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

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

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

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.

"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

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

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.

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

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.

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.