The Chainlink

For those of us who love to ride at Palos, Kettle, etc and know that it at this rate we won't ride it until the fall, get your kicks in while commuting!

While riding to and fro work the past two days I have picked more lines than I ever could have imagined.  Trying to fight craters, pools of water, and debris has made the commute feel like singletrack!  I hope some of you have also found fun in this crap weather!

Views: 505

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

I don't know if I'd go far enough to call it fun, but I've been grateful for my experience mountain biking. Knowing how to unweight comes in handy in that unavoidable cluster of craters at Milwaukee and Augusta.

I tried to enjoy one of my summer routes through a forest preserve the other day... but it turned into a cyclocross race against myself as I kept getting off the bike to get past obstacles (mostly deep snow and ice). 

That's pretty funny.

Drewbacca said:

 it turned into a cyclocross race against myself as I kept getting off the bike to get past obstacles (mostly deep snow and ice). 

Dave, I applaud your mindset of making a positive out of, ahem...well...what we have here. I rode Sunday and found that it required great concentration. Avoiding craters and berms of ice without drifting into traffic required planning and delicacy. It was fun. We all need to be aware of whatever is coming from behind us when we veer to avoid the abyss. We may be dangling between the scylla of a pothole and the charybdis of oncoming traffic. For the X Games enthusiasts this may add to the fun of seemingly mundane city riding. Enjoy.  

What a beautifully written post / I feel like I just got a vocab lesson :) 



David Barish said:

Dave, I applaud your mindset of making a positive out of, ahem...well...what we have here. I rode Sunday and found that it required great concentration. Avoiding craters and berms of ice without drifting into traffic required planning and delicacy. It was fun. We all need to be aware of whatever is coming from behind us when we veer to avoid the abyss. We may be dangling between the scylla of a pothole and the charybdis of oncoming traffic. For the X Games enthusiasts this may add to the fun of seemingly mundane city riding. Enjoy.  

Well said.

David Barish said:

Dave, I applaud your mindset of making a positive out of, ahem...well...what we have here. I rode Sunday and found that it required great concentration. Avoiding craters and berms of ice without drifting into traffic required planning and delicacy. It was fun. We all need to be aware of whatever is coming from behind us when we veer to avoid the abyss. We may be dangling between the scylla of a pothole and the charybdis of oncoming traffic. For the X Games enthusiasts this may add to the fun of seemingly mundane city riding. Enjoy.  

Great post! And I agree, it is fun! Comparing winter city riding to "mountain" biking is spot on, it just takes a lot of balance and a little patience (or maybe the other way), at least that is how I try to explain it to people.

I've never ridden the trails up here but rode every trail I could find in "the Central ILL" (where I grew up). Yeah, there are a few hills down state. :)

Hopefully we won't be picking lines in March but the last few days have been enjoyable, though I've given up on Augusta, the bike lane is completely gone.

I enjoy this weather. Potholes are fun.

Thanks for this thread. I had my worst commute yesterday between getting splash with all the melted snow and the bike lane on kedzie being full of snow from cars parking on the street. Maybe I'll allow myself a little more time today and think of it as an adventure.

RSS

© 2008-2016   The Chainlink Community, L.L.C.   Powered by

Disclaimer  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service