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Nice first ride in the COLD.

 

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Sunny!  Not nearly as much snow/ice as feared!  That was so much better than I thought it would be last night.
Despite the snow on the ground, I heard the sounds of spring this morning- birds singing, a bit of sun, and the temperature not as chilly. My ride was really pleasant and a great start to a busy weekend.
Icey!  I didn't ride today, and walking down the sidewalks was terrible.
I rode. Sidewalks icy. Side streets a little slick, but the main drags are just fine.
The side roads are iced up, but the main streets are salted and have no ice.  I rode my mtb to the train today taking kedzie, armatage, and california without problems, but walked my bike down the side st I live on to kedzie.

Julie Hochstadter said:
Icey!  I didn't ride today, and walking down the sidewalks was terrible.
Yeah, the iced-over alley behind my house was quite interesting to traverse, but once I got to the main street it was a nice ride. Had the wind in the back all the way. Didn't even need my lights anymore.

Liz said:
The side roads are iced up, but the main streets are salted and have no ice.  I rode my mtb to the train today taking kedzie, armatage, and california without problems, but walked my bike down the side st I live on to kedzie.

Julie Hochstadter said:
Icey!  I didn't ride today, and walking down the sidewalks was terrible.
My Trucker got its first flat about 3/4 of the way to work this morning. Thankfully it didn't happen along the lake. Damn cold wind along the lake up Sheridan. I might cheat going home.
Be carefull because of all of the Ice today. I have encounterd much of the kind of Ice that is called "Black Ice" or "invisible Ice" or as I like to call it "Orange rind ice." The slightly dimpled surface of it puts me in mind of the skin of an orange. It is pretty tricky and dangerous stuff no matter what you call it. It melts in the sun pretty quick, but lingers in the shadows, presenting itself as just the barest sheen upon the surface of the road, easily mistaken for simply wet pavement.
I bit it Saturday night on some of the stuff. I went one way, the bike went another. No Injuries, but I did damage my rear rack. (I've wanted to replace it anyway) Today, even though it is sunny out, it is still treacherous. Be carefull and go slow or avoid the Ice if you can.
I tried to take the lake front path today to avoid all the stopping and starting with surface streets.. BAD IDEA !!!! When I started on the path at Foster there was some black ice. Within the first 100 yrds on the trail I went down. Nothing damaged but my ego, so I righted myself and started on my way with more caution and less speed. Next was the crossing at Wilson....more ego was left on the ice there. Again no damage so I continued on. Once again at Fullerton on the frozen grass upper path took my back wheel and laid it down before I could blink. The last straw was at North ave making a right to avoid the beach house path... BOOOM on my ass again.  I could only ponder what was in store at Oak street so I abandoned the trail for surface streets. Taking North ave west to Wells and made a left where I promptly slid about 15 ft into the curb GRRRRRRRR. The bridge across the river on wells was insane, I literally crawled it because there was no footing to be had. My commute is about 14 miles usually taking me a little under an hour. At the one hour and 45 minute mark I finally made it to Mc Cormick place only to be met with a 100 yrds of sheet ice leading to a concrete stairway also covered in ice. I made it to work with 10 minutes to spare. Riding on black ice with a cyclocross bike pulling a trailer, with a 50 lb load in it, with a 20-25 mph cross wind is not the smartest thing I have ever done. BUT DAMN IT, I MADE IT!!  The way home tonight was peaceful, the ice turned to a few harmless puddles but there was a pretty stiff north east wind all the way home.

That sounds horrible...

I almost skipped riding when I stepped out on the porch and almost fell on my ass but did not have enough time to make the Metra taking the CTA; thankfully the roads were not to bad because for all but a few blocks I can stick to pretty major streets but even then I had to watch out for patches of ice if I could not get out into the lane.

I cannot even imagine how bad the LFP was.

 

Michael A said:

I tried to take the lake front path today to avoid all the stopping and starting with surface streets.. BAD IDEA !!!! When I started on the path at Foster there was some black ice. Within the first 100 yrds on the trail I went down. Nothing damaged but my ego, so I righted myself and started on my way with more caution and less speed. Next was the crossing at Wilson....more ego was left on the ice there. Again no damage so I continued on. Once again at Fullerton on the frozen grass upper path took my back wheel and laid it down before I could blink. The last straw was at North ave making a right to avoid the beach house path... BOOOM on my ass again.  I could only ponder what was in store at Oak street so I abandoned the trail for surface streets. Taking North ave west to Wells and made a left where I promptly slid about 15 ft into the curb GRRRRRRRR. The bridge across the river on wells was insane, I literally crawled it because there was no footing to be had. My commute is about 14 miles usually taking me a little under an hour. At the one hour and 45 minute mark I finally made it to Mc Cormick place only to be met with a 100 yrds of sheet ice leading to a concrete stairway also covered in ice. I made it to work with 10 minutes to spare. Riding on black ice with a cyclocross bike pulling a trailer, with a 50 lb load in it, with a 20-25 mph cross wind is not the smartest thing I have ever done. BUT DAMN IT, I MADE IT!!  The way home tonight was peaceful, the ice turned to a few harmless puddles but there was a pretty stiff north east wind all the way home.

You win the medal today!  BTW, it got to 85 today in Orlando. 

Not missing the iced drive we left behind in Chitown last night!

Michael A said:

I tried to take the lake front path today to avoid all the stopping and starting with surface streets.. BAD IDEA !!!! When I started on the path at Foster there was some black ice. Within the first 100 yrds on the trail I went down. Nothing damaged but my ego, so I righted myself and started on my way with more caution and less speed. Next was the crossing at Wilson....more ego was left on the ice there. Again no damage so I continued on. Once again at Fullerton on the frozen grass upper path took my back wheel and laid it down before I could blink. The last straw was at North ave making a right to avoid the beach house path... BOOOM on my ass again.  I could only ponder what was in store at Oak street so I abandoned the trail for surface streets. Taking North ave west to Wells and made a left where I promptly slid about 15 ft into the curb GRRRRRRRR. The bridge across the river on wells was insane, I literally crawled it because there was no footing to be had. My commute is about 14 miles usually taking me a little under an hour. At the one hour and 45 minute mark I finally made it to Mc Cormick place only to be met with a 100 yrds of sheet ice leading to a concrete stairway also covered in ice. I made it to work with 10 minutes to spare. Riding on black ice with a cyclocross bike pulling a trailer, with a 50 lb load in it, with a 20-25 mph cross wind is not the smartest thing I have ever done. BUT DAMN IT, I MADE IT!!  The way home tonight was peaceful, the ice turned to a few harmless puddles but there was a pretty stiff north east wind all the way home.
Pleasant one today. Streets dry as a bone, sun shining. Perfect Bike Winter weather.

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