Winter 2015- who's still riding?

Traffic 'round these parts dropped off pretty dramatically a few weeks ago... hard to tell from the "I rode today" thread who's still riding, as one would have to conclude that Gene is the only one out there most days by reading it....

Who's sticking it out and plans to continue to ride pretty much every day regardless of weather?

(Was winter 2013;   2014 starts on p. 36;   2015 starts on p. 61)

 

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Permalink Reply by Steve Weeks on January 21, 2014 at 8:52am

Well done, Andy! I'm a little nervous watching you zip along at pretty high speed on snowy streets... do you have studded tires?

I made it over to Daley Plaza this morning for Winter Bike-to-Work Day. There were about 15 people there, and no sign of cheesecake! I would have had trouble getting from there to the west-side UIC campus without the studded tires though... some streets were not well plowed.

Steve

AM 9.5 said:

That's me!

Lisa Curcio 4.1 mi said:

The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin profiled one of our own in Monday's paper, and also made this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw9lwgXW8yU&feature=youtu.be

What you can't see on the video but is mentioned in the article is the sticker on his helmet that says:

"You had me at balaclava"

Permalink Reply by Delia Malone on January 21, 2014 at 4:24pm

Studded tires?  Oh dear, there is still so much for me to figure out about.   Lol, it's my first winter biking.  I love it!  Fell yesterday, that makes four total falls.  1,2 and four I knew I was being a dumb ass to go out in those conditions.  Yesterday was one of those metal rectangles that cover up work in progress on the road.  It was a graceful slide into the fall, I think, probably my best fall yet. 

Permalink Reply by J.P. on January 21, 2014 at 5:45pm

Have to admit, I am a little discouraged. After a couple of winters of riding, this one is tough. I have a hard time dealing with the combination of darkness/slippery roads, slush and ice on the road/heavy traffic.

Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on January 21, 2014 at 6:36pm
Yeah, this winter has definitely been snowier and colder than last year.

J.P. said:

Have to admit, I am a little discouraged. After a couple of winters of riding, this one is tough. I have a hard time dealing with the combination of darkness/slippery roads, slush and ice on the road/heavy traffic.

Permalink Reply by Delia Malone on January 21, 2014 at 8:38pm

Yeah, I could rethink my invincibility, but that might have cosmic ramifications, lol.  No, I'm kidding.  It's just obviously bad conditions usually on a return trip, and I like the challenge too much.  I'm usually already being super cautious and going super slow, so the fall is really anti-climatic.  I've learned my lessons so far....metal construction covers+snow=bad, side streets freeze faster, if it looks like a sheet of ice, it IS a sheet of ice.  I just need to develop the intuition of when to put the bike on the bus rack, you know?

h' 1.0 said:

Delia, unless you're bundled up like the Michelin Man, you're pretty likely to break something next time you fall.  Is there some part of your riding technique you can rethink here, or do you have another option for getting around in the worst of this?  I ride pretty close to daily and haven't had a fall in about 3 years.


Delia Malone said:

Studded tires?  Oh dear, there is still so much for me to figure out about.   Lol, it's my first winter biking.  I love it!  Fell yesterday, that makes four total falls.  1,2 and four I knew I was being a dumb ass to go out in those conditions.  Yesterday was one of those metal rectangles that cover up work in progress on the road.  It was a graceful slide into the fall, I think, probably my best fall yet. 

Permalink Reply by Simon Phearson on January 22, 2014 at 12:22am

I'm with you there. This is my first winter trying to ride through the season. Last night I was looking at the temperature averages for this time of year and feeling rather bitter about how few days in the 18-34 range we've seen.

J.P. said:

Have to admit, I am a little discouraged. After a couple of winters of riding, this one is tough. I have a hard time dealing with the combination of darkness/slippery roads, slush and ice on the road/heavy traffic.

Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on January 22, 2014 at 1:19am

Delia, besides all of the good stuff on bikewinter.org, this post from Tiny Fix is really a good one:

http://tinyfixbikegang.com/on-getting-through-winter-upright/

This is a tough winter for me.  Last year was my first and it was so much warmer and so much less snow fell, that I hardly missed a day riding. This year snow has kept me off the bike it seems like at least one day each week. With yesterday's snow and more forecast for Friday night, I just keep thinking "spring is only two months away".

Permalink Reply by Liz W. Durham on January 22, 2014 at 1:37am
This winter reminds me of my first winter of riding...lots of cold, lots of snow. It can be such a combination of discouragement and crazy fun. What helped me back then (and still does on grumpy days) is the support of community and knowing that lots of people ride in winter. In addition to Bike Winter there's an Icebike listserv and FB group. Great community and support from all over the world.
Permalink Reply by Simon Phearson on January 22, 2014 at 3:33am

Yeah, that has been a major motivation for me - just coming on here and Twitter and talking to the folks at my LBS has been a source of major encouragement for me. When I was getting gear for the last "polar vortex" I asked a guy at my LBS where he drew the line - figuring he would say something like "frostbite temperatures" (i.e., about -18 degrees). But he said, "Pretty much never." And he might have been bluffing a bit, but that's what I tell myself on mornings like today; it gets me out, and I'm always glad that I went.

That said, I can't wait for the spring, downgrading to fewer layers, and running some slicker tires.
 
Liz W. Durham said:

This winter reminds me of my first winter of riding...lots of cold, lots of snow. It can be such a combination of discouragement and crazy fun. What helped me back then (and still does on grumpy days) is the support of community and knowing that lots of people ride in winter. In addition to Bike Winter there's an Icebike listserv and FB group. Great community and support from all over the world.
Permalink Reply by Josh L. on January 22, 2014 at 3:42am

It's all psychological..trick is to get out there.  I'm fortunate that I live near major streets - Clark/Broadway - that are well cleared all the way to the Loop.  If I had to risk ice, etc. I don't think I would be so interested in riding.

Outside of my hands I wouldn't say I am cold riding. Or at least it's as unpleasant as walking 10 minutes to the el and standing on the platform freezing.

But I do agree we are all a bit nuts!

Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on January 22, 2014 at 3:43am

So far I still overdress if anything, although I would not ride when it was -16 and -40 wind chill.  The cold really slows me down, though, and I am really slow in the first place.  But I rode today and was still happy to be doing it, so that keeps me from being discouraged about the whole sloppy mess!

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on January 22, 2014 at 3:43am

Filed four reports with the online 311 thing this morning about unplowed bike lanes on Archer, Halsted (really bad in the 1900 block), Loomis south of Cermak and a "pile of snow on corner" issue at Archer and Lock.

Lots of taking the lane this morning - not fun. Also wore the ski pants for the first time in a few years - of course my core ended up too warm, but I'm not complaining about that. :)

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