I rode today. Did you?

Nice first ride in the COLD.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on January 22, 2014 at 7:21am

I used to use lobster gloves, but found them to be too awkward to do things like unzip my coat pocket or open my pannier. Plus, they were a pain in the ads to get on and tucked under my coat sleeve. The ski gloves I have use a cinching gauntlet that makes that much easier.

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Permalink Reply by Liz W. Durham on January 22, 2014 at 7:28am

Guess you have to prioritize what is more important...warm hands while riding or dexterity for other things. I wear slightly oversized lobsters (the kind with only one finger separated from the other three) and on the coldest days I put all four fingers together for full mitten. I also keep liner gloves in my pocket so If I need to rummage around in things I can switch momentarily. Doesn't take long, doesn't feel inconvenient, I stay warm.

Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) said:

I used to use lobster gloves, but found them to be too awkward to do things like unzip my coat pocket or open my pannier. Plus, they were a pain in the ads to get on and tucked under my coat sleeve. The ski gloves I have use a cinching gauntlet that makes that much easier.

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Permalink Reply by Apie (11) on January 22, 2014 at 10:55am

With Specialized Subzero's, my hands sweat with no liner above 10, my hands sweat with the liner to -20 or lower. I have found toe warmers to be useless. I think they need oxygen or something, I put them in my shoes 30 minutes before I leave, 10 minutes into the ride I can't feel any warmth. For shoes I need a thick insulated Gore Tex shoe, but Gore Tex thick insulation only comes in boots not a shoe :( . Shoe covers over my cycling shoes with a thick sock and liner I can ride to about 20. Gore Tex leather shoes, thick Smartwools and polypro liner I'm good to -10.

These looks sweet, but jeez, $$$$$ and only 200g of insulation.

http://45nrth.com/products/softgoods/wolvhammer

After searching the Gore-Tex site for 600g insulation, these look worthy

http://www.wolverine.com/US/en-US/Product.mvc.aspx/11442M/19771/Men...

Its really too bad, most of my body can handle this weather, its my damn toes that get cold! I'll find a solution eventually.

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Permalink Reply by JohnB on January 22, 2014 at 12:00pm

Rode today on my new DIY studded front tire, what a world of difference.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on January 22, 2014 at 12:20pm

Didn't this used to be the "I Rode Today. Did You?" thread?

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Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on January 22, 2014 at 2:52pm

I was just thinking about the topic creep in this thread. If for no other reason than to make it easier for people to find these sub-topics, maybe we should try to at least spin them off into new threads.

Just a thought. Not trying to be a topic Nazi or anything...

Kevin C said:

Didn't this used to be the "I Rode Today. Did You?" thread?

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Permalink Reply by Ryan Stahlman on January 23, 2014 at 3:29am

Wow, that was a cold ride. Headed up the LFP from Hyde Park but had to turn off of it at the 39th St bridge. The path had too much crusty snow for me to proceed. Anyone think that the trail will be cleared over the course of the day?

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Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on January 23, 2014 at 3:34am

I've been taking streets this week instead of the Lake Front Trail, so I'm not sure. It wasn't so great on Monday night. Wussed out today and took the 'L', though. 0°F this morning and afternoon with fierce wind just sounds miserable. It's supposed to be even worse next week!

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Permalink Reply by Ryan Stahlman on January 23, 2014 at 3:44am

Yikes. This is the coldest weather in which I've ever commuted.

Monday night certainly was bad especially with the heavy winds and snow drifting over the path. The wind pushed me over that night hurt my shoulder, so today is my first day back.

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Permalink Reply by Simon Phearson on January 23, 2014 at 3:53am

I didn't take the trail this morning - -1 with a 20 mph headwind for the northbound commute seemed like it might be too much for my gear - but I saw the situation developing on the trail last night, and I can't imagine it was very pretty by this morning. Based on past experience, I feel like there's a good chance they'll do some clean-up over the course of the day, but given that it wasn't a major snow yesterday I kind of wonder if it'll even occur to them.

What alternative route did you take after leaving the trail? MLK? I've puzzled over good alternative routes, and that seems like the most logical one, though I don't know how I'd get through the south loop on my way to my office.

It must have been really bad if you bailed at 39th - 39th can be horrible, but it usually gets better after that, doesn't it? I usually feel like you get back to civilization once you hit about 35th.

Ryan Stahlman said:

Wow, that was a cold ride. Headed up the LFP from Hyde Park but had to turn off of it at the 39th St bridge. The path had too much crusty snow for me to proceed. Anyone think that the trail will be cleared over the course of the day?

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Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on January 23, 2014 at 4:26am

yep - i have two sort of equidistant routes - usually I take Loomis then cut through Pilsen to Halsted and the take the 18th St Bridge - it is a much more pleasant ride with the spectacular views from the bridge. But at least as of last night, the bike lanes on Loomis were not plowed and sharing the traffic lane there (south of Cermak) is fairly terrifying - due to the long stretch of no cross streets some car traffic speeds through there like it is a drag strip*. SO I took the Archer->State->Wabash route today, and as I've noted in other threads, the bike lanes on Archer have been full of snow/ice/crap for weeks. You'd think on a day when the wind chill is -20F or whatever that our biggest problem would be the cold...

*it is sometimes an actual drag-strip, but that is another story.

h' 1.0 said:

Today was not easy due to crazy heavy car traffic on my route and a very narrow shared space.

And my rear derailleur stuck in a low gear...

Easily took twice as long as usual.