Dr.Lou

I generally don’t ride my road bikes during the winter, but my other bikes see a lot of use.
Surly Bridge Club

gthomson

So I posted on a few of the other groups I usually hang out in (Over 50, and C&V) about winter riding and got some good info. and then just noticed this group. Like many cyclists this year, I'm trying to get in as much bike time as possible and just discovering winter riding. I picked up this retro Mtn, bike before Christmas for several reasons and one of them was to try riding in the snow.

Didn't have too many chances for that until recently and went out to a recreation trail about 24 hours after fresh snow. There had been significant walking activity on the trail because people are bored out of their minds during lock down so it was packed down a little, but the impact as I rode over the trail was harsh. I stopped and deflated my tires a little but didn't want to lose too much air as I still had to ride on asphalt as I hopped from trail to trail.

What am I doing wrong? should I lose a lot more air? do people ride full suspension bikes or are the fat tire bikes the way to go? I know people are riding gravel bikes, mtn. bikes, road bikes with wider tires... pretty much everything but wondering if there's some tips out there?

xyz

Ha! Those wooden bridges! If you think ice is slippery then you have never hit a layer of wet leaves on a wooden bridge. Think of the splinters you would get if you crashed on really old wooden planks.

Hypno Toad

You mean like this? (I've had more slams, just not recorded)



(happy to have avoided splinters)

Noonievut

Two years ago I crashed on my side after taking a corner to fast on a wooden bridge. I forgot what was bruised (bursa?) but I had some minor swelling for months!

xyz

Worked stacking lumber for a few years. Oddly enough, getting a giant sliver shoved all the way up under a fingernail sounds way worse that it really is. They suck in other places much worse.

xyz

I've really though of trying to mount a broom and dustpan on my bike. I did buy a set of them with a long handle on the dustpan so I can go clean up glass the sidewalks near my place, especially on the car bridge going over the river where everyone chucks their empties.

phtomita

Pacific Northwest doesn't get much snow, so I do ride around here and it is great - sometimes a bit wet, but temps are above 32F.
We got 6 inches white this past Saturday but is already all gone. I rode yesterday morning and saw few snow on the side of the road.
The only bad thing is that I get the bike all dirty when pavement is wet.

Noonievut

I'm starting to test the boundaries of how frequent I can ride during winter. Despite getting 15cm+ of snow on Tuesday, I was able to ride today on pavement that was dry with just dusting of salt. After an 1.5hr ride I came home and looked over the bike...almost perfect. Just wiped down the chain and other metal bits. I went out for a short car ride this morning to look over a few of the roads I would later be riding and this was helpful. My clothing is good down to -10C, if not too windy. I've found when you plan ahead you have almost no excuses not to ride outside!

JayKay3000

But hitting the ground does

xyz

If you used a car in any way it doesn't count.

sweeks

That's what studded tires are for!

EDIT: Looks like I made it through this winter! Lots of snow here in Chicago, but the city plows did their job pretty well, and the studded tires were good to have. Temperatures never got more than single digits below zero, so not as cold as it could have been.

gthomson

I'm currently reading this book to try and wrap my head around winter cycling for recreation, not commuting. Dare I say it, hoping the worst of the winter is over for now so I won't have to worry about this until next year but still trying to see if it's worth pursuing. I really like the idea of it but the few times I went out this year didn't really give me a feeling of enjoyment so I know I'm doing something wrong.
Next year I will try to take my bike out to a proper bike trail and see if that's what I'm missing other then the recreational trails for multi purpose I rode on around where I live.

Frostbike: The Joy, Pain and Numbness of Winter Cycling: Babin, Tom: 9781771600484: Books - Amazon.ca

noglider 

I didn't do a whole lot of riding this winter, but I've been doing some. Today I rode on the road for nine miles in 23ºF. I got some new winter cycling boots with SPD cleats. Yay. I live on this road.

Inusuit

25F is about my limit. Wind is a bigger deal for me than temperature.

noglider 

I headed out this morning for a 2.5-mile errand ride, to pick up my spouse’s car at the garage. It was 21ºF and very windy, but I was sufficiently bundled up. I got a flat in the front. I stopped to fix it on the roadside, taking one glove off occasionally. Got the tire going, and a quarter mile later got another flat. No more spare tubes, and I’m not patching a tube in this weather. I tried to call my spouse for a ride, but the temperature caused my phone to shut down. I left my bike on the road side, walked the last mile or so to the garage, and picked up the bike. Oh well. At least I didn’t get cold.

gthomson

noglider That does not sound like fun and this was a Monday morning? I think I would have came home and went back to bed

noglider 

It was a situation where I kept expecting things to get bad, i.e. I would get cold or tired, but it didn't happen, so the most annoying thing was the anticipation of something bad, nothing really bad. I'm usually up for an adventure. My spouse was willing to ride with me in the second car, but I said I preferred to ride in the crazy weather, so who am I to complain?

The weird thing is how two tubes shredded at the valve stems. I wonder if the valve hole or rim tape is abrasive. The hole in the rim tape was slightly off center, so I fixed that. They were both old tubes.

vehill

I'm in Edmonton too using an aluminum internal gear hub bike! Its the way to go, my steel bike last year rusted out scary fast...

Noonievut

Super happy that I won't be following this thread until next winter

18C today and past couple of days I got out on gravel trails in my area and they were in great shape. Even if we get some more below freezing days, a flurry, or what have you, I no longer consider it winter biking!

See you in November/December.

gthomson

My last say on this topic as i have been enjoying some warmer spring weather and won't think about this until next year. Interesting short video on the topic

https://vimeo.com/338964446

Hypno Toad

Minneapolis is still doing winter (by most standards) - yesterday was 30 miles with temps around 45F, and riding past Lake Minnetonka with the wind coming of the ice as it breaks up, that added to the chill! But to the riders that rides through the Minneapolis winter, we call 45F SPRING CONDITIONS!

Also there's this - Summer Training https://vimeo.com/69985416

gthomson

LOL, no thanks! I'll save my meat for BBQing!

I'm in the Great White North so we've had some nice spring teaser days but where not out of the woods yet, i'm sure.

noglider 

Hey, that's nice. The "full length" film is only eight minutes, so I'll watch that later today.

xyz

Getting pretty warm around here. Almost time to put the bike away and start hitting the indoor gym at the mall until it gets cold enough to ride again.