kookaburra1701

OK, not really, but Oregon/the PNW has been having some very unusual weather this weekend. I just sold my car a few weeks ago, and in the back of my mind I had the niggling voice of doubt telling me that I would be screwed if it snowed. (My trusty 1994 Nissan Sentra could drive circles around just about anything in the snow, it was great.)

Welp, during my Thursday night/Friday morning shift, the skies opened up and Jack Frost took a huge dump on the entire city. I figured I'd have to give up and just hike in to work (I live just under 3 mi/5k away) but I decided to soldier on and see if I could do it on my bike. And I did!

This is my first time riding in the snow:

This is the coldest commute so far, -22C/-9F, at about 0330 Sunday morning.

Bluish Green

Awesome!

Good job.

no motor?

Nice, now to watch a Joeybrooks video to warm up again!

acidfast7

interesting ... it's been a mild season in the UK thankfully.

besides the flooding and windstorms, but overall it's not so cold and rainy

kookaburra1701

It's supposed to get up to the mid-40s by the middle of the week. Practically Pina Colada weather.

jyl

That's great! What kind of tires do you have?

kookaburra1701

700x32 Schwalbe Marathon Plus.

droy45

Welcome to my world. Hey, good job and congrats. I'm sure it has been an eye opener for you.

thrllskr

You made my day with those videos. I am sitting here in my cube wishing I could be outside. I was outside for a bit watching those videos. Thanks for a great day.

kookaburra1701

Ha ha, yeah, I know these temps are downright sultry for a lot of people. And it has - when I drove exclusively, I often felt out of control and vulnerable to weather/traffic/construction/etc. Now that I know I can get where I need to go on my own power (or by bus, or by walking, etc) I feel quite a bit more relaxed about weather like this.

gregjones

Good goin'!!!!

I bet you got to work before you could have got the windshield/windows on a car clean enough to safely drive.

no motor?

I'm waiting for a thaw here in Chicagoland too, it's too early for this!

ThermionicScott 

Cool video! I'm glad I didn't try to count all the Subarus in your area.

GeoKrpan

Why in the hail were yew riding at 3:30 am on Sunday morning?

Nerdanel 

I love the ninja "whoosh" sound it makes when you turn your head.

kookaburra1701

I work the graveyard shift. We were overstaffed and it was my turn to be sent home early.

I do a lot of night rides because I'm up anyways, so being out at 1-3 am isn't unusual for me. Streets are quieter then, too.

kookaburra1701

Someone on ****** said the same thing. I've got the cordura collar of my parka turned up, so it rubs against the body of the camera when I look around.

kookaburra1701

I feel like such an outsider when I go to the local lesbian bar. I've thought about seeing if I can get a Subaru logo decal or something to put on my bike. Maybe when I find the perfect rainbow wheel-lights...

GeoKrpan

Heh heh, love it!

buzzman

Couldn't agree more! Nothing like a good winter commute. Started my day today with a Northeast wind in my face with snow/sleet coming down and ground the ten miles to my office on my winter bike with studs, my heavy boots and rain/snow gear.

Rode home in the dark on black ice and whipped by a wind out of the Northwest that cut across the Charles River. Oddly enough I couldn't have been happier. My relatively modest commute turns into an expedition and I arrive home pretty wiped out, tired and hungry but really happy.

ThermionicScott 

It's too bad Fuji Bicycles doesn't have any connection with Fuji Heavy Industries, or you could ride one of those for the kinship benefits...

kookaburra1701

This is exactly what I've been trying to tell people, especially about my commutes home! The -9F ride was great, because I went slow enough to really appreciate the silence of the city under the snow, and look at everything, and take a route I normally didn't (I kind of mushed two of my routes together to avoid problematic areas of each) and I was prepared with my clothing choices, so I wasn't cold or uncomfortable at all. It was just really zen-like.

ETA: And then of course the hot shower and hot toddy at the end of the ride feels absolutely decadent...

turky lurkey

Wow! Some very unusual Oregon weather. I have a cousin who is going to school in Eugene, him and his roommates apparently tried to save some money by not having the gas turned on in their house. Well with the cold weather prediction they decided to get it turned on, only to find out too late that the heating system is broken. You can imagine they have been pretty cold. I think they actually ended up staying with some friends for awhile. I grew up in Lincoln City (Otis actually, which is near Lincoln City), apparently they even got a little snow on the coast which is pretty rare.

I have also been running Schwalbe marathon's in some similar weather conditions (though mine are a bit wider 26x1.5"), I find they do fine but I do run them at a pretty low pressure under icy conditions, I find the lower tire pressure makes a huge difference, yesterday evening was the worst day yet, it had warmed up a bit during the day so some of the snow melted, but in the evening it got cold and windy and the melted snow refroze, some of the paved surfaces got extremely slippery and the packed snow got a layer of ice on top. I managed to avoid some of the ice by riding on the side in the snow rather than on the paved surfaces.

enigmaT120

Wow, Kookaburra. I'm in awe.

We only got a couple of inches up here in the coast range, and the coldest was about plus 9 degrees F. Of course, we still have all of it. The roads are still slick enough to keep me and my Schwalbe Supremes off them. I can't get up the hills. I doubt I could get down them, except horizontally. I'm still resisting the temptation to get studded tires for as little snow as we get.