I rode today. Did you?

Nice first ride in the COLD.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by spencewine on January 31, 2013 at 5:16pm

About to ride home and I checked the weather....currently it's 10 Degrees (feels like -4 degrees with windchill)....this might take the cake for my coldest ride yet. It definitely wasn't that cold when I rode in this morning.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on January 31, 2013 at 5:55pm

The wind . . . . . I hate the wind.

And it apparently was another unannounced stupid person afternoon. (They were not out this morning). Woman parked in Dearborn bike lanes. Cyclist riding westbound in eastbound Kinzie bike lane who then rode up on the sidewalk up to Des Plaines. Van on westbound Kinzie west of Des Plaines coming up behind a line of cars waiting for someone to parallel park starting to move into oncoming lane in which there was oncoming traffic. That is all I can remember now. I know there was more.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Holly on January 31, 2013 at 8:14pm

I had to make a couple of pit stops to warm up today. I've been wearing the kind of gigantic parka that, in the past, I might have chided someone else for wearing.

How long before I put an Igloo cooler on the rack of my '80s mountain bike and just become an old man riding around on the wrong side of the street? My "commute" seems to be enhanced by many of these fellows. Oh, how I often wish they had a warm tamale inside that cooler just for me!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sue Clark on February 1, 2013 at 6:43am

Yay. I can still fix a flat.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Michelle S on February 1, 2013 at 7:22am

Today was my first day bike commuting in more than a week, due to a combo of weather and work issues, and it was so nice to be back in the routine. It was probably the coldest temp I'd ever biked in at +3F before windchill, but I didn't notice any appreciable difference between that and the 11F I'd bike in before. Same four fingertips got numb and everything else was fine. It's funny how people act like you're at risk for hypothermia riding a bike in cold temperatures. I think it's riskier to stand inert for 15 minutes waiting on an El platform, but you can't convince them of that.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on February 1, 2013 at 9:02am

totally! I didn't ride yesterday and wish I had. It was soooo cold waiting for the bus and walking.

Michelle Stenzel said:

It's funny how people act like you're at risk for hypothermia riding a bike in cold temperatures. I think it's riskier to stand inert for 15 minutes waiting on an El platform, but you can't convince them of that.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on February 1, 2013 at 9:07am

Definitely! I tell people I'd rather bike 30 minutes and generate heat that stand outside waiting for the bus for 15-20 minutes.

Julie Hochstadter said:

totally! I didn't ride yesterday and wish I had. It was soooo cold waiting for the bus and walking.

Michelle Stenzel said:

It's funny how people act like you're at risk for hypothermia riding a bike in cold temperatures. I think it's riskier to stand inert for 15 minutes waiting on an El platform, but you can't convince them of that.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Thinman on February 1, 2013 at 9:19am

Exactly!! I didn't see a lot of people on the LFT today though. No one on two wheels passed me, I felt a little alone. I thought the ride home last night was a little tougher, riding into that wind. Nice to see so much sun today! And most importantly, we gain about 2 minutes of sunlight every day now!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on February 1, 2013 at 9:32am

Last night was brutal. I was riding north against the wind for pretty much my whole commute home. There were even a few cross-breezes that tried to push me into oncoming traffic. Today was much better with the milder wind.

I didn't see any other bikers until I got to the Loop, and even then I only saw five or so.

Stuart said:

Exactly!! I didn't see a lot of people on the LFT today though. No one on two wheels passed me, I felt a little alone. I thought the ride home last night was a little tougher, riding into that wind. Nice to see so much sun today! And most importantly, we gain about 2 minutes of sunlight every day now!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Andrew Bertocchini on February 1, 2013 at 9:47am

Samantha and I tried to ride today. We got all bundled up and our bikes out of the basement. Only to find we could not unlock our gate. By the time we would have gotten the torch out to thaw the gate lock it would have been too late to ride. We are both sorry to say we did not get to ride today. I am going out to get some liquid graphite after work. Stupid Lock !!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sue Clark on February 1, 2013 at 9:54am

I had to wimp out. After getting the biking in shape to ride, and getting the apartment in shape for the latest intrusion of the landlord's mediocre repair staff, I realized that I had to be at work in a shorter time than I could expect to be there by bike. So, no biking.