I rode today. Did you?

Nice first ride in the COLD.

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Permalink Reply by Jamais716 on January 12, 2012 at 3:50pm

First ride in real snow! Or rather mostly slush. No real trouble heading west from the loop down Randolph/Washington to California, though the side lane on Randolph was a good empty road to adjust to some wobbles riding through a few snow clumps. Discovered that the side street that got just enough traffic earlier to pack down a thin layer of snow was a bad idea and had to walk a block, but I was almost home by then.

My real deterrent to riding in the snow again is cleaning off my bike. I tried bouncing the front and back tires to shake the gunk off, but it was too frozen on. Had to brush it off in the entry way to my building and covered the floor in black water. Ick. I hope the roads are all clear tomorrow

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Permalink Reply by Gerry G on January 12, 2012 at 3:59pm

As noted above the P.M. commute was a sloppy, sloggy, slushy challenge. Several plows pasted me going in the opposite direction. I was uncertain how to play it if one approached going the same way. None did so I still wonder.

Friday morning will be a whole new ball game with over night air temps dropping. This slushy business will freeze up like concrete. At best the mains in Chicago will be plowed, sides and alleys will have ice under the snow.

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Permalink Reply by Timothy Hager on January 12, 2012 at 4:17pm

I had a great time. Not my first time in snow, but definitely the longest I've been out in it, and the most severe. Took me an hour each way to and from Oak Park from Logan Square. Plenty of sliding, but no falls. Lots of fun!

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Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on January 12, 2012 at 5:42pm

If you have to take your bike into your place to store it and are sick of giant puddles of salty ick melting off of it go to a toy store and get a kids sled, one of the long ones for 2 or 3 kids. It is long enough to set a bike in and will catch all the yuck that melts off your bike and save your floor.

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Permalink Reply by Zoetrope on January 12, 2012 at 5:57pm

I rode today and it was great. I went goggle/glass-less though, which kinda sucked. I'm still searching for the perfect pair but I'll probably just settle on a good pair of safety glasses. I think H' said he uses them. Felt like sand blasting my eyeballs at times, but got used to it quick. I'm pretty sure I never rode in snow like that when I only had a road bike, so that was a first in... I dunno, many years.

Overall it was really serene out there. Not many cars and the roads weren't too bad. My tires handled everything really well, too.

One thing that sucks is my rear Blackburn flea couldn't take a little snow tonight and has apparently bit the dust. What a p.o.s. That makes both the front and rear that have succumbed to a little inclement weather. One snow ride? Really??

Blackburn goin' on the shitlist for realz. Wiggity wack as hell.

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Permalink Reply by Ash L. on January 12, 2012 at 6:12pm

The sides streets are a mess tonight and a few of the major streets I rode around 11pm were getting hairy. California and Armitage were unevenly plowed but vehicle traffic was at a minimum so it was fun to be able to ride calmly in the middle of the road and slip and slide over to the right when cars approached.
I'm liking these new goggles I bought on the recommendation of Monica and Joe Sak. They're really light weight and flexible and the tint didn't bother me for night riding as I feared it might. The only issue was that some of the fine pellet snow came in through the vents and stung me a bit but it was nothing compared to what things would have been like with nudey eyes.

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Permalink Reply by Zoetrope on January 12, 2012 at 6:16pm

What brand/model are the goggles?

Ash L. said:

The sides streets are a mess tonight and a few of the major streets I rode around 11pm were getting hairy. California and Armitage were unevenly plowed but vehicle traffic was at a minimum so it was fun to be able to ride calmly in the middle of the road and slip and slide over to the right when cars approached.
I'm liking these new goggles I bought on the recommendation of Monica and Joe Sak. They're really light weight and flexible and the tint didn't bother me for night riding as I feared it might. The only issue was that some of the fine pellet snow came in through the vents and stung me a bit but it was nothing compared to what things would have been like with nudey eyes.

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Permalink Reply by Gerry G on January 12, 2012 at 6:21pm

Yes it was a challenge with nudey eyes today.

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Permalink Reply by Holly on January 12, 2012 at 6:57pm

Rode my dog route today @ noonish until 5ish. Got home, walked the dogs here, fed them, left for Critical Lass. I believe we had 8 in our group ride tonight which seems like a good turn out on a night like tonight.

I spent most of the day riding and it was moderately scary at times but also quite delightful. I love how quiet things seem to get in the snow. The worst part for me was the west wind on the way home tonight. That was brutal. Fishtailing is fun, but at a certain point my hands were gripping the bars so tightly I thought my hands were going to get stuck clenching the handlebars.

I had nudey eyes tonight and it mostly sucked. Left my safety glasses at my last client's house. No way I was going 2 1/2 miles to get them.

Fun to read about everyone's adventures here. Hope everyone is safe tonight!

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Permalink Reply by Jenny on January 12, 2012 at 7:23pm

Loved the ride home today!

Ride 1: River North to Lincoln Park. Up Orleans to Division to Clybourne to Racine. Slushy and fun!

Ride 2: Lincoln Park to Wicker Park. Down Racine to Cortland to side streets. Beautiful flurries and sparkly white layer of snow, providing just enough traction. I really missed this.

Bonus: got to use my new ski goggles, snow pants, and nice boots. Huge upgrade from last year. Today it was finally worth it.

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Permalink Reply by Adam "Cezar" Jenkins on January 12, 2012 at 8:22pm

Winter has come to Chicago.

The ride into work today was fine, no snow of course. It was starting to come down when I got into the city and rode through downtown from the Metra station.

I stayed in the city late today for a nerd meeting. So my plan was to catch the 11:15pm train down to home. Riding back through the loop was easy. The roads were covered with snow, but it was slush and not slick.

Mokena, in the suburbs, was a different story. The roads were covered and very slick. Mostly from the few cars passing over them. I took my regular route down back roads past the cemetery, pristine snow there and easy to ride through.

Coming down 195th street a cop pulled up beside me and asked if I was ok. I think after I told him I was coming from the train his fears that I was a drunk were swayed, and he told me goodnight. He was a really nice guy.

He's to seeing what the plows do tonight.