jrickards

We had about 12cm/5" of snow yesterday so all I did was a 0.5km ride around the block. Another 10-15cm/4-6" expected today so for the next couple of days, rides around the block will be about all I can do but I haven't missed a day yet.

Hypno Toad

I already failed at 30 Days of Biking, and I?m okay with that ? Biking in Mpls

Yendor72

That stinks, but here in Minnesota a full month of biking in April is a slippery bridge to cross.

Hypno Toad

HA!

I wanted to share this blog post since a lot of people think it's a 'fail' to miss a day. #30daysofbiking is about joy, if getting on the bike isn't joyful, take a day off and come back when you can enjoy it.

Cyclist0084

Yeah, I missed yesterday due to a diabetes flareup. Hard to ride when your blood glucose level is in the upper 300's and you're too lightheaded to even stand. I was upset for all of 2 seconds. Not as devastating as I thought it would be. Last year I was only able to do 21 days, so if I do even one day better than that this year, I'll consider this year a success.

ThermionicScott 

It's only natural that some will find it a slippery bridge too far.

FrankHudson

Well it's early days yet, but I'm 6 or 6 as of yesterday. Yes this year's Minnesota April weather has not been ideal. But I know many of us ride all year, so temps in the 30 F area only seem a challenge after some of the warmer March days we had. Frankly, any day I don't have to wear a face mask and/or chopper mittens is a good day to ride (grin). That windy Saturday was the worst of it I think.

On days when I'm short of time I just take a little jaunt around the neighborhood on my old Raleigh. Not much of a ride by the standards of many here, but I'm outside and self-propelled, and that pleases me.

tnburban

I have family in Minneapolis, and one of the kids goes to school downtown there. You all are extremely lucky to have the infrastructure and social support for bike riding like you do. I head up there about 2-3 times a year and am amazed at the number of riders regardless of weather, the infrastructure in place (bike lanes, racks all over) and most importantly, the expectation of most car drivers to know that they are sharing the road with bicyclist, if I'm saying that right.

Here in east Tennessee, you are basically taking your life into your own hands trying to commute to work or go to the store on a bike having to use any semi-main road. Here in my particular city (Knoxville) the main roads you would need to ride on to get to the majority of places have no shoulder, and the majority of drivers do not take kindly to bicycles.

Hypno Toad

Day 7 - Can't stop, won't stop! Rode the Kona out to Excelsior in rain/sleet and 35F. Today was one of those days when I wasn't excited to go out to ride; but I got home feeling great for the ride.

jrickards

Another 15cm/6" snow fell last night and through the day so we have nearly 30cm/12" of fresh stuff: not exactly April, not exactly cycling weather but to keep the numbers up, I rode up and down the street this evening just so I can continue with my 100% score. For any other purpose, I wouldn't have counted 0.5km but for this I will. Despite the snow and large patches of ice from cars spinning out at the corner, the ride was fun.

RoadTire 

Missed a couple of days this week for being sick most of the week, switched work shifts twice, so fatigued as heck, but got on the rollers again tonight for a 10 minutes w/o a forced dismount and a second ride of 9 minutes before I lost it, slipped of the back of the rollers then tipped over. Graceful. :-)

Bizman

I haven't missed a day this month yet, in fact the last day I missed riding a bike was January 9th 2011.

ThermionicScott 

Amazing... nice work @Bizman!

jrickards

Agree with ^, great work!!

ThermionicScott 

Another chilly and headwindy day for me. Coincidentally, there's a bunch of road construction along my favorite route with closed lanes, so some cars had to line up behind me at 15 MPH (or less.)

Bizman

Thanks guys for the kind words! I do have to apologize as I did have the wrong year and edited my post above (it was late when I wrote that), it was January 9th 2011, not 2010 as I originally wrote in the post. I actually started the beginning of that year with the goal of not missing any days of riding a bike.

On January 9th I thought "well I could miss a day once an a while", but that was the last day I missed to date and it was also the last day I rode a trainer. Some days the ride may not be as long as others (certainly not the norm nor do I make it a habit of it) but I make it a goal to ride a bike (mountain or road) every day.

Hypno Toad

I'm impressed!

For day 8, we had driving snow, temps below freezing, and winds over 20 mph.... ah spring in Minnesota!

Here are some pics from my 12 mile ride on the Pug:



The snow is really wet and sticky. I even had little ice balls forming on the tires, on the sprues, never seen that before.

FrankHudson

Hypno Toad, I've been watching the blizzardy snow out the window at work today too, but I'm telling myself it'll be nicer by the time I get off work. Won't be a long old-man's ride for me today, and I have stuff I want to do with my family.

I remember those slush-ice-ball things from past winters when I was a regular winter commuter. Takes just the right conditions, but the stuff will stick like glue.

Hypno Toad

I swear, there was no snow in the forecast. I planned to take my classic steel frame road bike out today, but that's clearly not happening to the cleanest/nicest bike in my collection!

The funny thing with the ice-balls, they'd ring on the frame. The rear wheel is wide enough and the chain stay is close enough that these ice chunks would make this odd noise. It took me a few miles to figure out what was making that noise. And shockingly, the ice didn't just break up when it hit the frame. I expect this has happened past winters, but my old 26er had more clearance and it was really that ringing noise that got me to take a closer look today.

Yendor72

Ugh, it looks like it will be another 30 minutes on the spin bike for me tonight. I hate that thing. The snow keeps falling too! I'd much rather ride outside, but not in the mood to deal with wet clothes tonight.

Hypno Toad

Have you checked out Zwift? Clearly (per the photos above), I love outdoor riding no matter what the weather. However, Lisa started using Zwift this winter and I must admit, Zwift really nice on days when my schedule is to packed for a ride outdoors. It pains me to say, I can actually enjoy riding no where.

FBinNY 

Please pardon my ignorance, but I don't get it.

What's the purpose of a pledge, and what are people trying to achieve? I can see pledging to do or not do something of social import, but I don't think of bicycling that way.

I've been riding for 50 years, and am car free by choice for the last seven, but I don't see it as any kind of cause. I simply like biking, and will ride when I want to, or need to, and won't when I don't. I simply don't see what a pledge, and obligating oneself to ride daily for a month changes anything except except making a game of sorts out of it,

So, is someone who normally rides 100+ miles per week, but skips days when he feels like it some sort of failure, compared to someone who takes the pledge, and meets the goal by riding once around the block just to keep the string alive?

BTW - I don't want to hijack the thread, so please consider this as simply a statement of sentiment, not needing a reply.

ThermionicScott 

I think the answer (not that you're soliciting one) is that it's for the interested parties to imbue this challenge with the meaning they want to. It can be a personal challenge, an excuse to post things on social media, and if one wants to feel magnanimous, the organizers are donating money to World Bicycle Relief based on pledge counts. #30daysofbiking probably isn't for people who think that biking is no big deal, and I think everyone is fine with that. (I hope I'm not misrepresenting anyone.)

ThermionicScott 

Meanwhile, in eastern Iowa, we had a weird alternating pattern of snowfall and clear sun, of course with another dose of headwind. If I hadn't ridden to work (forecast just said a slight chance of rain), I don't know if I'd have summoned the interest to get out and ride afterward.

Yendor72

We had searing sun followed by snow globe conditions off and on all day.

We have a spin bike in front of a big home theatre set up. I just zone 2'd while watching Dare devil on Netflix. Decent workout.