winter arrives

[traveller_62]

It may be snowy, but the roads were clear and mostly dry today... Here's a quick view of a cyclist (yes, it's me taking pictures from my bike again!) along the road.



--- Denise

Denise,

What do you do after a ride on wet/salty/sandy roads? Do you clean your bike chain, etc. after every ride?

I thought about getting out on my bike yesterday (went skiing instead) but then I thought about the hour or more it would take for me to clean up the bike...blah.

-traveller

[DeniseGoldberg]

What do you do after a ride on wet/salty/sandy roads? Do you clean your bike chain, etc. after every ride?

-traveller

I take a look at the bike when I get home. If it's just a little sand on the frame I'll let it dry and then wipe it off. Yesterday it wasn't too bad, but it wasn't just a dry & wipe. I cleaned the frame and the chain, then relubed.

I'm with you though - if the roads look really messy then I usually don't ride. Sometimes I guess wrong though - I remember one ride (a couple of years ago) when I could actually hear the salt/sand in the drive train. I cut that ride short and hurried home before I did too much damage, but my bike was a mess. It really wasn't too bad yesterday.

--- Denise

[wavedancer]

I have really been planning on riding as much as possible this winter, but now, I don't know...

Yesterday was the Cape Cod NEMBA chapter's Toys for Tots ride, and as I usually don't get to ride with them and the weather was so great I showed up with my Barbie and mtb and took off on the Trail of Tears. There were about 20 riders, all better than me, and I planned on doing the Beginners' loop. Everyone else was doing the Intermediate loop. There was about 2 inches of snow and some icy places on some of the trails. I walked parts that looked too scary, had a couple of slow-motion uphill falls as I lost traction while climbing, but basically had a pretty good time.
I met up with the rest of the riders after a while and two of them convinced me to continue with them on the intermediate trail. Okay, I'm game... had several more frustration falls, kept getting my cleats packed with icy snow because I had to walk the steep parts and decided I wasn't having too much fun.

At the next trail intersection/bailout I headed back on my own. Doing OK, came to a slightly steep downhill with some rocks and snow and for some reason freaked and grabbed a tree! Bike of course slid out from under me, onto my leg...scrapes and bruises...definitely not my favorite ride. Made it back to the car and limped on home.

So today I decied to stay on the pavement and take a ride down the Cape Cod Canal road. Nice smooth bike path, plowed, the roads have been clear with the 40+ degree sunshine. Beautiful afternoon: sunny, no one out on the canal. There were a few patches of slush, a little ice, in the places that stay shaded. Got past the first bridge and into a little more icy slush, and then BOOM: black ice! I went down in an instant onto my right thigh and whacked my head (helmet) pretty hard. Luckily my housemate was home and came with his truck to carry me home. The hematoma on my thigh is slowly getting bigger, but my head seems to be OK.

So now the mountain bike is hung up in the shed and the road bike's on the trainer. Maybe I'll get out if the roads or trails are truly free of ice and snow. But that probably won't be until spring anyway! So for now it's spinning on the trainer, going to the gym, and hoping we get enough snow to cross country ski and snow shoe. This in-between stuff s***s!

Thanks for letting me rant.

[DeniseGoldberg]

I have really been planning on riding as much as possible this winter, but now, I don't know...

...At the next trail intersection/bailout I headed back on my own. Doing OK, came to a slightly steep downhill with some rocks and snow and for some reason freaked and grabbed a tree! Bike of course slid out from under me, onto my leg...scrapes and bruises...definitely not my favorite ride. Made it back to the car and limped on home.

...So today I decied to stay on the pavement ...Got past the first bridge and into a little more icy slush, and then BOOM: black ice! I went down in an instant onto my right thigh and whacked my head (helmet) pretty hard. Luckily my housemate was home and came with his truck to carry me home. The hematoma on my thigh is slowly getting bigger, but my head seems to be OK.

Thanks for letting me rant.

Ouch, ouch, ouch! It sounds like you had a bad biking weekend... It's really OK to not ride on the road at this time of year. (Or at any time at all if it doesn't feel right to you.) I have to convince myself of that fact as the winter progresses and I still want to be out on the road. I do ride year round, but I wimp out for bad road conditions, bad weather (raining, snowing, or way too cold). From your description it sounds like today should have been an OK ride - you just had some super bad luck with the black ice.

I'm sending healing thoughts your way. (OK, I know that doesn't really work, but I have to keep trying!). And you will be buying a new helmet, right?

Oh - and ranting is OK at any time!

--- Denise

[wavedancer]

I'm sending healing thoughts your way. (OK, I know that doesn't really work, but I have to keep trying!). And you will be buying a new helmet, right?

Oh - and ranting is OK at any time!

--- Denise[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the support! And I do believe those healing thoughts help.
Actually my first thought when I heard the crunch of my helmet was "I guess I can get that new helmet now!"

[CorsairMac]

well ladies - I rode to work in snow this morning! Surlygirl - it looks like this may be payback year for me! lol It's all melted now but the mountains are gone - covered in clouds which means it's snowing up there, hopefully not at my house!

Karen: your angel ain't broke - it's just "developing" unevenly. Give her some time - the other wing will grow in, I have all the confidence in the world!

ZubZub: keep it up my friend........I'm gonna be watching the temps in Your neck of the woods come our summer and then tease you no end! *insert winking smilie here*



(PS: is anyone else having problems with the smilies?? I haven't been able to get them to work for 2 days now)

[DirtDiva]

Alas, Corsair, it doesn't get that cold in Auckland. No snow. No Frosts. They don't know what they're missing... Oh, and obviously no probs with the smilies here. Have you accidently clicked on the "insert code/smilies suck" bit?