cold weather Q?

My longest consecutive day riding streak, by far, ran from March 6,
1998,(following an air travel complication the day before) to March 21,
2003, when I was hit by a car and sustained a third degree shoulder
separation. I don't have a distinct recollection of how I handled that 50"
snow month. My most vivid recollections are set out in the previous post.


"Eric Babula" wrote in message
0...
"Ron Wallenfang" wrote in
:

I'm another Milwaukee area bike commuter, who hasn't been stopped
by the cold since I've been keeping daily records in 1993. Coldest
riding day in that period was -15F. There have been a couple of
colder days here over those years, but I rode in the "heat" of the
afternoon those days. Snow and ice have, from time to time, forced
me not to commute, though I've always gotten in at least some
riding in the course of the day/evening. The plows and salt trucks
are ubiquitous and do a good job here (at least on the arterials),
so you're rarely completely shut down for long. The most difficult
day was the Jan 2, 1999 blizzard, when I waited for the snowplow
to come by on our street, and then rode up and down that street a
bunch of times for 5 miles of riding. Close behind it was a week
in Madison before Christmas a few years ago that featured an
unusual combination of snow and bitter cold. One evening that
week, I went to a tavern where my sister's blue grass band was
playing (She didn't know I was in town). Her first reaction on
seeking an abominable snowman type character come in was to ask
herself: "Who's that idiot out biking tonight. Then came the
realization: "That's my brother!" My most embarrassing day was
warmer - a 35 F wind driven rain in early April that I wan't
prepared for with adequate clothing - I had to pull into a fast
food place after 7 miles of riding and call and ask my wife to come
get me - I couldn't stay warm enough!

I had studded snow tires but found them insufficiently helpful to
keep. They help on ice but not otherwise, at the price of being
very slow and very noisy. My zero mileage days since 1998 are
limited to 23 days off in 2003, when I was hit by a car and
separated a shoulder, 26 days off this past summer, while
recovering from surgery, and one day lost in 2004 due to travel.




Now, I'd consider THAT hardcore! Nice job, Rob!

Did you bike every day the year that we had 50" of snow in just the
month of December? What was that year - 2000?

Ok, I admit it - I'm a wimp! My ~14-mile commute takes me about an hour,
on a normal day. In the winter, it takes even longer. The one day I rode
in the snow, it took 1hr45min, and I was not having fun. Bicycling is
supposed to be fun.

I too often let the weather be my excuse for not riding my bike to work.
I gotta work on that.

Do I hear a New Year's Resolution, already?

--
Eric Babula
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention
of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body.
But rather, it’s to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up,
totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, 'Wow! What a ride!!!'

On Wed, 19 Oct 2005 03:16:17 GMT, "Mike Kruger"
wrote:

"Ron Wallenfang" wrote in message
...

...My most embarrassing day was warmer - a 35 F wind driven rain in early
April that I wan't prepared for with adequate clothing - I had to pull
into a fast food place after 7 miles of riding and call and ask my wife to
come get me - I couldn't stay warm enough!

Just above freezing, windy and rainy are just about the worst bicycling
conditions. Much, much colder than riding in a snowstorm below freezing.
It's also harder to find adequate clothing for such conditions.

Agreed. I started to answer the original question with an "I've
cycled down to X degrees, hard core must be either X or X-1" type of
answer. But those days I came in to work reasonably warm. The 34
degree, raining, and blowing days are the ones I've come in and
immediately hopped into a hot shower to prevent hypothermia.

I had studded snow tires but found them insufficiently helpful to keep.
They help on ice but not otherwise, at the price of being very slow and
very noisy.

All true (although they help in snow relative to slicks), but I find they
give me confidence in conditions where it is dark and there may be black ice
due to a daytime thaw and evening freeze. Otherwise, I tend not to bike in
those conditions.

Fascinating idea. In north Alabama, we all stay home and wait for the
ice to thaw, even the cagers. Sometimes it takes two days!

Pat

Email address works as is.

79degs. F.
Like a reptile, I like the heat.

~R wrote:

How cold does it have to be for one to consider themselves a
hardcore rider? I rode to work in 39 degree F weather yesterday
and this thought popped into my head. It was pleasant, but it's
getting colder every day.

Looking at http://www.icebike.com makes the whole winter-riding
concept look very apealing!

~Rob

--
Tp,

-------- __o
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--- ( )/ ( ) ---- -\.
-------------------- ( )/ ( )
-----------------------------------------

No Lawsuit Ever Fixed A Moron...

I've ridden in as cold as 20º F. VERY well bundled up, of course.

- -

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

"May you have the winds at your back,
And a really low gear for the hills!"

Chris'Z Corner
http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

Mike Kruger wrote:
"Dane Buson" wrote in message

Welcome to Seattle. Here's your rain jacket, fenders, booties, tights,
wool socks, and full finger winter gloves. Did I mention the sixteen
hours of darkness in December/January?

At Unseen.edu can't you just wave your wizard's wand and have it disappear?
http://www.unseenuniversity.demon.co.uk/

Unfortunately no, my wand was in my other Robes, which were sent out
to the washerwomans. I'm still waiting for them to come back. It was
the dragon spleen, that takes forever to get out.

--
Dane Buson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes.
-- Dr. Who