Machka 

Yep ... right up until the sludge lodges itself in between the fender and the wheel and causes you to come to a sudden halt.

rousseau

Cleaning the bike on slushy days. It takes about 45 minutes to wipe it down properly. This includes:

- the entire frame
- the drivetrain, including getting in between the cogs and sticking your fingers in and around the crank
- the tires, the rims, the hubs and each and every spoke

Some days I can't be bothered, but I never let it go for more than two or three rides if it's slushy out. Luckily the asphalt is usually bare enough in the winter here that it isn't always an issue.

shouldberiding

Coming to the realization that eventually I will have to share the trails with those oblivious, cell phone chatting slowpokes again. Who ride three abreast. At night. Without lights. One of them is walking a dog.

I hate people...

rajman

1. how narrow the roads get

2. taxi tailgating you when you are stuck in a snow rut and surrounded by snowbanks with no-where to go.

3. same situation as 2., but with a cabbie who thinks its fun to lay on the horn continously while traveling through a residential neighbourhood.

fghhunter

winter!

MNBikeguy

Yikes Machka!
Fenders handle the typical snow/dirt slop of MN winters. Still makes the bike an utter mess though.
What type of Canadian sludge are you talking about that actually lodges itself to cause a wheel lock?

koulmodee

Getting to work and hearing 'how can you ride in this weather? Don't you get cold?' Daily. Every elevator ride. Every day. You get one break during Spring, then you're crazy again in the Summer.

Dangerous Dave

I had one of my housemates wondering how I managed to cycle "in the freezing cold" regularly, we're only talking 25 degrees here. She's adamant that walking is warmer, but I've heard complaints from her that's it cold outside at 45, with her coat on. She's amazed that I cycle in just a hoodie at 25 degrees. I'm always getting asked aren't I cold, and the answer 85-90% of the time is no (sometimes I misjudge)
I think cycling's warmer as I've been able to wear just a jumper, hat and gloves well into the twenties, whereas if I'd been wearing a jacket on top and still been cold initially if I'd been walking.

Yan 

That has never happened to me.

daredevil

It's a nice comfortable temp to ride in isn't it? I love the 20's.

Dangerous Dave

20's certainly is a nice riding range, if it's dry. With wind and rain/ snow, temperatures feel much colder, so if it was a windy, blizzardy kind of night, it wouldn't appeal too much.
As long as there's no precipitation, IMO if I am already wearing a sweatshirt, there's no need for a coat too. Just cover all your skin and you'll be fine. I resist the temptation to wear shorts and give in the temptation for a balaclava and gloves.
Am I a big wuss for needing a balaclava for 30 degrees or less. I hate the feeling of freezing air on my neck, ears and that general area.

daredevil

I'd call it smart. You wouldn't catch me without one.

rousseau

Me, too. But 20s on the Fahrenheit scale is somewhere below zero/freezing, and is getting damn cold!

UberIM

ditto........
everything takes longer-getting dressed, the ride, etc.

I don't hate winter-I love winter but commuting by bike here in Maine is very hard..........tiring.........
I do prefer commuting the other three seasons: fall, summer and mud season

Asymmetriad

My winter bike.

rajman

Uh, having a big wet sneeze inside my balaclava. YUK!

Dangerous Dave

Why don'y you pull the balaclava down when you feel a sneeze coming. Surely that five seconds of cold air won't hurt you

daredevil

Speaking of that, I can't stand having something over my nose and mouth. For one thing, snot rockets happen pretty often in the cold. I'd rather slather up in Dermatone or something like that. Today's ride -5 f. Left my face open and was fine, it was my groin I need to pad more.

tdreyer1

1-that there isn't ice every day
2-that there isn't snow every day there's no ice
3-Stupid drivers sliding on the ice/snow

Machka 

Here, instead of plowing the roads, they put down a sand/salt mix. This mixes with the snow and turns it into the consistency of ...... I guess the best description would be ....... you know when you make pie, and you mix the lard in with the flour and mix it together until it gets to a nice consistency so you can add the water. That's about the consistency of the snow/sand/salt mix on the ground.

Then ... we get chinooks so the temperature fluxuates a lot so the snow/sand/salt mix melts a bit and freezes a bit etc. and some of it becomes very clumpy and sticky.

It is a mess! I wish they'd just plow the roads.


EDIT: I should also add that my fenders run very, very close to my tires so it is easy for things to get caught. My tires are forever picking up tiny little stones and running them through the fender making a horrible scratching sound.

billew

That is the one thing for me, that squishy sandy snow makes me stay in the ruts. The other is that soon the spandex clad ones will appear again and piss off the cagers who'll take it out on me.

cmcanulty

I hate the brown slop that covers bike and rider. The real cold days are best, dry roads and not slippery. The salt-sand mix they use here is very corrosive and rinsing bike is not an option as the inevitably something freezes up and then you're SOAL. Also I miss my summer bike so much with the ultra low gears.

daredevil

Magnesium chloride which they use around here creates quite the mess as well.

Eclectus

Riding my indoor trainer because I'm not interested in spending 30 minutes cleaning gunk and salt residue off my bike when it's freezing.

Riding my indoor trainer because I'm tired of fighting 25+ mph Great Plains winter winds, especially when it gusts to 35+ and pushes you in directions that are unsafe to go, like into the next lane. e.g. wind pushes you left, and leans you left. Real hard to turn back rightward with an outward lean.

Riding my indoor trainer because we don't get enough snow and ice for drivers to develop winter-driving skills, so it's accident city after every first snowfall, and in bike-car collisions, cyclists always lose.

Does anyone know of any videos of beautiful rides like Big Sur highway or Kona-Hilo filmed by a professional videographer using HD equipment that doesn't look like the expert cycling coach's home-made movie using his $500 Best Buy camcorder, that he's charging you for his when-to-shift and how-fast-to-pedal orders that you don't really need unless your idea of cycling fun is taking spin classes?

Asymmetriad

What kinds of tires do you use, Machka? I'm trying to design my next winter bike and I've been gathering the odd opinion. I've been riding studded 1.75s this winter but don't know if it's worth trying a narrower, 700c tread in our road mix. Haven't been able to make the comparison first hand yet.