Winter cycling in the southern Great Lakes region is not very Winter-Like right now.
 

I can't speak for those in the heavy lake effect zones (say, Muskegon to Benton Harbor inland to about K'zoo and Grand Rapids, and around Cleveland) but in my neck of the woods it's been a lot less like winter than normal so far. S. Michigan and N. Ohio have had one major snowstorm, on December 11-12, a couple of minor snows on and off, and mostly a lot of rain. Right now, pouring rain here. Temperature roller coaster -- it was 3 degrees on my car dash readout when I drove to the gym Sunday at 5 AM, and 48 when I left work Tuesday at 6 PM.

I did the most extensive prep for riding in snow this year that I've done ever - three bikes ready to go at any time.

Just no snow ... did I jinx myself?;)

Been considering an automatic whole-house backup generator (mine is not automatic, and doesn't run the 220v clothes dryer) -- if I go that route, I'll probably never lose power again.:p:roflmao2:

If your power goes out and you need to dry your clothes, surely there are makeshift solutions that are cheaper. Like hang your clothes up inside or outside.

How common are electric clothes dryers? We use gas around here, with electric motor and control, of course. I've heard the electric ones are expensive to run.

South shore of Lake Michigan has been cycling through snow-rain-ice storms-bitter cold and back again.

Only if your electricity is sky high. Or you need a new element.


I live in Idaho Power Co. territory and I've had an electric dryer for around 25 years.

In Northern Indiana, we have been in a rain/ice/rain/ice mode this week. I'm hoping the big ice storm that is forecast this weekend stays to the south.

I have ridden a number of miles this winter so far, but I'm not into cold downpours or icy roads. I'm ok with cold down to about 25F, plowed snowy roads and even some cold mud, but this wintry mix stuff is not fun.

There were people ice fishing on our lake on December 23, then the temperature warmed up and the ice melted. Then it got very cold again, the lake froze again, the ice fisherman returned, then we got a huge downpour right after. WTF?

Looks like the cold front is further south where that meets the moisture laden air..
Misery in Missouri


150 miles inland TriMet is jacking up a light rail train in PDX, when ice on the tracks had it derail..

Clear but cold (-2C) on the coast.

I used to commute to Chicago on the South Shore electric train. After ice storms, like the one we had Wednesday night, the wire would become brittle, the train's pantograph would snag on the ice-coated wire, and the wire would snap, stranding riders for hours. Happened to me at least once almost every winter. It didn't help that NICTD never has enough funding to replace decades-old equipment, so just replace small sections of wire or worn pantographs as they break down.

Give it time: A watched pot never boils over.

apparently. get the studs off at least one bike & enjoy the clean streets while they last!

Actually only 2 have studs, the other one just non-studded winter tires. For days with better conditions.

Going to be about 50 by the end of the week, crazy!

for me warm temps means I get to keep more of my my tax return instead of giving to our condo management company for excessive snow removal

I can't tell how much of this to attribute to the weather (after all, winter 2015-2016 was really mild, too) and how much to the device, but I had a Nest smart thermostat installed in October, and my fuel oil bills for my furnace have been dramatically lower. I now set this thing down to 58 degrees in the daytime, 62 at night, and just have it warm up to 68 from 6-8 PM and again for a 2 hour period in the morning when I wake up.

Yes, I have a fuel oil furnace - I do not have gas service in my neighborhood - NOT typical of my area, but I live in probably one of the oldest neighborhoods/subdivisions in town, developed right after WWII, my house was built in 1948. The furnace, however, is only about 5 years old and as efficient as possible (not as good as gas but decent).

we had to add roof insulation to all our buildings due to ice damming issues. cost us $2K each

We might be joining Club Thaw here on Wisconsin's west coast. Maybe even 40F tomorrow! It has been bad news around here...the whole town was covered in several inches of thick ice for most of the week. Before that, it kept going below 0F. We've certainly had an actual winter this year.

Lucky you! I tried 55 at night and 64 during the day, but nobody seemed too happy.