My first snow ride. Two words,...Absolutely terrifying

Two words,...absolutely terrifying. Today was my first snow ride to work and I must say that it was not how I wanted to start my Monday morning. I was fully prepared with all of the proper snow biking equipement and was excited for my first winter ride. After all everyone says that it is a lot of fun and I have always thought of myself as a courageous person, but not today. I was scared out of my mind the entire ride. I almost slipped twice within the first 500 feet. Turning back to go home and drive was an option but I figured it would get better once I got to a properly salted road, but I was mistaken. I had several cars honk at me and I was trying to avoid the snow/slush the entire way, not to mention the cars that flew past me and covered me with slush off of their cars. I dunno maybe this will be more enjoyable if its not so wet outside and people are not hurrying to try to get to work. I will continue to ride to work on cold days and days where there is a light snow but if its anything like today forget it.

Any tips to gain fearlessness while riding to work in these conditions???

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Permalink Reply by 2slowtrek on December 8, 2008 at 8:43am
I only have one bike... and its still nice, so I havent taken it out in the slush.

But a friend has left his bike at my house, and its a mt. bike with shocks and nice tread. I stand at a moral cross road because I really miss riding at all.

What do you think I should do LOL?
Permalink Reply by LeslieB on December 8, 2008 at 8:46am
Use your friend's until he finds out then I suggest getting your own snow riding bike :) Mountain bikes are cheap.
Permalink Reply by justJason on December 8, 2008 at 8:46am
The choice is clear:

Drive to the gym and hit a spin class! ;-)

Or....
Permalink Reply by Michael Malone on December 9, 2008 at 2:47am
It sounds like it's time to get your nice bike out on the road. What the hell are you waiting for? It's a bike! It's not like your taking your new flat screen tv to the sledding hill. It was meant to be ridden so get out there and ride, today is a perfect day.
2slowtrek said:
I only have one bike... and its still nice, so I havent taken it out in the slush.

But a friend has left his bike at my house, and its a mt. bike with shocks and nice tread. I stand at a moral cross road because I really miss riding at all.

What do you think I should do LOL?
Permalink Reply by justJason on December 9, 2008 at 4:28am
Ugh. I squeaked out 8 miles in the wet filth out there. The pants I wore dry quickly, and I bought a change of socks. So now I'm sitting pretty comfy....except for my sore right calf and elbow from where I bit it HARD on some hidden assy ice on the lakefront trail. :-(
Permalink Reply by Ammo on December 9, 2008 at 6:31am
I did my first winter ride last wednesday. I fell a couple times due to the fresh snow and ice and lack of salted streets. It was fun skidding on a cruiser though!!!
Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on December 9, 2008 at 7:47am
I got super wet today but it was super fun! Apparently the rain proof pants I got aren't actually rainproof. My legs were the only wet and cold part of my body today. I said hi to a fellow biker at Clark and Addison around 9:45 AM. I think you are an Active Trans or CDOT employee. Sending a shout out. Maybe your name is Matt??
Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on December 9, 2008 at 8:52am
MARK- Yeah it did sound like that! Funny.

M.A.R.K. said:
Sound like a..

http://chicago.craigslist.org/mis/

http://chicagoreader.selectalternatives.com/gyrobase/Personals/ISawYou


Julie Hochstadter said:
I got super wet today but it was super fun! Apparently the rain proof pants I got aren't actually rainproof. My legs were the only wet and cold part of my body today. I said hi to a fellow biker at Clark and Addison around 9:45 AM. I think you are an Active Trans or CDOT employee. Sending a shout out. Maybe your name is Matt??
Permalink Reply by E A on December 9, 2008 at 1:56pm
So... how bad are the streets tonight? I was out walking around about an hour ago (~6-ish) and the slush is slippery! Now I face the commute home and wondering if it's worth the risk of slick streets...
Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on December 9, 2008 at 2:01pm
Two things I learned this afternoon on my way home - never forget my goggles and my breaks don't work well in this weather. I sort of feared for my life and that was at 3:30 today.
Permalink Reply by JT on December 9, 2008 at 3:22pm
Ouch! The pencil rain/sleet on the face was painful today! Goggles were missed by me as well! The roads weren't actually too bad, coming home at 5, and thanks to new rain pants, i stayed pretty dry.

I love the fixed with BOTH brake setup for my winter bike– you can never really have too many brakes. Maybe I should get discs too!
Permalink Reply by Dottie on December 9, 2008 at 3:30pm
Sounds like a lot of people are falling. I fell for the first time last Thursday on the LFP (and slid across School St, but stayed upright). Is it always this bad in the winter? I want to keep riding daily and the cold does not bother me, but lately it sometimes feels a little too dangerous.

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