I rode today. Did you?

Nice first ride in the COLD.

 

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Permalink Reply by Ryan Stahlman on January 7, 2015 at 8:39am


Makes sense, Skip. 

I was aware that the temps were going to drop last night but wasn't up on the wind chill advisory. Guess that is why I was surprised / confused.


Skip Montanaro 12mi said:

The school districts have to make their decisions with only a forecast. Most probably decided yesterday evening. That it doesn't seem as bad as predicted makes it relatively easy to second guess their decisions. Also, don't forget we are likely a bit warmer here closer to the big lake than the folks are in Naperville, Crystal (little) Lake, etc.

Ryan Stahlman said:

I'm really surprised by the closures I'm hearing about. Are they really necessary? It seems to me that there were plenty of days as cold and many days colder last year.  

Permalink Reply by Minh on January 7, 2015 at 8:45am

I think I need goggles :-/ 

Permalink Reply by David of the North (David606xx) on January 7, 2015 at 9:13am

I used to wear ski goggles and they work pretty great and won't fog, but you lose a lot of peripheral vision. I switched to military-style tactical goggles last year and like them for peripheral. They do fog up a bit, but not as much as my fair weather hardware store safety goggles do.



Minh said:

I think I need goggles :-/ 

Permalink Reply by Shirlee Berman on January 7, 2015 at 10:03am

I just emailed my alderman (2nd ward, Fioretti) about the bike lanes. In my case, I was writing about non barrier protected lanes, but his office said they have contacted CDOT. They encouraged me to get others to contact their aldermen as well. I'll make a separate post about this, but this is what I sent:

~~~

Hello!
My name is Shirlee Berman, and I commute to work from Ukrainian Village to the Loop by bicycle. My husband, Russell Lord, also commutes by bike from Ukrainian Village to Wicker Park.
I have noticed that the bike lanes on Augusta (b/w Damen and Milwaukee), on Washington (b/w Damen and Des Plaines), and on Clinton (b/w Fulton and Kinzie) are not being cleared of snow. There are probably other bike lanes that need attention, but these are the ones I frequent the most. This requires cyclists to ride outside of the bike lane, causing confusion among motorists. It is also unsafe to have cyclists weaving in and out of bike lanes trying to avoid falling due to patches of snow, slush, and ice.
Thank you for your consideration. Please let me know if there is anything else I should do to someone I should contact.
Shirlee Berman


David of the North (David606xx) said:

Good stuff out there today--the slush is malleable enough to ride through despite the temperature, so the salt to slush mix is about right.

Here's a question for the panel, though--has anyone seen a barrier protected bike lane that's getting any plow attention, or are they all just full of snow and nearly impassable? (Broadway was no good at all this morning, I'll go back to Clark until the next thaw.)

Permalink Reply by Shirlee Berman on January 7, 2015 at 10:03am

This was their response:

On Wed, Jan 7, 2015 at 11:30 AM, Ward02 a href="mailto:Ward02@cityofchicago.org" target="_blank">Ward02@cityofchicago.org> wrote:

Thanks for taking time to let us know your views. We share your concerns about snow removal  in bike lanes and have written a formal letter to the Dept. of Transportation asking about its plans to clear snow from these areas. We will keep you apprised of any response that we receive.

Office of Ald. Bob Fioretti
Chicago's 2nd Ward
1319 S. State St., Suite A
Chicago, IL 60605



Shirlee Berman said:

I just emailed my alderman (2nd ward, Fioretti) about the bike lanes. In my case, I was writing about non barrier protected lanes, but his office said they have contacted CDOT. They encouraged me to get others to contact their aldermen as well. I'll make a separate post about this, but this is what I sent:

~~~

Hello!
My name is Shirlee Berman, and I commute to work from Ukrainian Village to the Loop by bicycle. My husband, Russell Lord, also commutes by bike from Ukrainian Village to Wicker Park.
I have noticed that the bike lanes on Augusta (b/w Damen and Milwaukee), on Washington (b/w Damen and Des Plaines), and on Clinton (b/w Fulton and Kinzie) are not being cleared of snow. There are probably other bike lanes that need attention, but these are the ones I frequent the most. This requires cyclists to ride outside of the bike lane, causing confusion among motorists. It is also unsafe to have cyclists weaving in and out of bike lanes trying to avoid falling due to patches of snow, slush, and ice.
Thank you for your consideration. Please let me know if there is anything else I should do to someone I should contact.
Shirlee Berman


David of the North (David606xx) said:

Good stuff out there today--the slush is malleable enough to ride through despite the temperature, so the salt to slush mix is about right.

Here's a question for the panel, though--has anyone seen a barrier protected bike lane that's getting any plow attention, or are they all just full of snow and nearly impassable? (Broadway was no good at all this morning, I'll go back to Clark until the next thaw.)

Permalink Reply by Chitown_Mike on January 8, 2015 at 3:35am

I rode today and have a weird problem with my hands.  

I am trying out different combos of gloves, I wore a pair of rubber gloves, grip coated cotton work gloves, and fleece gloves.  I have a pair of Planet Bike Borealis (which is where the fleece gloves are out of) but didn't wear the outer layer.  I get to work and have early stages of frostbite but my hands are soaking with sweat/condensation in the rubber glove.

Anyone have a suggestion?  My commute is only 20-25 minutes in the weather and outside of my hands I keep just about everything else warm.  My face gets a little cold but I move my balaclava around to warm spots up or keep my glasses from fogging.

Permalink Reply by pherm on January 8, 2015 at 3:50am

The rubber gloves are your only effective windbreaking layer. Your insulation (the cotton and fleece gloves) can't work if your impermeable layer is between your skin and them. Also, if the fleece gloves are against your skin, they will work to wick perspiration from your fingers, which will ultimately keep them warmer.

(I have the same Planet Bike gloves, and have done similar experimenting, but haven't found anything significantly warmer than the stock configuration).

Another problem that I also have experienced is that rubber gloves tend to be tighter than your fleece glove liners -- which may not feel significant while you're warm, but can impede circulation just enough that your fingers are more susceptible to the cold.


Chitown_Mike said:

I rode today and have a weird problem with my hands.  

I am trying out different combos of gloves, I wore a pair of rubber gloves, grip coated cotton work gloves, and fleece gloves.  I have a pair of Planet Bike Borealis (which is where the fleece gloves are out of) but didn't wear the outer layer.  I get to work and have early stages of frostbite but my hands are soaking with sweat/condensation in the rubber glove.

Anyone have a suggestion?  My commute is only 20-25 minutes in the weather and outside of my hands I keep just about everything else warm.  My face gets a little cold but I move my balaclava around to warm spots up or keep my glasses from fogging.

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on January 8, 2015 at 3:53am

Mike, no matter what else you do, I would ditch the cotton work gloves. Cotton won't wick sweat away at all. Your skin also needs to breathe. The rubber gloves probably just trapped all the sweat next to your skin.

My combination this morning, innermost to outermost:

  • Pearl Izumi lightweight multi-sport things of some sort (my wife got them for me at Christmas)
  • Manzella Windstopper shells
  • Bar Mitts on the bars

I had no problems with my hands, even though I was riding into a fairly stiff wind in sub-zero temps. The PI inner gloves were an experiment. I had noticed yesterday when I rode the train that even though I otherwise froze my tukus off getting to and from the train, that the PI/Manzella combo kept my hands warm (they were in my coat pockets though). I also carried a set of wool rag gloves this morning. I was prepared to duck into a Dunkin' Donuts or 7-11 to make the swap if necessary.

Poking around the net, it seems both the Pearl Izumi gloves and the Manzella Windstopper shells are NLA. I'm sure you can find something similar on the infinite Internet.

Permalink Reply by Chitown_Mike on January 8, 2015 at 4:19am

Anyone tried running hand warmers?  

I'll change up how I layer, never thought about the gloves holding water against my hand and causing it to be cold.  I work at a company that I can probably snag a big pair of gloves to fit over the fleece, try to pull the water off my hands.

Otherwise I think I'll make a trip to the army surplus store this weekend and grab some trigger finger mitts.

Permalink Reply by Ryan Stahlman on January 8, 2015 at 4:28am

LFT this morning south of Museum campus was much better than yesterday. The Park crew was out plowing while I was riding in. The only problem is the connection to the LFT from the street. The 47th St pedestrian bridge has not been plowed or salted once since the weekend. At least the hike over got me thoroughly warmed up early for the commute. 

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on January 8, 2015 at 4:46am

I rode Clark in this morning from Evanston, thinking perhaps the buildings would help shield the wind a bit. Eh, not so much. LFT for me on the way home. Snow/ice-wise, Clark was fine though.

Permalink Reply by Gene Tenner on January 8, 2015 at 5:16am

I treat my hands like the rest of my body parts; the outer layer should be Gore-Tex or a similar fabric, and everything underneath should be layers of wicking material which means no cotton and no rubber. Trapped moisture gets cold quickly, and that cold transfers to your hands. Air is a great insulator, so if you buy gloves that fit loosely, you will gain the protection which that trapped air provides. Mittens are better than gloves, because your fingers help warm each other.

Chitown_Mike said:

I rode today and have a weird problem with my hands.  

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