The Chainlink

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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I just pedal and hold on tight! Riding my mtn bike right now with studded tires. I find skinny tires ride better through the snow we have right now covering the streets.
Are you using "knobs" and "studs" interchangeably?
I'd think knobs would help on the current packed down stuff, but studs wouldn't unless it was a slick/frozen icy surface?

David A. Pertuz said:
Just fine, slightly squirrelly. Using my MTB as my ice/heavy snow/crap weather bike (it's the one that got the studs this year) and I have to re-accustom myself to its handling - quicker front end than my usual bike and I have a hard time generally on the compacted stuff on my unplowed residential street, even with the knobs on the Nokians. Otherwise it's easy. I may try my normal bike tonight to see if the narrower tires push through the packed-down stuff any better.

David
i just rode my hybrid....it was fun, but what a workout!
The cross bike did pretty well last night on the snow ride. 700 x 32 maxxis mimo inflated to 55 psi. The hard pack was a chore but the fluffy stuff was a breeze. Brakes only slow you so leave 3-4 times the time to stop.
did you just have the standard slicks on the hybrid (no knobbies)? I got 26x1.5 slicks on my mtb set-up right now but am debating putting the knobbies on.... not sure it's necessary since the snow in the city has stopped. Thoughts?

Julie Hochstadter said:
i just rode my hybrid....it was fun, but what a workout!
I will clarify...my time on the sidewalk yesterday was walking with my bike. I agree, not so cool to ride on the sidewalk.

Today, looks like side streets will be clear enough and packed down enough from cars to make a ride a bit easier than yesterday. Main streets seemed fine even at 7 this morning.


ishnock aka the blue baron said:
bikes on the sidewalk?.... That's a sin
awesome pic -
if that were my bike it would go directly into the shower upon entering the house !

then the next thing is all the clothes and gear. then hang it up to dry.

then have a drink

then shower myself

db

Not Nathan Fillion (aka Paul) said:



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.
Yeah, knobs with studs. The studs are great on ice, but they don't really do much but slow me down right now. I'm just riding the mtn bike right now cause I've got a little work to do on my commuter. But hey, I'm ready if this stuff freezes over!


H3N3 said:
Are you using "knobs" and "studs" interchangeably?
I'd think knobs would help on the current packed down stuff, but studs wouldn't unless it was a slick/frozen icy surface? David A. Pertuz said:
Just fine, slightly squirrelly. Using my MTB as my ice/heavy snow/crap weather bike (it's the one that got the studs this year) and I have to re-accustom myself to its handling - quicker front end than my usual bike and I have a hard time generally on the compacted stuff on my unplowed residential street, even with the knobs on the Nokians. Otherwise it's easy. I may try my normal bike tonight to see if the narrower tires push through the packed-down stuff any better.

David
nice report iggi

one thing I hate about riding in fresh snow is the potholes are invisible. and they tend to reproduce when we get this weather. be careful out there folks.

dan

p.s. you coming to the Euchre/Poker night ? it's been switched to my place due to overwhelming popularity ;-)

iggi said:
yesterdays morning commute in the suburbs was fine on the virgin snow...cut right through the fluffy stuff. this morning though, the same sidewalks were the chunky stuff so i stuck to the road, and since the plows dont go to the edge, i took a lane. (cars have been surprisingly accommodating to my presence on the road.) All side streets both in the city and burbs remain white, though the city is a bit worse, and i did have to walk my bike to the arterial street in chicago.

the tail wind out was nice, but then once off the train, it was straight in my face. uphill, upwind, snow covered street...that'll get ya huffin and puffin.

im riding 29 front 26 rear, both slicks. i gave up on knobbies
The lakefront path has been plowed this morning. I also heard it was plowed yesterday morning, but by yesterday evening it had another 1" or so of accumulation. It looks like they only plow it in the mornings, but at least it seems to be every day.


Dottie said:
Anyone know whether the Lakefront Trail has been plowed? I wish there was a way to check this info consistently.
Yesterday morning I took Clark street down and stayed on the plowed middle of the street or in the car tire tracks on the edge of the street. I was only honked at once, and it wasn't too bad.

On the way home was a different story. I took the lakefront path until about Belmont, when I gave up and used side streets and some occasional sidewalk. I fell ~4 times on the lakefront path, since my recumbent bike is really unstable in the dry powdery stuff and it was hard to get traction if I slowed down or stopped. My wheels just spun and spun when I pedaled, as if I was in a regular car. :)

My bf on his upright trek bike had no problem in the lakefront trail snow and only fell once on the street on Broadway cuz of the slick surface. Luckily there was a cop driving slowly behind him who was keeping traffic from overtaking us, so he wasn't in much danger when he fell.

Yay for cops watching out for bicyclists!
walkin'. More of a workout.

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