I rode today. Did you?

Nice first ride in the COLD.

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on January 3, 2014 at 9:18am

Fairly easy one today, helped greatly by allowing a little more time.

Oddly, car after car after car on the side streets but both main streets I have to access were mostly clear of traffic.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Liz W. Durham on January 3, 2014 at 10:05am

I dressed so right. Not too sweaty. Toes only a little chilly at the end. Warm hands. Side streets a bit slippery, main streets just fine. I like the combo of some fun slipping around mixed with straight on riding.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by BootsyC on January 3, 2014 at 3:02pm

My sunglasses kept fogging up this morning, so I switched to goggles around mile 1. Pulled the goggles off around mile 1.25 and went sans eyewear for about 3 miles. The glasses went back on due to tearing and finished the ride with slightly iced-up eyewear.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Gene Tenner on January 4, 2014 at 2:00pm

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Reddog (Cliff) on January 5, 2014 at 4:28pm

I had some errands to run today that needed to be taken care of. So I figured, Why not ride? So I rode my bike. I plan on riding more in 2014, so I figured no time like January to start. MAN! was it ever so tricky out there today. Fighting the slop, and city traffic, and the wind driven snow, with about 20 pounds of groceries on my back was no fun. It was also kind of cold. (14 degrees -4 windcill.) The main thing I came away with was that more people (In cars) need to turn on thier headlights in conditions like this. I could not see a few people until they were right on top of me. It was crazy I know, but at least I get to say I rode in conditions like this. We'll see if I ride tommorow.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Tricolor on January 5, 2014 at 4:42pm

DePaul decided to close tomorrow, so it's not an issue for me anymore. Yesterday I rode down to Northerly Island to check out the ski rentals and they didn't have enough snow. Today I drove down (some fun sliding around in the middle of the city) and spent two hours falling over in the snow. What I could see of the lakefront trail didn't look so good.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by T.K. 3.5 mi on January 5, 2014 at 5:09pm

Rode to REI (which was a damn zoo with ZERO balaklavas left. Way to hoard all the tools, people who are not immediately using them!) and then down to Bridgeport. Saw 4 other cyclists. Conditions were pretty tricky with wins and snow, but the slush was forgiving. There was light traffic so I mostly took the lane.

The most concerning thing about tomorrow is all the slush turning into ice. For those that brave the conditions, there should be a party

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Paul Michael Ignacio on January 5, 2014 at 11:30pm

The ride in to work was pretty uneventful. There was more slush and chunky grey snow in the bike lane from plows, as expected, but also from lots of people digging out their cars and shoveling out street side, or in other words directly in my path - a couple times actually in my spinning spokes. Actually, there was one person who abruptly spun out of a snow-clogged spot without looking and proceeded to curse me out for anticipating his actions and yielding to him when I didn't have to do so. Good fun. Nothing to really deter my ride, though.

The ride home was a bit dicier, as it seemed the plows couldn't keep up with the surprisingly steady snowfall, and I fishtailled my way home for blocks at a time, despite my best efforts to keep my rear wheel steady beneath me. It was considerably colder, too, and I started to feel it in my hands and feet by the end of my 5 1/2+ mi. commute. Still think I'm gonna stick it out tomorrow - but I guess we'll see.