the club. That's a strange looking tire pattern. You're really breaking in the Coho. I was rethinking my studded tire purchase a few years back due to the snow-less winters but they have a proven essential this year. I might actually get a second pair for the Balto bike.

Really? I was thinking my Nokian Mount and Guard are too aggressive for the road. Kinda wish they had less knobs. My legs have been feeling the drag. Mine are 1.9's (I think, maybe 2.1) so that is also another rolling resistant issue. This morning in a tight fast area on Powder Mill road most of the tiny shoulder disappeared and I was forced onto an icy patch of the lane with cars on my left. The tires held tight w/ no slip, phew.

Car commuting reports from family and friends have me glad I'm on a bike. Commutes from downtown Balto to Catonsville(20 minutes normally) have been taking 1.25 hours!!! Ride a bike faster than that, even w/ ice.

Glad to see the 3 ft law pass, many people broke that law this morning.

Re-post from elsewhere:

Just to note that it still has not passed the House (at lest as of two days ago as that is the delay in posting to the legislature web site.)

http://mlis.state.md.us/2010rs/billfile/HB0461.htm

Enforcing any traffic law in this state is a huge problem, The general consensus is this bill will help after a crash.but I have my doubts as this years bill adds two exceptions to the 3' safe passing distance:

(I) THE BICYCLE, EPAMD, OR MOTOR SCOOTER RIDER FAILS TO OPERATE THE VEHICLE IN CONFORMANCE WITH § 21–1205(A) OF THIS SUBTITLE (“RIDING TO RIGHT SIDE OF ROADWAY”) OR § 21–1205.1(B) OF THIS SUBTITLE (“ROADWAY WITH BIKE LANE OR SHOULDER PAVED TO SMOOTH SURFACE”); OR
(II) A PASSING CLEARANCE OF LESS THAN 3 FEET IS CAUSED SOLELY BY THE BICYCLE, EPAMD, OR MOTOR SCOOTER RIDER 10 FAILING TO MAINTAIN A STEADY COURSE.

In other words "but the cyclist swerved" would be a codified legal excuse as would be "but the cyclists was not riding as far right as possible."

No word back from local job yet. I'll need at least two weeks of rideable roads (for me with my current ice phobia) before I can leave. Thanks for asking about me, it made my day.

Yeah, I didn't know if you were watching, here, or I'd posted the questions directly to you. I guess I could've also asked via BaltimoreSpokes.org, too.

Waddaya mean--we're always thinking about you or anyone else in our little clique. Like where in heck has Josh been?

I would want these for the kind of snow that the chevron pattern (shown below) on my Schwalbe Marathon Winter tires couldn't handle--the aggressive knobs for the loose road snow and the studs for any underlying ice.

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/imag...swlwinter1.jpg

http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs240...._4293136_n.jpg
Can you find GB in this picture? Hint vertical reflective stripe and a head that looks like a headlight. :p

And NR note that GB managed to slip past the traffic delay (from a conversation started elsewhere.)

Thaw is happening causing lots and lots of AM black ice. The most I have seen during this weeks commute. Be safe out there, studs are in order. Wish I had them on my balto side of the commute.

+100000 - Eastside and north to Towson is the same in spots.

Some of the neighborhood streets are really icy. Helps keep even more cars off of them.

In spite of the above...

This Sunday's BBC Rando Ramble is ON

Since the trails are not clear, we'll have to postpone the 3 cities Century till spring. As a simple and safe substitute, we will be riding Frederick rd out to Frederick and back. Start is still from the south corner of Carroll Park. Easy parking and bathrooms at McDonalds across the street. I rode Fred. rd to Mt. Airy last Mon. and the conditions were uneven, but good. However, we might encounter occasional frozen washouts if conditions are right. This is an out and back ride so, infinite turnarounds possible. Do come. READ THIS BEFORE RIDING- http://tinyurl.com/RandoRideNotes

Please PM me if you've got any concerns or questions.

7:50AM Meet. 8:10AM push off.
Carroll Park south corner. Baltimore. see here: http://tinyurl.com/ygfr7sn

I really could us some MD peps opinion on our so called 3' safe passing law: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...-3-passing-law
Just vote, no need to post anything.

Oh the bike finally got outside today. Yay!

Great to hear!

I voted, but I'm feeling indifferent.

Right or wrong, I'm not letting any law place me in jeopardy. I have established the way I ride in traffic from 6 years of commuting and riding through the city during my forays to Annapolis.

There's a saying about process management--if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I'm waffling between indifferent, not supportive and strongly opposing hence the poll. Did you see noisebeam's comment? A bus buzzed a cyclist but since the cyclists was in a bike lane the 3' safe passing does not apply, just like our new law would.

Video from the bus (I have not watched the whole thing yet)

I don't have the bandwidth at home to look at it. I did see his post, though.

I have a new song for this, too:

Sung to the melody of "Give Me Three Steps" by Lynyrd Skynyrd

Give me three feet
Give me three feet, mister
Give me three feet from your door
Give me three feet
Give me three feet, mister
And, you won't see me no more... for sure!

On the low bandwidth thing just pause the video and do something else for a while then play. I've brought Youtube videos to meetings with no connection at all just put my computer in hibernation mode with the video already loaded.

But watching the video is not that important as it is easy to understand a cyclists in the left most of a bike lane and a bus in the rightmost of the adjacent lane would be very problematic.

These issues and the political soup that they play in make my head swim.
It's difficult enough to understand whether the consequences of the new legislation are proactive (creating a friendlier road environment)
... or retroactive (giving the wronged rider monetary and legal compensation after something happens)

I made it home without getting killed--Always a good thing! (re: broken front brake cable and a rear brake that barely stops me and not at all on a hill).

Here's my ride data (blog entry w/pics in the near future):

http://bimactive.com/ba/journal/post/10783/30370 - Part 1
http://bimactive.com/ba/journal/post/10783/30371 - Part 2

http://bimactive.com/ba/ui/route_detail … teID=26479 - Interactive Google Map of the ride

I haven't figured out what to say for the two parts, yet, nor have I added the pictures that I took of Bob and John and the places that we stopped. The pictures will be added once I get home (since they're on my camera's memory card) and upload them to Twitter for linking into the blog entries.

Glad to see you're back on the bike. Roads are getting better each day. I voted against the bill. It seems it will give us what we already have(nothing and can actually "make" us the cause of the accident. We will eventually need to carry collision insurance.
Do keep us posted on your departure so we can do the BBBB ride: bike and beer B4 Barry leaves ride.

I would complain to the person that built up your bike;-) Glad to see you made it back OK. How were the shoulders? Were studs needed? I don't have studs on my Balto bike so decided not to ride. However the thought of riding studded tires for 100 miles also didn't appeal. I went Xcountry skiing instead.
I went into your journal before reading your entire post blah, blah, blah...

Yeah... let me at'em!

Actually, this is the second time this has happened with this shifter. It seems to be a shifter problem. It's like there is too much force on the cable anchor and it finally gives away.



Yeah... blah, blah, blase... is how I'm feeling about writing at this time. I might just put a bunch of pictures in it.

The roads were fine, but I had the brake issue nearing Frederick, and on the way to the ride start I went over some bumpy railroad tracks on Rolling Mill Road and my Dinotte 800's mount broke and the light wound up in my spokes. Luckily, it got past the fork without getting trapped inside the spokes and causing me to endo. The connector for the light got chewed up good and one of my carbon spokes has some hair hanging off from scraping the light and connector.

Last night, I fixed the brake with a spare cable that, in hindsight, should have brought with me on the ride--won't forget a spare for July 4th or any other future long ride.

The light is repaired, too, so I had all lights available this morning.