Honestly, in the winter with temps in the 20s and lower, my flat strategy is to push the bike. I dress lightly so I don't get too warm when I ride, but the flip side is if I'm not moving I'm not generating heat and could quickly become hypothermic. Pushing the bike at least keeps me moving. Also, taking off my gloves to try and fix a flat in those temps would be really low on the fun scale.

I'll fix a flat on the road during warmer temps, but all of those bikes have tubes in them.

So far I've been lucky that most of my fat flats have been within a couple of miles of the office or home. I did have one flat on the fat bike about 3.5 miles from the office, while there was heavy unplowed snow. I carried the fat bike for about a mile and a half and must have looked pathetic enough that a guy in a truck stopped and gave me and the bike a ride the rest of the way to the office.

I just went down to the garage and pumped up my tire and it seems to be holding air just fine now. I suppose sitting in the heated parking area all day the sealant thawed out enough to start working.

Took the truck back to the shop today. Still getting exhaust through the AC. I intended to take the loaner home and ride the bike to work from there. But their loaner was taken so I had to go back home for the bike and ride to work right from the mechanic. The kids are out of school this week so we can tolerate it better but it's still annoying especially since it was supposed to be finished.

Edit. Mechanic found exhaust leak on the crossover tube that has the catalytic converter, said call muffler shop to fix it since replacing the cat would be expensive. Muffler shop told me to have mechanic check the motor mounts in case that's what stressed it out to begin with. Eeesh, this truck

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a33057e7b0.png

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 1566:

I set a goal every year to commute a minimum of 3,000 miles. Most years I hit that without too much trouble. This year I cut it close, as I finally crossed the 3K mark on the way home last night with only two commuting days to go.

This morning the temp was -19°F with a windchill of -51°F. Serious flesh-freezing temps, so I bundled up. The only thing exposed was my nose. Due to the extreme temps the mayor made an executive order to eliminate bus fares for the remainder of this week. That worked out for me, as to keep my wife happy I do a split-commute when the temps get this cold.

Rode 1.25 miles to the bus stop. We got about 1.5" of fresh snow last night. The stout wind was causing some drifting. I was on the regular winter bike (because the fat bike tires don't fit in the bus rack) and even with this little amount of snow it was noticeably more difficult to pedal compared to the fat bike. So the fat bike does serve a purpose even though it can be a pain.

Made it to the bus stop and only had to wait about 3 minutes. Sometimes I get there too early and then I'm really starting to get cold. I noticed the heat on the bus wasn't working real well, but it was warmer than being out in that frigid wind.

The bus driver seemed a little surly. When I got on the bus I said, "Hi" but he pretty much ignored me. Then he drove past a guy's stop even though the "stop requested" light was lit. So that guy had to get off at the next stop and walk back 1/4 mile.

Then later on in the route the driver blew past a stop where a guy was obviously running through the snow drifts to catch the bus. He was only about 10 yards from the sign and yelling for the bus, so it was obvious. The driver didn't even slow down. I felt bad for the guy who missed the bus. He going to be waiting a while, because due to staffing problems our buses are currently only running once per hour. In these temps people aren't going anywhere unless it's completely necessary, so the guy obviously needed to be somewhere. I'm hoping the guy doesn't lose a job due to the bus driver.

Once downtown, I then finished the remaining .5 mile ride to the client office. Even with that short trip, and with two pairs of gloves inside of bar mitts, my fingertips were numb.

You are an inspiration, sir! Way to go on the 3k and on multi-modal commuting! (despite the curmudgeon bus driver)

Another, different repair shop for the truck today. As predicted Tuesday. Adding a wrinkle, I tripped on my kid's tab PC he left on the stairs last night. But it's only contusions and hematomas, nothing apparently sprained or strained, so a couple of naproxen and off I went

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 1567:

Today's commute puts a wrap on 2022. After today I'm off work until after the 1st. Wound up with 3011 commuting miles, which is a little on the light side for me. No good explanation as to why.

This morning the air temp was -11°F with a -45°F wind chill. On paper it was warmer than yesterday morning, but in real life it felt a bit colder. I'm thinking because the wind was blowing even harder today. Steady wind at 25 mph with gusts pushing 50 mph.

The 2" of powdery snow we got yesterday was getting blown around making visibility difficult at times. They've shut down the two main interstates in South Dakota due to visibility and drifting issues. Late yesterday the skies looked overcast, but the weatherman said that there actually weren't any clouds in the sky; the wind was picking up so much snow from the ground that everything looked hazy.

Did the split commute again this morning. Was worried about how much the headwind was going to slow me down so I left the house a couple minutes early. I definitely didn't want to miss the bus today. Turns out I got to the stop seven minutes early, which made things pretty chilly as I stood there on top of a snow drift waiting.

Had the surly driver again today, but there were no incidents. Got to the client's location and snapped a photo to commemorate the commute. My hand was out of my glove for less than a minute in order to take the picture, and I was surprised how fast the cold made it start hurting.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b169ec6b87.jpg

My commuting year ended with a bit of a whimper with two car days due to the heavy rain and I also wanted to swap over some bulky stuff. I can't be bothered to work it out exactly but over the year I reckon I've had about a 98% 'bike commuting attendance record' so not too bad I guess. 2023 brings an almost immediate change in my commuting pattern as I'll be working from two locations (two days per week at each location) and the new location is 10 miles away. My first day at the new location will need to be by bus or car so I can check it out for secure bike storage, changing, drying, etc.

My 2012 Cannondale CAADX with fenders will continue to be my commuter but the route to the new location will see me encounter a lot more glass (annoyingly, on the cycle paths) so I might swap tyres.

The 2023 thread was up last night but now has disappeared

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...91fdd0be1e.jpg
A beautiful day and I saw another Bridgestone on the bike rack. :)