First big snow, Jan 2010-- how's everyone getting around in this stuff?

I realized quickly I needed to stay out of the car tire spoors as I could barely track in them-- slippin' and a slidin'. Kept to the undisturbed and less disturbed snow, with a few plowed and virgin sidewalk stretches. Only one short jaunt on a main street-- cleared/salted/wet, but car traffic seemed like it was moving at highway speeds.
Evening commute awaits . . .

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Permalink Reply by Tim M Hovey on January 7, 2010 at 11:36am
fun on my 29er, its like mountain biking in the city. yeeee haw!
Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on January 7, 2010 at 12:42pm
Carefully. :)

Seriously, I put my knobbies (700x42c) back on my Gary Fisher and carefully navigating either in a car track or next to it worked well for coming to work up Clark to Evanston today.

The trip home remains to be experienced.
Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on January 7, 2010 at 3:20pm
Come up to Evanston if you want to work on technique. Have fun trying to stay up on pretty much any side street. Sherman and Custer would've been better off unplowed tonight.

Brian Kennedy said:
The chocolate mousse stuff is a pain in the butt. I did have to hit the sidewalk on stretches of neighborhood roads where it was just a maze of car tracks in the snow. Major streets (Northwest, Talcott, Higgins) are all plowed and salted. Neighborhood streets are untouched by salt at this point by me. I did get a lot of practice on my technique tonight, which was a lot of fun!
Permalink Reply by nik was here on January 7, 2010 at 3:37pm
still riding on 23c's
Permalink Reply by A.K.A Paul on January 7, 2010 at 3:50pm



So...this is what my bike looks like after 20.6 miles today...I look slightly better....

I now have a better understanding of the term "Ridd'n Hard and Put Away Wet".

I have to wait for it to thaw to replace one broken spoke in the back that I know of so far. The sideways force on the tires in the snow ruts are hell on my back tire (that and I'm not a little guy either). Other than the spokes I didnt encounter any other problems mechanically except some delayed braking. I thought for sure I wouldnt be able to shift before long but It held up all day.
I expected at least one irate driver today but to my suprise I did not encounter any problems with the cars.
Permalink Reply by Joe Studer 8.0 mi on January 7, 2010 at 3:59pm
I rode home about 6:30 pm. Across the Loop I encountered a little of Brian's "chocolate mousse," but was in relatively clean powder once I hit the Lake Front Path and started heading south. There were a couple of ice patches that made me almost stop and let some air out of my tires, but I generally had no problems.

I just this week put the Schwalbe Marathon Winter tires on, and I am loving them. They are noticably better in snow than were the studded Nokian A10's I was riding earlier this winter, and still seem to grip really well on ice. While the tread these things have seems to work real well in the snow (at least the snow we had today), I still had pretty good rolling resistance. Certainly, these things rolled a bajillion times better than full knobbies.
Permalink Reply by Laura Blake on January 7, 2010 at 4:23pm
Proud to say no wipeouts today! ...unlike the last snowfall. Even with a crock pot in tow, it wasn't too terrible. Only had to walk down a few side streets that haven't seen the plows yet. Now everyone at work *officially* thinks I'm nutty.....love it.
Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on January 7, 2010 at 4:35pm
Same here. You'd have to be a major ass to honk at someone on a bike in this weather though.

Not Nathan Fillion (aka Paul) said:

I expected at least one irate driver today but to my suprise I did not encounter any problems with the cars.

Permalink Reply by cutifly on January 7, 2010 at 5:10pm
Permalink Reply by Liz W. Durham on January 7, 2010 at 6:14pm
Easier and faster to walk on the side streets today. Way too much slip sliding around on the street. And that was with lower my tire pressure, too. I couldn't keep anything near a straight line and there were a surprising number of cars to contend with - I felt bad for them having to crawl behind me. Ended up on the sidewalk quite a bit.

Still, it was fun as only winter riding can be!
Permalink Reply by ishnock aka the blue baron on January 7, 2010 at 7:03pm
Mtb:1
fixies:0

immobilized.....not even a pair of kenda 700x32s would be able to save me in this.

Streets are no good right now

bikes on the sidewalk?.... That's a sin
Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on January 7, 2010 at 7:08pm
Deliberately, but it's a blast! 700 x 28's. Always remember to turn in the direction of the skid. Woo-Hoo!

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