The Chainlink

First big snow, Jan 2010-- how's everyone getting around in this stuff?

I realized quickly I needed to stay out of the car tire spoors as I could barely track in them-- slippin' and a slidin'. Kept to the undisturbed and less disturbed snow, with a few plowed and virgin sidewalk stretches. Only one short jaunt on a main street-- cleared/salted/wet, but car traffic seemed like it was moving at highway speeds.
Evening commute awaits . . .

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Permalink Reply by Liz W. Durham on January 7, 2010 at 11:14pm
Easier and faster to walk on the side streets today. Way too much slip sliding around on the street. And that was with lower my tire pressure, too. I couldn't keep anything near a straight line and there were a surprising number of cars to contend with - I felt bad for them having to crawl behind me. Ended up on the sidewalk quite a bit.

Still, it was fun as only winter riding can be!
Permalink Reply by ishnock aka the blue baron on January 8, 2010 at 12:03am
Mtb:1
fixies:0

immobilized.....not even a pair of kenda 700x32s would be able to save me in this.

Streets are no good right now

bikes on the sidewalk?.... That's a sin
Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on January 8, 2010 at 12:08am
Deliberately, but it's a blast! 700 x 28's. Always remember to turn in the direction of the skid. Woo-Hoo!
Permalink Reply by Molly on January 8, 2010 at 2:16am
Hats off to all of you who can ride in this. I am a little squeamish with fresh snowfall. Stay safe everyone!
Permalink Reply by RodimusPrime on January 8, 2010 at 3:04am
700x28c , fenders. <3
Permalink Reply by Natalie on January 8, 2010 at 5:49am
Also 700 c 28 mm--Specialized Armadillos with smooth tread. I didn't have too much trouble, but my route was mostly well plowed. I find that standing up to shift my weight slightly more to the front helps me navigate the really soft chocolate mousse stuff.

Incredible workout, though. When I do a really hard road ride, I get an ammonia smell in my nostrils, which I noticed when I got home last night, indicating that I was working pretty hard.

I had so much fun on my commute that I jumped on my cross bike and rode through the snow-covered grass medians of Humboldt between Palmer and North for a half hour or so. I have Conti Speed Kings on my cross bike, and I noticed that they are terrible on the snowy streets. Also, the cantilever brakes barely stopped me. So I'm going to stick with my little commuter for this weather.
Permalink Reply by Dottie on January 8, 2010 at 6:48am
Anyone know whether the Lakefront Trail has been plowed? I wish there was a way to check this info consistently.
Permalink Reply by Duppie on January 8, 2010 at 7:37am
Active Trans has a page that shows updated Lakefront status (of course, when I looked at it this morning, it wasn't updated)

Dottie said:
Anyone know whether the Lakefront Trail has been plowed? I wish there was a way to check this info consistently.
Permalink Reply by Duppie on January 8, 2010 at 7:39am
Tip o' the hat to everyone that rode yesterday and today.
This week I have a very convenient excuse of working at our plant in NW Indiana, which requires a commute by car. But I doubt I would have enjoyed riding yesterday (or today).

The other thing I realized is how lucky we are in Chicago with the reasonable consistent plowing of our streets. In NW Indiana snow plowing is a completely unknown idea. In fact the parking lot of our plant was about the only plowed surface I saw this morning.
Permalink Reply by David P. on January 8, 2010 at 7:55am
Just fine, slightly squirrelly. Using my MTB as my ice/heavy snow/crap weather bike (it's the one that got the studs this year) and I have to re-accustom myself to its handling - quicker front end than my usual bike and I have a hard time generally on the compacted stuff on my unplowed residential street, even with the knobs on the Nokians. Otherwise it's easy. I may try my normal bike tonight to see if the narrower tires push through the packed-down stuff any better.

David
Permalink Reply by igz on January 8, 2010 at 8:46am
yesterdays morning commute in the suburbs was fine on the virgin snow...cut right through the fluffy stuff. this morning though, the same sidewalks were the chunky stuff so i stuck to the road, and since the plows dont go to the edge, i took a lane. (cars have been surprisingly accommodating to my presence on the road.) All side streets both in the city and burbs remain white, though the city is a bit worse, and i did have to walk my bike to the arterial street in chicago.

the tail wind out was nice, but then once off the train, it was straight in my face. uphill, upwind, snow covered street...that'll get ya huffin and puffin.

im riding 29 front 26 rear, both slicks. i gave up on knobbies
Permalink Reply by Joe Studer 8.0 mi on January 8, 2010 at 8:59am
Dottie said:
Anyone know whether the Lakefront Trail has been plowed?

The Lake Front Path has definitely been plowed (at least between Hyde Park and downtown). I know it was freshly plowed around Soldier Field and the Shedd Aquarium this morning. Further south, it had been plowed maybe yesterday. It was all ridable, but for a stretch around the Oakwood promonatory, where drifted snow had me walking for one block.

Generally, the Path gets plowed pretty regularly.

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