BE CAREFUL tonight

For anyone who's riding back home this evening, please be careful. For the first time in 3 winters, I opted to grab a ride from a co-worker than ride the bike home. We went Montrose to Ashland, then north on Ashland to the Jewel by Bryn Mawr. And not one swath could I see as being bikeable. I had to walk myself and the bike back to my apartment by Glenwood and Ridge, falling on my ass twice.

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Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on December 16, 2008 at 11:44am

Hope your buttbone is ok.

And thanks for the good wishes. I'll be taking Chicago Ave/Clark all the way south.

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Permalink Reply by Vondo on December 16, 2008 at 1:06pm

It was my day off today, so being the genius that I am, I thought I would ride over to my buddy's place to help him set up his furniture. I just got home now, and although it was fun riding home for about the first 10 minutes, it kills me to say its just not worth it today. Something about uncontrollable 3 ton cars sliding around a couple of feet from me that takes a bit of the magic of the season away.

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Permalink Reply by terryg on December 16, 2008 at 1:40pm

I'm sitting in the loop waiting for some stuff to finish, and looking at the tire tracks down on LaSalle as the snow blows outside my window. hmm. I just got off the phone with a friend who said he was having a crazy fun time, but the amount of snow and stopped up traffic, and the fact that he couldn't really pass well due to "our lane" being piled upon (he was on Lincoln north of Wells), led him to walking. He said I should plan on an hour ride home (and it's only 3.5 miles!). Well, here goes....

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Permalink Reply by Ammo on December 16, 2008 at 1:56pm

I have 5 minutes until I ride home. From old town to lincoln square. I must admit, seeing 4 inches of snow piled up on my seat alone scared the crap out of me. I have the fattest tires around, but I am a bit apprehensive.

Here goes nothing...to my first real winter ride.

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Permalink Reply by Todd on December 16, 2008 at 2:19pm

Yikes, rode home tonite and it was probably one of the worst of the past 11 years of riding in the city year around. I took the sidewalk along Halsted all the way home (about five miles) going South. Awful conditions.

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Permalink Reply by Cherylface on December 16, 2008 at 2:33pm

Oh god, it was miserable! I rode from downtown to Logan Square and fell down more times than I care to share. I tried to stay in the street, but there was just too much snow and too many death machines waiting to crush me, so I ended up using the sidewalks a majority of the way.

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Permalink Reply by terryg on December 16, 2008 at 3:00pm

My commute was challenging, to say the least. My street (one of those unfortunate so-called "side" streets) consisted of ice covered with fresh snow. If you want to practice power slides, this is the place.

Wells north of North was sketchy for me, but it made Lincoln look a whole lot better. I was eyeing sidewalks as an alternative, but after having (barely) walked a couple in River North I realized I'd actually go faster in the street. I generally stayed in the car tire tracks as close to the right as possible, trying to avoid the piled snow (it had a tendency to wig out the direction of my wheels). At stopping intersections I'd pull over to allow some cars to pass, then I'd continue. They were surprisingly patient - no horns or anything. Thanks motorists for not putting my adrenaline into overdrive.

But yes - be careful out there. For better or for worse, we'll be experts at this eventually.

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Permalink Reply by Ammo on December 16, 2008 at 3:21pm

That was absolutely ridiculous. My 30 minute commute turned out to be an hour and 15 minutes. Last mile I had to drag my bike home because the streets weren't paved enough. I was very disappointed that people in nice warm cars honked at me for taking over a part of thier street for my safety.

I would pull over to the side at stops as well to allow for pissed off cars to move past me. I did fall on lincoln avenue and caught it before I hit the ground. No injuries here.

That was the most challenging ride of my life. I honestly want to wait for some melting/paving before I ride again.

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Permalink Reply by BalloonBiker on December 16, 2008 at 3:50pm

I made it home okay. I took Wells up to Lincoln and Lincoln all the way to Lincoln Square. I found that biking in the lane worked really well for me. For the most part I could go as fast as the cars since they were going so slow.

I probably left work at about 6:15 and made it home at 8....though I did stop along the way and do some Christmas shopping.

However, I do hope that a little plowing is done....though I"m thinking that the bike lane probably won't be plowed and cars won't be as patient when I have to take the lane.