The Chainlink

Nice first ride in the COLD.

 

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Did the chain pop off the chainring? Or was the rear tire slipping due to the snow?

Leslie said:

I rode.  But my chain kept not working. All of a sudden pedals are going round with out the chain!! So totally new to biking, so clueless as to how come this is happening and how to remedy it!! Otherwise ... it was nice!

Anyone else feel like it's definitely warmer than -2° that is currently posted on chicagoweathercenter.com? I was waaay too toasty this morning compared to yesterday. Yuk. 

All in all, not a bad day for a ride. No ice spotted, bike lanes clear on major roads, saw a lot more riders than yesterday. 

I was sure to wipe my bike down after arriving to work, there's a ton of salt on the road.

I am getting ready to head out now. My temp reading says -8. I was actually wondering if I should wear my real winter coat instead of my riding layers.

To put things in perspective, to my regular kit I added glove liners inside my mittens and replaced my soccer shorts with sweat pants. So, on top, I had two wool layers inside a winter shell jacket, and bike shorts, wool leggings, sweat pants and a shell on bottom with vintage wool lined Sorel boots. Scarf, ski helmet and goggles for the noggin. (wow that's a lot!)

The weather felt warmer than last night and I arrived at work very overheated. 

Wow. That is a lot. Hmm, okay...Not my actual winter coat but something close. For me, if I slightly overdress my torso then I can actually keep my hands warm.

Yes, and I slightly overdressed my torso and neck.  My route was generally good, but there are a few icy spots.  Kinzie bike lanes in good shape except next to that merchandise mart building that always has snow in the lane and Dearborn good except at the driveway at the Westin.  There was a fair amount of snow/slush there.  The bridge was pretty clear southbound but northbound looked iced over.  And hooray! 55 West Wacker did not have its snow in the bike lane.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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