The Chainlink

I rode today. Did you?

Nice first ride in the COLD.

 

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Permalink Reply by Gene Tenner on January 23, 2014 at 9:47am

Me, too. I wiggled the derailleur until it snapped free, but that did not help, so I figured out that it must be the cable. A few yanks set it free. Whew.

h' 1.0 said:

And my rear derailleur stuck in a low gear...

Permalink Reply by JKW on January 23, 2014 at 9:56am

The LFT from Lakeview to Oak St. Was in pretty good shape.  I passed the plow truck on it this morning, so should be in better shape this afternoon.

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on January 23, 2014 at 9:59am

Winter and its effects on derailleurs and freewheels is why I switched to a fixed gear about 10 years ago. 

Gene Tenner said:

Me, too. I wiggled the derailleur until it snapped free, but that did not help, so I figured out that it must be the cable. A few yanks set it free. Whew.

h' 1.0 said:

And my rear derailleur stuck in a low gear...

Permalink Reply by Liz W. Durham on January 23, 2014 at 9:59am
Clark street heading north to Evanston was okay but dang, the headwind was fierce.
Permalink Reply by Ryan Stahlman on January 23, 2014 at 10:20am

I think if I had studded tires I could have handled the path. There was about 2" of crunchy snow covering it and my smooth tires could find purchase whatsoever.  

Since I am new to the area, I have never not taken the path so I made up my alternate route as I went. I took a combination of MLK, State, and Dearborn to get to my office.

Permalink Reply by Idiot who lost their keys on January 23, 2014 at 10:24am

I rode up the south end of the LFP from 55th to Grand around 8am and there were a few spots around the bend at 39th street and by Burnham, but nothing really that bad. (I admit I had to push my bike for about 50 feet at 39th, but otherwise I never had to get off.) 

I didn't go behind the Shedd though as that section is usually not in the best shape in the AM after a snow (I still have a scar on my earlobe to prove it.)

Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on January 23, 2014 at 10:54am

I, too, once lost my keys.

Permalink Reply by Robert Underwood on January 23, 2014 at 11:25am

yup, I take clark into Evanston from uptown.  Its been plowed pretty well during all this snow I think, the only really tight squeeze it that part next to the grave yard, but usually I can jump in the middle of the lane during the pause between traffic.  This morning had some heavy wind, I thought it was trying to push me back into my apartment.   I wish I had a fatbike with studded tires.  then it wouldn't really matter what the street was like.  Also, in response to freezing freewheels and derailleurs, I greased all my cables and now they don't freeze.  but my freewheel mechanism does freeze open on the coldest couple days this year so far.  I had to kick it a bunch of times to make it work on that one day when it was like -35.  
 
Liz W. Durham said:

Clark street heading north to Evanston was okay but dang, the headwind was fierce.
Permalink Reply by S on January 23, 2014 at 11:31am

The best route from hp to the loop I've found is drexel to 39th and a short jog over to cottage grove and that north to 35th then west on 35th to state and that the rest of the way to the loop.  Drexel is a nice wide boulevard that doesn't get much traffic and is plowed nicely.  Also, it's nice to see a bunch of homes that would easily go for a million if they were on the north side.

Simon Phearson said:

I didn't take the trail this morning - -1 with a 20 mph headwind for the northbound commute seemed like it might be too much for my gear - but I saw the situation developing on the trail last night, and I can't imagine it was very pretty by this morning. Based on past experience, I feel like there's a good chance they'll do some clean-up over the course of the day, but given that it wasn't a major snow yesterday I kind of wonder if it'll even occur to them.

What alternative route did you take after leaving the trail? MLK? I've puzzled over good alternative routes, and that seems like the most logical one, though I don't know how I'd get through the south loop on my way to my office.

It must have been really bad if you bailed at 39th - 39th can be horrible, but it usually gets better after that, doesn't it? I usually feel like you get back to civilization once you hit about 35th.
 
Ryan Stahlman said:

Wow, that was a cold ride. Headed up the LFP from Hyde Park but had to turn off of it at the 39th St bridge. The path had too much crusty snow for me to proceed. Anyone think that the trail will be cleared over the course of the day?

Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on January 23, 2014 at 11:45am

Bike getting stuck in a low gear in cold weather? Get a fixie, then you always be stuck in one gear! :-)

Tony Adams 7 mi said:

Winter and its effects on derailleurs and freewheels is why I switched to a fixed gear about 10 years ago. 

Gene Tenner said:

Me, too. I wiggled the derailleur until it snapped free, but that did not help, so I figured out that it must be the cable. A few yanks set it free. Whew.

h' 1.0 said:

And my rear derailleur stuck in a low gear...

Permalink Reply by BootsyC on January 23, 2014 at 1:13pm

I got a flat tire about 2 miles into the ride this morning.  Had to hoof it over to the Blue Line for the remainder of the way in.

Permalink Reply by Josh L. on January 24, 2014 at 6:50am

I've not had any trouble with equipment. I wonder if internal shimano gears help?

My hands froze yesterday but other than that it was fine. It was not "twenty below", despite what the news said.

I do have trouble with my hands below 5 degrees. I can make it twenty minutes but then have to pull over to a starbucks or somewhere warm for a few mins.

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