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 Beans on January 22, 2014 at 8:44am

Still doin' it. If it weren't for frozen toes for the last 1/2 hour of my ride, everything's going fine.

Permalink Reply by Steve Weeks on January 22, 2014 at 9:43am

I'm a strong advocate for studded tires. I haven't had a single fall in several years, which is good because I'm older (63) and need to keep my hands in shape for work (dentist). It's also a lot of fun having better traction than the cars. Imagine standing on the pedals accelerating up over an expressway bridge covered in snow or ice and *not* slipping. Also I feel it gives me better potential for evasive action should that be necessary. While it's good to have graceful falls that don't result in injury, if you should fall in front of a car the results might not be so pleasant. Stay safe!

Steve

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.

Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on January 22, 2014 at 11:05am

Pure speculation here, but if they budget based upon recent years (maybe not too smart), and if we had 23 inches of snow from January 1 to the date of the story, and if they had to repeatedly plow the same streets because the snow kept falling and covering the streets, and if they put salt down early to try to avoid the freezing, and if they then had to salt the crap out of the streets once the temperature got back to the temperature where salt would work because things did freeze, and if they ended up actually plowing the side streets more than once (which they did on some streets in my neighborhood), maybe they used half the budget.  And they might spend as much money as they need to to deal with the snow on the major streets, but I don't believe they are going to do it to clear the not so major streets because the mayor then has to explain an even bigger deficit, and he has to do it when the snow is gone and we Chicagoans have forgotten how miserable we were when the snow was not cleared.
 
h' 1.0 said:

How could the city have eliminated most of the snow removal effort and still be halfway through this year's budget in 3 weeks? It makes no sense.

 

The city's total 2014 snow removal budget is about $20 million, but Chicago mayors always spend as much money as they need to in order to deal with snow, regardless of the cost. And this winter could be an expensive one.

Apparently not any more. 

 

I appreciate your posting this info but it just adds to the bafflement.


 

Permalink Reply by S on January 22, 2014 at 12:35pm

The snow around new years was on and off for something like 36 hours.  Factor in overtime, holiday pay, and overtime on holidays and I can see the costs adding up quickly just for labor.  Salting probably adds a bunch more.  Looking at clearstreets.org, it looks like the city has been getting the arterials and most of the major roads so it's not like they've stopped plowing everything but a few major roads.

h' 1.0 said:

How could the city have eliminated most of the snow removal effort and still be halfway through this year's budget in 3 weeks? It makes no sense.

 

The city's total 2014 snow removal budget is about $20 million, but Chicago mayors always spend as much money as they need to in order to deal with snow, regardless of the cost. And this winter could be an expensive one.

Apparently not any more. 

 

I appreciate your posting this info but it just adds to the bafflement.


 
S said:

The snow over new years and the polar vortex apparently chewed through about half of this year's budget.  I think the city is already in economize mode.  

h' 1.0 said:

The budget issue we were informed of was supposed to "reset" on January 1st. 
 
Lisa Curcio 4.1 mi said:

:-)

Last year there was not enough snow to go over the budget.  They could spend money clearing everything. I think I remember them even sending a plow down the alley, but that might have been a dream.

Maybe in prior heavier snow years there were not the huge deficits that have put the budget issues in the spotlight.
 
h' 1.0 said:

Is this the first year the City of Chicago has had a budget?
 

Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on January 22, 2014 at 12:36pm

I disagree.  At least where I am--which is downtown, near north side and near northwest side--they have done it.

h' 1.0 said:

You make it sound like they have actually been doing all this snow clearing and salting, but  they haven't.

They just cut it back to a bare minimum and that's where it's been. 
 
Lisa Curcio 4.1 mi said:

Pure speculation here, but if they budget based upon recent years (maybe not too smart), and if we had 23 inches of snow from January 1 to the date of the story, and if they had to repeatedly plow the same streets because the snow kept falling and covering the streets, and if they put salt down early to try to avoid the freezing, and if they then had to salt the crap out of the streets once the temperature got back to the temperature where salt would work because things did freeze, and if they ended up actually plowing the side streets more than once (which they did on some streets in my neighborhood), maybe they used half the budget.  And they might spend as much money as they need to to deal with the snow on the major streets, but I don't believe they are going to do it to clear the not so major streets because the mayor then has to explain an even bigger deficit, and he has to do it when the snow is gone and we Chicagoans have forgotten how miserable we were when the snow was not cleared.
 
h' 1.0 said:

How could the city have eliminated most of the snow removal effort and still be halfway through this year's budget in 3 weeks? It makes no sense.

 

The city's total 2014 snow removal budget is about $20 million, but Chicago mayors always spend as much money as they need to in order to deal with snow, regardless of the cost. And this winter could be an expensive one.

Apparently not any more. 

 

I appreciate your posting this info but it just adds to the bafflement.


 

Permalink Reply by J.P. on January 22, 2014 at 2:58pm


I think it all depends on what type of studded tires you have. I have the Nokian H... W106, which is a good choice in general, I believe. It offers some protection for black ice and smooth sheets of ice. I don't trust them with frozen slush or very uneven ice (because of the lack of studs on the side) - the kinda stuff I have seen a lot of in these last few weeks. I guess this winter would call for more aggressive tires.


Steve Weeks said:

I'm a strong advocate for studded tires. I haven't had a single fall in several years, which is good because I'm older (63) and need to keep my hands in shape for work (dentist). It's also a lot of fun having better traction than the cars. Imagine standing on the pedals accelerating up over an expressway bridge covered in snow or ice and *not* slipping. Also I feel it gives me better potential for evasive action should that be necessary. While it's good to have graceful falls that don't result in injury, if you should fall in front of a car the results might not be so pleasant. Stay safe!

Steve

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.

Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on January 22, 2014 at 3:48pm



The cost of salt accounts for more that half of all those costs.

S said:

The snow around new years was on and off for something like 36 hours.  Factor in overtime, holiday pay, and overtime on holidays and I can see the costs adding up quickly just for labor.  Salting probably adds a bunch more.  Looking at clearstreets.org, it looks like the city has been getting the arterials and most of the major roads so it's not like they've stopped plowing everything but a few major roads.

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on January 24, 2014 at 4:54am

Archer is still full of crap as far as I can tell, but the Loomis and Halsted bike lanes appear to have been plowed! Southbound Loomis didn't look so great, but it was hard to tell from the northbound side of the street. Neither are perfect - Halsted still has a lot of snow piled up which results in parked cars partially filling the bike lane, but there is enough lane to ride on - carefully.

It could be a coincidence, but it looks like these streets got attention due to the online reporting.

Tony Adams 7 mi said:

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. :)

Permalink Reply by Chris LaFrombois (8.5 mi - o.w.) on January 24, 2014 at 4:58am

Elston still had some bad spots this morning. The protected lane between Division and Milwaukee is half crap. Oh..and that SW wind. Yikes.

Permalink Reply by Beans on January 24, 2014 at 7:39am

The main streets on my route have been clear. The car traffic has reduced much of the snow on the side streets so I'm thankful for that.

I actually had a tailwind this morning for about 10 miles - I can't remember the last time that happened. The wind started kicking my butt for the last 4 miles (shut up legs!) when I started heading east toward my destination.

The wind's blowing a lot of snow around now. I hope for the best for the return trip.

Be safe.

Permalink Reply by Minh on January 24, 2014 at 9:15am
The 30mph SW wind with the crazy gusts was brutal. I was getting blown all over the place.
Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on January 24, 2014 at 9:34am

Based upon the weather forecast for the next five or six days, I am "crying uncle" and leaving my bike at home until there is a break in the snow and the early morning temperatures are above zero with wind chill close to the actual temperature.  It looks like that might be next Thursday. :-(

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