Metrobostonorth subscriber,
Leebo, recently posted,
Originally Posted by
Leebo
Doesn't everybody commute year round?
Got 6 trips tough trips in February.
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
In the past couple weeks [early March] we’ve had occasional days into the 40’s and the road glaciers have retreated off the shoulders to the curbs. Two days ago a day-long rain has washed the visible salt off the road, and yesterday was sunny, but in the 20’s. For me a dry, salt-free road is the incentive to bring out my pristine CF road bike with clipless pedals, not ridden since January 1. Temperatures don’t matter.
Of course today, when I have the chance to ride, it’s back on the beater with studded tires, because freezing rain is predicted.
My winter commuting has been stalled by work and family issues, and only about six 14-mile Kenmore/Norwood rides have been done in February. But during this historic winter I did get in rides under the worst circumstances of the weather, and posted about them on other threads. Now that winter is receding, I want a single chronicle of those rides since they required all the gear and experience
(“gear and gumption”) I have accumulated during my decades of year-round cycle commuting:
- Lowest temperature, 1° F
- Heaviest snowfall, Sunday during Snowpocalypse II (2/15), while the snowbanks of Snowpocalypse I (1/27) were still around and snowplows couldn’t keep up.
- Commuting after Snowpocalypse II (just pictures)
- Riding during rain in the 30’s° F, as described above.
Originally Posted by
noglider
Rain just above freezing is one of the worst conditions…
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
So true, especially for my hands…
Originally Posted by
irwin7638
Cold is not bad, wet is not bad, but the two combined are deadly.
Not a post, but notable because I had purchased some good waterproof gloves in December, and they kept my hands pretty dry, and warm enough.
- A ride during a snowfall immediately preceding Snowpocalypse I
- A (non-bicycling) family fun day during Snowpocalypse I when the city, including the (T) shut down.
- Riding pot-holed, high volume, dark morning rush hour streets.
Originally Posted by
rholland1951
Since the snow has piled up, I've noticed (while driving, mostly) that many drivers seem to think that conditions license them to reinvent the right-of-way rules. I'm seeing a lot of creeping out of parking lots and side streets across streams of on-coming traffic. On the bike on Friday night, I got cut off a lot. Perhaps we can add visible weather and piles of snow to texting and booze on the list of causes of distracted driving. Poor dears have brain overload.
Originally Posted by
jimmuller
All food for thought. I notice two frequent features of drivers' behavior.
1. They are frequently polite or considerate. I try to acknowledge it in response.
2. They are sometimes overly polite…
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
…When I'm peeved by a driver’s actions, instead of the middle finger and obscenties, I give my own special Bicyclist's Curse…
I do also bestow Bicyclist's Blessings to drivers who show even a modicum of respect and compassion… Even in car-crazy Boston, I perform numerously more blessings than curses. Probably about 2-3 blessings a day on a 14-mile commute vs about 1 curse every 3-4 weeks…
Well, this winter IMO brought out the worst in drivers, mainly because of the narrowed roads, besides all those other frustrations, and my ratio of blessings to curses has just about inverted. Not that there were many more uncaring cagers out this winter than in the nice weather I think, but the stresses of winter driving were a higher threshold to reveal those with a lower tolerance.