djb

after a winter of being only on a bike on a trainer in the basement and basically seated all the time, its been about a week since Ive been able to get out on the road again, and boy does it feel good.
I know many of you live in areas that do not have winter and snow like up here in Canada, but this winter was not particularly snowy, and so I was riding the latest I ever did into mid to late December last year, and got out for the first time on March 9th, which is pretty darn early for here.

all that to say, to actually get out on the road, to be able to stand up and sprint for a light or whatever, just feels so good to be doing again, and it feels so good for the legs, the back, the spirit.

biking really is a wonderful activity and sure feels good to be out there again.

you may return to your regular programming.

indyfabz

I know how you feel. I just went on my first "real" ride last Saturday. Took out the LHT for some gravel and pavement. Maybe 25 miles or so. The road bike has been hanging in the living room all winter gathering dust. It's supposed to be chilly and wet this weekend, but I may be able to get in a four-day tour Easter weekend. Easter is early this year, but it's supposed to warm up again after this weekend. I am scheduled to start a tour in Montana exactly 3 months from today. I need to get in some miles.

Tourist in MSN

Southern Wisconsin, so warm this year that I put a total of 21 miles on my studded tires this winter on my expedition bike. Took off the studded tires a week ago. It was hardly worth the time spent to put them on and take them off this year.

I finished building up a rando bike in January (regular tires, not studs), put a lot more miles on that bike this winter because it was so warm and ice free.

djb

I would add that being about the fifth year of so, using an indoor trainer regularly is a great way to keep the leg muscles in reasonable shape. I very much notice a difference when skiing and then obviously when getting back out on a bike, it's very evident that you gain a lot compared to not using the pedaling muscles.

acantor

The previous winter was brutal, and I had my bike in storage from December until April. But from April until now (March), I have ridden every single month. Toronto weather was unusually warm this winter, and there wasn't a lot of snow. So for once, I rode in December, January, February and March.

But I did make one mistake: in January, there was a warm spell after a storm. When I took out my bike, the snow was almost all melted... except for some patches of a corrosive slurry of sand, salt, and slush that were impossible to avoid.

When I took out my bike three weeks later, I discovered the chain had rusted solid!

djb

Yup, golden rule for me anyway after a ride with any chance of salt, is to do a quick 5 min soap and water wash and a chain wipe down and relube. I have a garage so it's easier to do than someone in an apt, but I'm pretty strict about bike maintenance in general.
There's generally quite a diff between t.o. and here for winter temps and it doesn't surprise me that much about being able to get out each month.

bikenh

I don't live that far SE of you and this had been the first winter where I haven't had a single day when I haven't been out on the road on the bicycle. I ride in everything. The only thing I get a little fussy with is ice but don't get it very often. I don't let the weather keep me inside, I go ride outside anyways. I don't have any reason to stay at home, so I don't. Get rid of your internet connection and you TV and see how long you want to stay at home. You'll be amazed at the stuff you'll be willing to ride in when you have nothing else to do and you learn the proper way to ride in the conditions.

As for bike maintenance I don't bother too much with it. Granted I ride fixie during the winter so there isn't that much to deal with in the first place. I generally don't bother to relube the chain until after the roads dry off, anytime sooner isn't worth it. Since I'm riding 20K+ miles a year I know any bike isn't going to last that long so I don't waste my time trying to beat a dead horse. The fixie has WAY over 60K miles on it and I picked it up 4 days before the start of spring 2012. Like I said I don't have any real reason for trying to keep a bike nice. The bike I bought last June already has around 10K miles...8400 miles of that during my bike trip last summer.