How Was Your Commute Today?

[blackhillsbiker]

Blowing snow and ice. I felt very extreme. I was glad I had the snow tires. It really wasn't too bad. I need to find an alternative to the down jacket, though. It is good in the morning, but I overheat on the way home.

Deb

[Cataboo]

Blowing snow and ice. I felt very extreme. I was glad I had the snow tires. It really wasn't too bad. I need to find an alternative to the down jacket, though. It is good in the morning, but I overheat on the way home.

Deb

Maybe you can use a down vest instead.

There are a few down jackets that have pit zips (cloudveil down patrol is one), so you can open them to vent.

[lph]

Layers! Make a note of which layers you need at which temps, and peel off accordingly for the ride home. I can be wearing 3 or 4 layers when it's really cold, which means it takes ages to get dressed but I can always adjust to the temps. Getting too hot and sweaty can get you colder in the long run than being dressed jsut right.

[blackhillsbiker]

I do pretty well with layers until I get to the last one. I don't have a good way of getting the down jacket home without wearing it. I carry several options for hats/gloves/balaclavas, etc. My commuter bag just won't fit the jacket. When it's above zero, I have a combination of wool, fleece and windbreaker that works very well and allows me to peel or add as needed. It's just when it's really cold that I'm stuck. I'll get it figured out before next week, though. Today I'm only going in for a few hours and I think I'm just going to go in the car with DH.

Deb

[Becky]

I don't have a good way of getting the down jacket home without wearing it.

What about a small compression sack, like those that backpackers use for sleeping bags? Down is pretty squishy and compacts well.

Or those travel Space Bag things that they're always advertising on TV!

[skhill]

My coldest ride yet! Sunday morning, 6 F, and I was going to just go ahead and drive. But then I took a look at the car, and realized it'd likely take me nearly as long to scrape the car as to get where I was going on my bike, so why not?

But no helmet, I'm afraid-- the thin but warm balaclava I wear under my helmet was damp because I had worn it on my run a little earlier. And I ended up taking off my glasses because they were so fogged up. I'm just glad there was no ice and very little traffic....

[blackhillsbiker]

More "freezing fog." I wish the balaclava and I could come to some kind of understanding. It gets wet and miserable so I remove it and my face freezes. I'm going to try a merino wool one to see if it's any better. Other than that, it was beautiful with the frosted trees.

Deb

[Melalvai]

The only reason I had to get on my bike today was to visit the bike shop for maintenance. So I did. I biked to bike! High today: 15F.

New brake pads. I love that pitch-me-over-the-handlebars new brake pad feeling.

Bike-shop-Mark refused to put on a new chain. He said he doesn't like to put on a new chain in this weather because it'll be crap by the time I get home from the salt on the roads. He knows I plan to replace the cassette in the spring anyway. He cleaned up the old one for me, which was nice of him.

Getting to the bike shop was comfortable. I went down the street for a hair cut, and getting back into my exterior layers, everything was a bit damp and uncomfortable from the sweat. It wasn't until I got to the big hill that I finally warmed up. You sure learn to love those hills, those hills that you were hating on all summer, in this kind of weather!

[lph]

Oooh. Back on bike after long Christmas vacation. Woke up to the radio guy saying -14 deg C (7 F) and a fair bit of wind, so I dressed to the nines:

- shorts, wool boy shorts, thin wool tights, PI AmFib tights
- wool bra, wicking layer with windproof front, thin wool layer, winter jacket
- wool socks, winter shoes, roomy Goretex shoe covers
- thin wool glove liners, PI lobster gloves
- vaseline on cheekbones, nose and mouth, buff-with-a-hole pulled up to my eyes and nicely glued into place by the vaseline, thin wool balaclava, thin windproof helmet cap.

It felt like putting on armour before a battle. Got on my bike and wow! I felt invincible
Romped on down over a thin layer of skiddy snow, half the gears worked - no matter, I just thumped the front der. with my heel when necessary - rolled over intersections with all my gazillion lights flashing, and just felt like the queen of the universe. Got to work 50 minutes later comfortably warm all over.

I loooooove winter biking.

[pfunk12]

Like you, lph...first commute since December 17th. Loooong time to be away from work. I was very excited about the commute...not so excited about going back to work. It was about 23 degrees with a wind chill of about 15 degrees so I dressed appropriately. I felt great the entire ride - never cold. But...the ice!!! A running friend had warned me that there would be patches of ice on the Capital Crescent Trail. Initially, it wasn't bad. The ice was in the middle of the trail so I could easily get by. I had decided early on that I was going to be careful - ride slowly - and if I was late for work...so be it. I saw lights in front of me and knew it was my buddy, Chip. I yelled to him when I caught up to him and he immediately warned me about the ice ahead. He said that we would eventually have to get off and walk the bikes. There were a few stretches where there were so many patches of ice - with only about an inch to get by - so as soon as I heard him unclip, I would unclip one shoe and we would walk with one shoe unclipped (glide...slide...skate!!) through. But when we got to that really icy stretch...OH MY! It was about 100 yards of very thick, choppy ice. We had to get off the bikes and slide for 100 yards. But wow...what a beautiful, wonderful commute!!! The Potomac is frozen and absolutely gorgeous. Snow flakes started to fall. Can you tell I'm happy? Slightly crazy but oh so happy! I love my winter commute, too, lph. Oh...and we were the only 2 bike commuters out there. I felt special.

[7rider]

Jealous.
I'm pondering how hard it would be to carry my bike over the dozen or so 6 foot (1.8 m) blocks of ice on the side path I need to get down at the start of my ride. There really isn't a work-around that's safe...so it's over the top, or wait until spring.

[pfunk12]

Hmmm...have you been there recently to check it out? Can you go there and actually walk on it to check it out to see how safe/unsafe it is? To be honest, if I had been by myself this morning, when I saw that icy stretch, I might have turned around and gone home. Definitely don't want you to do anything that is going to cause injury to you but with this cold weather that we are having, this stuff might not melt until March (like you said the other day). So IF you can do get by safely, I say go for it!

[bikerHen]

I've been able to ride 4 of the 5 days of the new year! I would have been 5 for 5 but we went snowshoeing on New Years Day. WOW! What a difference a year makes. This time last year we were dealing with 4+ feet of snow. This year, rain, and like this mornings commute slushy snow with lots of BIG puddles to ride through! Like everyone else I'm just loving my winter commuting. bikerHen

[badgercat]

It was about 50F when I headed to campus this morning, 65F or so on my way back this afternoon. Perhaps it seems cruel to post this when so many are posting about snow and ice, but I'll pay for it when it's 100F in August, thankyouverymuch. Oh, Arizona.

Anyway, the main reason I wanted to post was that today was my first time going for a ride with PowerGrips on my pedals! I've never used toe clips or clipless or anything before. I still have to look down occasionally to get my feet in, but I think that's a mental block more than anything. There are a few stop signs and lights on my commute, but I didn't find the "clipping" in and out to be burdensome (though the straps probably should be a little tighter than they are right now--I'll play around with that). So far I think I really like them!

[Melalvai]

The Potomac is frozen and absolutely gorgeous.

Can you skip the bridge and skate across the river? Talk about no traffic!