Lex Fati

Thanks for sharing the article, asmac. I like to see articles like this in non-cycling specific news sources. It is good to remind the public that we're out there.

Lug

It was a little chilly in Anchorage Alaska Friday morning. Around 7 degrees, so yes we do ride year around.
Justin

tjspiel

Don't know about Anchorage but many many bike lanes here are useless here in the winter. Snowbanks spill out onto the pavement where cars would normally park so the cars end up parking in the bike lanes.

Lots of people still commute but quite a bit fewer. My biggest concern is remaining upright. Driving in winter presents its own challenges but staying upright isn't (normally) a problem.

corrado33

Here in montana it's not so much that cars park in the bike lanes but more so that the bike lanes are where all the snow is deposited from the plows. I just ride in the right tire track.

noglider 

@takenreasy, where are you?

Folks, please put your locations in your profiles. It's easy, fun, and profitable. OK, I lie; there's no profit in it.

Pete Hickey was (or still is) a computer science professor at University of Ottawa and, on the subject of bike commuting in the winter, wrote this years ago. I haven't seen him on the net in years. Here are some pictures he took.

Phloom

Last year, I was just too wimpy to ride my bike in the winter. This year, I am going to keep going until it gets too uncomfortable. This morning it was -9 C or 16 F for you non-metric Americans. Brisk but still bearable. Certainly not biking naked weather. So far, no snow. I am going to pick up a balaclava on my way home tonight. It was a bit uncomfortable on my head this morning. My hair is still damp from my morning shower and the ends of my hair were frozen when I got to work. There is a 60% chance of snow tonight.

Daniel4

If the bike lanes are all piled up with snow because the traffic lanes are plowed, guess where all the cyclists will be? And that's not insane either. Vancouver, BC thirty years ago, didn't plow their streets but the benefit of cycling in the winter is that when your bike gets stuck, you can lift it up, get back on and go. Can't say the same with a car that gets stuck. So who's insane?

tjspiel

Not sure that Vancouver gets that much snow, but anyway, my concern is not with getting stuck. It's with getting hit by a car that can't stop. I ride all winter anyway but outside of my commute I stick to daylight rides and areas that I'm very familiar with.

BassNotBass

So far the coldest it's gotten here is -5°F and I was fine riding in it... I can't remember how cold it got back in the 80s when I lived in Boston and rode year 'round. For the most part what matters is one's state of mind and how you approach cycling conditions. I know cyclists who hate riding in the rain even during the summer yet they don't mind getting wet when water skiing... I can't figure that out. I guess if you truly enjoy something you can overcome many obstacles and inconveniences in order to 'just do it'.

Riveting

I'm south of Boston, and commuting in 5°F this week, (9 miles one way), thankfully the ground is very dry and ice free. But I just ordered my first pair of studded 700x35 tires yesterday, and looking forward to commuting deeper into the winter than ever before (and in the very early spring).

noglider 

@Riveting, which tires? I got Schwalbe but haven't tried them yet.

I rode a little bit yesterday in 10ºF, and it was fine. I overdressed. The wind wasn't terrible, and the air was dry.

ItsJustMe

I finally gave up on riding every day. The day that finally convinced me after 16 months of riding every single day was this:

It had snowed about 10 inches overnight. The snow was very wet and heavy. It was sticking to my tires, catching between the tire and the frame. I was having to pedal hard to go DOWN hills. Riding up hills was completely impossible, the bike stopped completely at the bottom of every pedal stroke, so I had to walk up every hill.

I got up the 2nd hill (about a mile from home) and said "what the HELL am I doing?" went back home and drove to work.

These days I drive if the shoulders are rutted or if there's a lot of wet, unplowed snow. In practical terms that means that there are about 10 to 15 days a year that I will not ride for these reasons. I have other days where I have 50+ miles to go for after-work rehearsals, getting home at 10PM even if driving. I don't want to get home at midnight so I drive on those days.

ItsJustMe

BTW this year I finally caved and bought Lake MX303 boots. They're very nice. It's nice getting to work and not wondering if I finally frostbit my toes this time. I also got some new gloves that were $65 (though I got them on sale), with the last two fingers attached (sort of half lobster claws). Since even in the coldest temps previously my only hand problem was my pinky getting extremely cold, they work for me.

Riveting

I ordered the Schwalbe Marathon Winter HS 396 700x35. $140 for the pair. From the reviews: if they're fully inflated (~65 psi) the studs are barely noticeable, if at all. And then if needed, you just drop the pressure, and get the studs involved in the contact patch.

Isn't it interesting how easy it is to overdress for the really low temps, especially when you're riding at a consistent vigorous pace (~200 watts). I have a thin Gore Bike Wear Phantom 2.0 Windstopper jacket (I actually own two of the same, because it's so damn awesome, $100 on sale) that only requires that I have one medium weight long sleeve base layer which gets me down to about 15 F, and I only need to add another thin t-shirt or long sleeve to go down to 0 F. And the same jacket can be worn up to 60 F, and has removable sleeves. That jacket paired with Izumi windproof bib pants, and I can probably conquer anything a New England winter has to offer, for at least 40 minutes. I just pray to the Gods that I never have a mechanical lasting more than 10 minutes, since I lack any real insulation.

noglider 

Yeah, dressed for riding is not adequately dressed for standing or walking. I often carry spare clothes for that reason.

My commute is a little over an hour in ideal conditions. Staying warm was a challenge last winter, which is why I bought more clothes this year.

My tires are "Schwalbe Marathon Winter Performance Rigid Road Tire Black 700x35c". They might be the same as yours. I rolled them across the wood floor, and they made a racket. They also look like weapons.

Yesterday's rides were on the clunky Citi Bike bikes. The morning ride was short and not vigorous. The evening one was five miles but the temperature had risen to 30º. I got a ski helmet this year to keep my head and face warm. Yesterday was the first time using it, and I think it's a winner. I have a plan for gloves which I'm pretty confident in. I'm less sure about footwear, but I will see.

takenreasy

Are those Bosco bars?

steelbikeguy

after many years of commuting all year, I've only got one or two rules about when I won't ride:

1. I won't ride when it's below 0 deg F. It's not so much that it's too cold, but if I get a flat, I'm not sure that I'll be able to fix it. I do keep some thin gloves in my bag for this purpose... nothing is colder than having to handle an aluminum rim with your bare hands in cold weather! A big issue for flats used to be the habit of the road crews using cinders at intersections to improve traction. The stuff comes from the local power plant, I think, and contains some needle-like glass in it. This stuff will go right through tires and tire liners, and can be up to 10mm long. Also... you can lose a lot of body heat while changing a flat tube!

2. I won't ride until I know the road crews have cleaned a new snowfall off of the roads. I've developed that rule as a result of riding shortly after a snowfall and finding the roads still covered in new snow, with traffic just being insane. I've also found myself on lonely rural roads that slowly turn into a field of glazed ice that can't be ridden on. It's not easy to decide that it's safer to backtrack the last 5 miles and take an alternate route when it is dark and 10 degrees F.

Steve in Peoria, IL, where it is surprisingly warm right now... (temps in the low 30's F)

irwin7638

Those are the Bullmoose Bosco Bars.

Marc

FanaticMN

All I know is I've never been able to get "first track" here.

AngeloDolce

Our bike lanes are useful in Jan and Feb, just not for bicycling. Snow in the road is plowed into the bike lane, so the bike lanes gives DelDOT a place to put the snow. Of course, this means that 1' snowfall becomes 2' of snow in the main bike lane.

Fortunately, local drivers seem to be smarter enough to realize that if I'm riding in the lane instead of the snow piles they should wait for a break in oncoming traffic to pass.

AngeloDolce

Once it falls below 20-25 F, I find mittens are warmer than any gloves I've found, and that I want wool socks and wool hats. I find 100% wool to be notecably warmer than the wool blends I typically find.. I founds some Merino wool socks recently; they seem pretty good too (only wore them twice).

My commutes are a bit shorter than yours (15-30 min.). I can easily imagine needing heavier clothing for an hour commute.

Jim from Boston

Howdy neighbor,

I rode my 14 mile commute that day (Tuesday, 1/5) from Kenmore Square to Norwood on my beater mountain bike with studded tires, at a reported 8° on similarly dry and ice free roads. I left with slight trepidation, as it was my first frigid (less than about 20°) ride of the season, but felt fine. I ride Marathon Winters, perfect for my urban conditions.

The day before, at about 30°, I rode my carbon fiber bike, but to keep it pristine, when the dried salt is visible, I put it away until spring. Trudging on the beater bike is a compensatory workout to replace the decreased winter mileage.

Jim

Riveting

Schwalbe Marathon Winters are what I ordered!!! It's great to hear another good review of them, especially from someone in the Boston area, though I live a little further out near Great Woods (yeah, I still call it that, and always will).

I'm still considering getting a fat bike for that same reason of compensating for the lack of winter mileage, by riding a slower/heavier bike the same commuting distance, but for a longer duration, as well as it being a bike that can handle a foot of snow, if necessary. And it's usable in the woods in the summer. Do you see anyone downtown commuting on fat bikes in the snow/ice?

Tundra_Man 

Last November we had a day where 16" came down. I rode to work that morning when only a couple of inches had fallen. When I attempted to ride home at 5 PM I discovered even using my granny gear I was unable to ride at any speed that would have gotten me the 8 miles home in less than four hours.

On the unplowed roads (most of them that day as the plows couldn't keep up with how fast the snow was coming down) my pedals would only pop out of the snow at the top of the pedal stroke. Constantly being buried, the chain would jam snow between it and the cassette causing the gears to slip. Which would halt my already ridiculously slow pace forcing me to have to put a foot down to steady myself, then attempt to get going again.

On the plowed roads, there still was enough significant loose snow on the ground that I couldn't maintain any semblance of a straight line. My tracks looked like a drunken monkey was riding the bike. When I would stop, I found it very difficult to get going again as I couldn't gain forward momentum fast enough to allow me to get both feet on the pedals before the bike fell over. To make matters worse, because there were so few streets plowed all the traffic that would normally take alternative routes were jammed onto the main road. The cars couldn't seem to keep from hitting each other, let alone someone weaving back and forth on a bicycle who could barely hold 4 mph.

I tried to get home. I really did. But after less than a half mile I turned around and went back to work where I caught a ride with a co-worker in their 4wd truck.

I don't consider myself a winter weenie at all, but I would agree with #8 . There definitely exists those times when you just have to look at the situation and say, "Nope. Not practical to ride today."

tjspiel

I have had similar experiences. When I can walk faster than I can ride it's time to take a different way to work.