Bike Winter: Get Your Bearings Now

Hello and good morning. It was great to meet some of the newbies to winter cycling at the Bike Winter Kick-Off last month. It was also nice to get tips from the more seasoned winter cyclists on gear as well as input on how to prepare for riding in the winter.

 

I realized soon after the meeting that I probably didn't do much to impart any wisdom from my experience last year as a first season bike winterer.  (Yep. I made it.)  Now, I have some thoughts about it.

 

 If you're new to bicycling in the winter and want to think about commuting to work on your bike, today would be an ideal day to test out the weather. (I know...yuck, right?)  It's pretty nasty out there--wet, windy and fairly cold. If you can ride in this kind of crud, I think I can safely say that nearly anything winter throws at you is going to be cake compared to this. I am guessing that many veteran winter riders might agree.

 

Today would be a great opportunity to figure out your gear and gather data for riding in inclement weather.  You can use today as a way to collect some field notes and start thinking about what you can do now to prepare for the season. If not today, try it on a day that's like today and I will bet you'll have some thoughts on how to make it better next time.

 

Today's learning lessons after my 9 am client were--I can't wait for my Bogs boots to arrive! Oh, and also, I am so glad I re-upped the waterproofing in my jacket last night with this stuff. Lastly, I would never want to be without fenders.

 

I'll be out there today. I have to be outside  from 12-5. I'm a dog walker. If I can do this, I would imagine anyone can.

 

Stay warm and dry...

Views: 1065

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by rb on October 19, 2011 at 4:36am
nikwax is the stuff! I try to do an annual treatment on my 6 yr old Patagonia shell- warm and dry always!
Permalink Reply by Juan 2-3 or more mi. on October 19, 2011 at 6:43am
Great call. I am on automatic now after more than ten years.
Permalink Reply by David on October 19, 2011 at 6:56am

I understand the point you're trying to make, but on the other hand I wouldn't want anyone to go out in the wind and rain today, have a terrible time, and then decide on that basis that biking during winter just isn't in the cards for them.

 

By my standards, today is much, much worse than most winter biking days.  And it's certainly very different. If you're not ready for rain and wind today, that really doesn't tell you much about being ready for crisp days in January.   And if you're waterproofed for the rain today, that doesn't tell you whether you're ready for 15-20 degree days, either.   I don't have much waterproofing gear, and one of the things I love about winter biking is that it doesn't rain that often. 

 

Winter biking is much, much easier than people think it is.  I know this isn't the point you're trying to make, but I think it's real easy for a newbie to read your post as meaning "winter biking is kind of like today".  If winter biking were mostly like today is forecast to be, I probably wouldn't ride in the winter either.

Permalink Reply by Holly on October 19, 2011 at 9:56am

My little jaunt this morning for "data gathering" proved to be enough for me. It started to pour when I had to leave and then the mechanic called. My car was done so I didn't have to endure this slop on my bicycle. I guess I'm not nearly as hard core as I'd hoped.  (Sorry if I appeared smug. I was willing to bite the bullet and do it...and then...I was saved by the bell.)

 

I think David is correct--riding in weather like this might toughen your spirits, but may not be the ideal test of what winter is like. It's MUCH easier than this would have been. (In my opinion.) Still--take a short ride to the store or just a few blocks. It's a low stakes ride and you can see how it is. You'll soon realize that if you survive that,  winter won't be as bad as Fall (or Spring.) For me, the rain is the worst, second only to cold wind. Together, it's a suckfest.

 

If you rode in it, you rule! If you didn't, don't be discouraged. I feel like a chump because I was able to use my car today, but I still managed to live by my rule. I won't drive unless I have 3 or more things I can do. Dogs walks today--8 stops. I'm still mighty wet and cold, but at least I don't have to ride 3 more miles to arrive at home and then walk 2 more dogs in my 'hood.

 

Also--I think Juan is correct. Automatic pilot (forming a habit) is sometimes really helpful to sustaining things like this. I am anxious to get back into my habits tomorrow for work and at Critical Lass.

 

Off to walk more dogs.

Permalink Reply by Duppie on October 19, 2011 at 10:07am

I thought this was going to be a thread about preparing your hubs for another Bike winter.

Getting new (ball) bearings is what I used to do until I moved most of my wheels to sealed bearings.

Permalink Reply by Meg Matthews on October 19, 2011 at 10:25am
I didn't ride today, but I'm all signed up for the Frozen Chosen and have a pair of super-discounted Bar Mitts coming in the mail. I'm excited to try this out!
Permalink Reply by Melanie K on October 19, 2011 at 10:29am
Ooh. I want bar mitts- really-please share where you got them from! Please!

Meg Matthews said:
I didn't ride today, but I'm all signed up for the Frozen Chosen and have a pair of super-discounted Bar Mitts coming in the mail. I'm excited to try this out!
Permalink Reply by Meg Matthews on October 19, 2011 at 10:56am

Oh, you don't even know how fashionable I'm gonna be: bar mitts, neon gaitors...too hot to handle, gang.

 

Look for the red and blue mitts on clearance here: http://barmitts.com/products.php. I figured they were cheaper than good gloves, and this way I might be able to get by with the mitts + my current gloves.

Melanie said:

Ooh. I want bar mitts- really-please share where you got them from! Please!

Meg Matthews said:
I didn't ride today, but I'm all signed up for the Frozen Chosen and have a pair of super-discounted Bar Mitts coming in the mail. I'm excited to try this out!
Permalink Reply by Holly on October 19, 2011 at 11:43am

Kiltedcelt has a good point--stress test your gear before you're out there during the cold months. You'll find out if your gear is going to work for you. And even then, you'll be tweaking things as you go.

 

I'm not trying to say that you can just throw caution to the wind once it's snowing and have a blast if you've already endured some crummy weather. You might have a blast, (probably) but you still have to be prepared and be cautious. I still believe that low stakes short rides in shitty weather are useful even if they blow. I rode in it yesterday when it was pouring and there really wasn't much wind. That was terrible, but doable for 3 miles or so. As someone smart said at the BW meeting--follow the bus route if you can. You can always put your bike on the bus if you're ready to call it quits.


Permalink Reply by Sara Gmitter on October 19, 2011 at 1:53pm
Thanks for the nikwax link!  I've been looking for something like that.  The last stuff I tried was useless.  Riding during monsoon week earlier this month reminded me that all my rain gear needs re-waterproofing.  And yeah, today was the yuck!  I'll take freezing temps and dry over cold and wet any day. And even days like today will be better once I'm waterproof again.
Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on October 19, 2011 at 4:11pm
This is some nasty Fall weather but 50,rainy and very windy is not the same as 5 below with a 10 mph wind.
Permalink Reply by Ace Mann on October 20, 2011 at 8:26am
Holly and your bike winter blog.Now I know it is offically winter. 

RSS

Groups

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

Disclaimer  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service