Bikelyst

Cycling. It never leaves you. I just hit that point in the winter where I look at my bike and think, damn I need to go riding. Sure, I could HTFU, or ride my trainer...it's not the same.

Sitting here now, I can see that endless landscape on my training rides, the utter freedom it presented is enough. I miss it. I miss the smells...even if it is cow sh*t. I miss the one farmer on the corner of 60th and Falcon Rd. that I always wave at. I miss those twilight rides where my shadow is my riding partner. I miss that f*ing dog who chases me every ride. I miss that bakery in the middle of nowhere ...the one where the sweet old lady gave me a free chocolate chip cookie the second I walked in. I can hear that moment when the wind is at my back and all I can hear is the hum of the tires. But, most of all I miss the solitude, just you and your bike, all lifes worries left the second you clipped in, something I can't find in anything else I do.

I know all of you have reasons for riding, not just for the thrill of dodging cars, and out sprinting rabie infested dogs.

I'm reassured by the fact that this is just around the corner, and soon wamer weather (meaning: over 35 degrees) will come.

Freakin' winter.

botto 

what's stopping you from riding?

asherlighn

Im right there with you. Winter sucks.

chainzawz

it's you...

patentcad

22ºF today. Very windy. I froze my friggin Haha again. 35 miles, a bunch of hill jams, and a frozen Haha. I'm out there in this weather thinking 'every part of me is perfectly comfortable except for Mr. Happy'. Wind chill. The sock didn't work today. But eventually that got better and the ride was fine.

Winter does SUCK. And I suspect it sucks harder in the Hudson Valley than in Holland. I would trade the friggin 10 below wind chill for a little balmy 45ºF rain right about now. But I can't complain when I read Cypress and Machka tales of 10ºF temps for days and persistent snow. We get cold days here, but not too much snow, and I can usually put up with it and ride, typically 4-6 days a week all winter long. If it was 10º colder or snowier here (like it might be in VT, MN, Michigan, etc. ) that would be much more difficult. I consider it doable where I live, but borderline at times. You go 200 miles north of here and that gets much more daunting.

Most days aren't this cold or this windy. I've gotten quite used to winter cycling. However it took three winters of riding every day to really learn how to dress and get over hating riding in the cold. Now I actually kind of dig it. It's an acquired taste to be sure. Once you get there, it's very liberating. No off season.

Bikelyst

Nothing. I could easily go and ride my training route, but...it's hard to put it into words...it just wouldn't be the same as in the summer.

And, now, I wouldn't be riding on pavement either just about 1 in. of caked on snow/ice.

botero.

Can't you read?

***EDIT too late ^^^

halfspeed

Ice.

patentcad

Agreed. Ice on the roads is a major deal breaker for cycling. No real way around that as far as I'm concerned. Spare me the 'get studded tires for your MTB' posts.

botto 

""Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take it's place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever."

robbiedob

Dude, Pcad what kind of a job do you have that you can still ride that much during the week? Most of us in the Lower Hud. comute at least an hour to our jobs. What's your secret man?

botto 

can you?

retromullet

I agree, spring/summer can't arrive soon enough for me.

CastIron

Get studded tires for your CX then. Personally, I do both.

Winter does indeed suck after about six weeks. Wrong zipcode for me then.

botero.

yes.

BikingGrad80

If we get one more snowstorm I will go crazy.

patentcad

Self employed since 1991. I work from a home office, two employees who mainly come here, or work from their homes at times.

www.patentcad.com

I started the business partly so I could ride my bike.

botto 

then i suggest you do just that.

AEO

what ice? it's rare to not get sand and salt building up on the wheels.

halfspeed

St. Paul gets plowed. The rural roads out here have been hazardous nearly continuously since November. Crappiest winter in the five and a half years I've been here.

botero.

are you suggesting i cant write? I can read.

kudude

I've got 125 miles over the last 3 days. Today I started out with arm warmers but took them off.

Sorry, but it's been rainy and 40s here, and while it's not the same as real cold, it takes a mental effort to get over that wall. Being able to ride in the sun is damn near heaven, except when your ***** starts to hurt. Then it's just ok.

asherlighn

I would stab a puppy in the face for a rainy 40s right now.

/no I wouldn't. You get the idea.

patentcad

Don't need that here. If we get a snowstorm, it's an excuse for a day or two off. Within 24-48 hours the roads are always ridable here.

robbiedob

I envy you man. I painted houses for a summer so I could set my own hours and ride more... But I needed more money... blah blah blah......