#21
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Winter....anyone.
Ron Wallenfang wrote:
So how's your winter going?? Broke a rear axle on my primary commuter last week. Will attempt to fix it today. I'm using my foul weather ice bike w/ studded knobby tires for the moment, which isn't really needed with snow largely clear on the road sides. Also have had two flats, which are a pain to fix in cold weather. At least it was the front that went flat going in to work last week which dirties up the hands less than a rear. My fingers felt like boulders when I'd finished! Coldest ride in so far was about 4F but usually in the 15-20F range. Interesting how one acclimates though. I wear a balaclava with temps below 20F at the start of the winter, and last week didn't bother with it even down to about 10F. I can also actually tell the temperature quite well now! I go by a temperature reading on my way home from work, so I can equate temp feel and measure fairly accurately now. This last Friday, walked to a Happy Hours session with coworkers after work and everyone remarked how cold it seemed. I said it was about 15F and we looked it up later to find it was 14F. SMH |
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#22
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Winter....anyone.
So how's your winter going??
Just to give you some perspective, I've gone from a pedaling maniac to a total sedentary blob this winter, which is almost inexcusable here in southern NY (where it hasn't been all that bad). I envy that you've ridden one mile each day! "Tom Sherman" wrote in message ... Ron Wallenfang wrote: From the look of the national weather map the whole northern US from about Montana east is caught up in a real cold spell of weather. In Milwaukee, we've alternated between snow and cold fairly steadily ever since late Nov., though with a week or so of record or near record high temps in between that melted the first batch of snow, the next batch arriving just as the first was limited to snow banks. In all, we're closing in on 50" of snow for the season, with a half dozen or so below 0 degree F days. (My inbound commute this morning started out at -4F.) Worse, the snow has an an uncanny way of arriving just in time to make biking hazardous. Two weeks ago, I started home in what looked to be a little light rain, which turned into an unpredicted howling snow storm. I had to take cover and get my wife to pick me up, which took a long time because auto travel wasn't so easy either. That's the second time this month she's had to do that. Anyway, I'm about to suffer the indignity of back to back months of well under 1000 miles, which hasn't happened since 1995. The best I can say is that I have gotten at least one mile of biking in every day. The month got off to a bad start when, as per an earlier report, bike trouble kept me from getting a century. Besides weather problems and work commitments, I had low mileage days in order to attend the two Packer playoff games, the last of which they lost, as some of you may have noticed. I have noticed that people in SE Wisconsin say "Packer game" instead of "Packers game". At least I was acclimated to the cold and didn't freeze. So how's your winter going?? Sounds like the weather here in Milwaukee County. The latest snow stopped about an hour ago. Yesterday morning it was cold enough that some of the salt slush refroze on the road, leaving patches of invisible "black" ice. Bunch of cager accidents (again). -- Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia "And never forget, life ultimately makes failures of all people." - A. Derleth |
#23
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Winter....anyone.
So how's your winter going??
Congrats Ron on cycling each day. I haven't done that, though don't have an automobile so the days without bike riding were walking or staying inside. On our coldest morning (-5F), my rear hub was causing problems, but otherwise cycling has gone well. I've decided I'll try the "Century of the Month" exercise and today I cycled from Fort Collins, CO to Cheyenne, WY and back. Beautiful lovely weather and only a bit of wind. However, also one of the warmest days so far. I cycled to a "traditional New Year's Day ride" of the local cycle club and discovered I was the only rider. I returned from my 10 months of cycling touring at end of December (the cold in Colorado was a bit of a change after leaving Malaysia) but already can spend some time dreaming and scheming of the next big trip :-)... --mev, Mike Vermeulen |
#24
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Winter....anyone.
On Jan 27, 7:38 pm, wrote:
So how's your winter going?? Congrats Ron on cycling each day. I haven't done that, though don't have an automobile so the days without bike riding were walking or staying inside. On our coldest morning (-5F), my rear hub was causing problems, but otherwise cycling has gone well. I've decided I'll try the "Century of the Month" exercise and today I cycled from Fort Collins, CO to Cheyenne, WY and back. Beautiful lovely weather and only a bit of wind. However, also one of the warmest days so far. I cycled to a "traditional New Year's Day ride" of the local cycle club and discovered I was the only rider. I returned from my 10 months of cycling touring at end of December (the cold in Colorado was a bit of a change after leaving Malaysia) but already can spend some time dreaming and scheming of the next big trip :-)... --mev, Mike Vermeulen Dare I ask what the next trip will be? After doing Amsterdam to Vladivostok, across China and down to Singapore, you've pretty much run the table. |
#25
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Winter....anyone.
"Zoot Katz" wrote in message
... On Sat, 26 Jan 2008 20:11:07 -0800, "Claire Petersky" wrote, in part: ObBikeContent: the professional two-day workshop I was at had about 20% of the people attending get there by bike. I thought that was a remarkably high number, especially for this time of year. Twenty percent is peak season numbers entering the UBC campus or commuting downtown on a nice day during a summer long bus strike. Given that the other professionals at the workshop were probably of similar bent and background as your self, twenty percent shouldn't be outstanding. It however is encouraging to see people using bikes as transport. . . at least in nice weather. Thursday and Friday were glorious days for riding. Did you bring your bike too? It was at the shop, having its hubs repacked while I was gone. One attendee also from Seattle took the train up, rented a bike while he was in Vancouver, and rode it to the workshops and around town. -- Warm Regards, Claire Petersky http://www.bicyclemeditations.org/ See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky |
#26
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Winter....anyone.
In article ,
"Claire Petersky" writes: "Tom Keats" wrote in message ... In article , Worst of all are drivers who come here from places where they get /real/ snow. They think they're experts at dealing with Vancouver "snow", and set out to teach the local populace a lesson about how to deal with it. Just came back from your fair city this evening. It was snowing to beat the band. I 3 Vancouver. It's such a great city. I always feel like Vancouver is to Seattle the way I'd feel about a more glamorous cousin - about the same genetic material, but more beautiful, more sophisticated, more on top of things. Really? I've always thought of Seattle and Vancouver (BC) as sororital twins, and as "slightly different" equals. The cultures are slightly different, but just as rich & vibrant. The Seattle arts community seems (to me, at least) to be more ... "there" -- above-ground and visible. I think Vancouver enjoys more kinship with Seattle than with hoighty-toity Victoria. So many of us (including myself) have extended families distributed & scattered across the border. I wouldn't be surprised if Vancouverites understand Seattlites better than most Americans, and Seattlites understand Vancouverites better than most Canadians. In a subsequent post in this thread you mentioned the train. How I love the idea of our respective cities being connected by rail! How apropos! Nowadays it's the Amtrak Cascadia. Eons ago when I was a kid, I used to go visiting relatives (in Everett) via the ol' Great Northern, which only went as far as Bellingham. But what a wonderful train trip adventurette that was! I'd like to do it again, but these days I'll have to get a stoopid passport. I love the Peace Arch and what it represents. cheers, Tom -- Nothing is safe from me. I'm really at: tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca |
#27
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Winter....anyone.
On Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:00:32 -0800 (PST), Ron Wallenfang
wrote: From the look of the national weather map the whole northern US from about Montana east is caught up in a real cold spell of weather. In Milwaukee, we've alternated between snow and cold fairly steadily ever since late Nov., though with a week or so of record or near record high temps in between that melted the first batch of snow, the next batch arriving just as the first was limited to snow banks. In all, we're closing in on 50" of snow for the season, with a half dozen or so below 0 degree F days. (My inbound commute this morning started out at -4F.) Worse, the snow has an an uncanny way of arriving just in time to make biking hazardous. Two weeks ago, I started home in what looked to be a little light rain, which turned into an unpredicted howling snow storm. I had to take cover and get my wife to pick me up, which took a long time because auto travel wasn't so easy either. That's the second time this month she's had to do that. Anyway, I'm about to suffer the indignity of back to back months of well under 1000 miles, which hasn't happened since 1995. The best I can say is that I have gotten at least one mile of biking in every day. The month got off to a bad start when, as per an earlier report, bike trouble kept me from getting a century. Besides weather problems and work commitments, I had low mileage days in order to attend the two Packer playoff games, the last of which they lost, as some of you may have noticed. At least I was acclimated to the cold and didn't freeze. So how's your winter going?? I've been a wuss. I'm in New York City, and it really hasn't been a bad winter but I have a 15 mile commute so I'm a bit picky about when to bike. It seems to be very windy this winter, and always into my face. It's been very wet also; no snow, but it seems to rain a lot. I note this because I'm hardly using the humidifier in my bedroom. Having a subway makes it very tough to commute by bike. Let's see, I can battle the elements and cars for 15 miles. Or, I can sit and read and look up and realize that I'm at work. My basic feeling is that I should enjoy the biking, and I usually do. If I find that I'm bitching about it, then I take the train. |
#28
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Winter....anyone.
Dare I ask what the next trip will be? After doing Amsterdam to
Vladivostok, across China and down to Singapore, you've pretty much run the table. That's part of the fun, dreaming and scheming of another long trip :-). Not quite sure. I haven't been to either Africa or South America...and am thinking of taking Spanish classes... I have a spare bicycle sitting in Penza, Russia, left behind from my 2006 trip as a spare for Amsterdam to Vladivostok ride. It would be fun to cycle from Penza across Kazakhstan to Urumqi, China. In any case, sometime pick up that bicycle and start riding from Penza. In the mean time, put in some good hours at work and only take shorter trips in North America, starting with Texas Hell Week ride in March. --mev, Mike Vermeulen |
#29
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Winter....anyone.
If I find that I'm bitching about it, then I take the train.
Glad I'm not the only New Yorker who's wussing out this winter. I'm not sure why it feels so much colder in NY this year. Maybe it's just that we're getting OLDER? "dgk" wrote in message news On Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:00:32 -0800 (PST), Ron Wallenfang wrote: From the look of the national weather map the whole northern US from about Montana east is caught up in a real cold spell of weather. In Milwaukee, we've alternated between snow and cold fairly steadily ever since late Nov., though with a week or so of record or near record high temps in between that melted the first batch of snow, the next batch arriving just as the first was limited to snow banks. In all, we're closing in on 50" of snow for the season, with a half dozen or so below 0 degree F days. (My inbound commute this morning started out at -4F.) Worse, the snow has an an uncanny way of arriving just in time to make biking hazardous. Two weeks ago, I started home in what looked to be a little light rain, which turned into an unpredicted howling snow storm. I had to take cover and get my wife to pick me up, which took a long time because auto travel wasn't so easy either. That's the second time this month she's had to do that. Anyway, I'm about to suffer the indignity of back to back months of well under 1000 miles, which hasn't happened since 1995. The best I can say is that I have gotten at least one mile of biking in every day. The month got off to a bad start when, as per an earlier report, bike trouble kept me from getting a century. Besides weather problems and work commitments, I had low mileage days in order to attend the two Packer playoff games, the last of which they lost, as some of you may have noticed. At least I was acclimated to the cold and didn't freeze. So how's your winter going?? I've been a wuss. I'm in New York City, and it really hasn't been a bad winter but I have a 15 mile commute so I'm a bit picky about when to bike. It seems to be very windy this winter, and always into my face. It's been very wet also; no snow, but it seems to rain a lot. I note this because I'm hardly using the humidifier in my bedroom. Having a subway makes it very tough to commute by bike. Let's see, I can battle the elements and cars for 15 miles. Or, I can sit and read and look up and realize that I'm at work. My basic feeling is that I should enjoy the biking, and I usually do. If I find that I'm bitching about it, then I take the train. |
#30
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Winter....anyone.
On Mon, 28 Jan 2008 11:38:20 -0500, "Papa Tom"
wrote: If I find that I'm bitching about it, then I take the train. Glad I'm not the only New Yorker who's wussing out this winter. I'm not sure why it feels so much colder in NY this year. Maybe it's just that we're getting OLDER? Oh, I'm definitely getting older. No one aims commercials at my demographic anymore. Still, I biked in this morning; it was 32F and a beautiful day to bike. Coming home should be cloudy with a chance of a sprinkle, and a nice SW wind at 10-15 mph. Perfect for me; I'll just put up a sail. Tomorrow back to crap though. Morning rain, afternoon very windy, WSW at 30 mph. I think I'll take the train. |
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