I was planning on "killing" this blog when I left Konstanz.
I was planning on publishing one final post where I would have made sense of what had happened to me over the year I spent in the Old World; what from Germany I missed now that I was back in the US; what maybe not so much.
I was planning on including some beautiful pictures from Bodensee in this last post.
This, however, didn't happen. I'm not entirely sure why. I'm also not giving This means, dear readers, you are still stuck with my rants and/or musings and/or mediocre puns until I run out of topics to write about.
A hot topic lately have been our weather conditions. Western Massachusetts has namely been hit with a streak of days with an average temperature of -10 degrees Celsius and a couple of snowfalls.
I have been riding . While I have not been alone in this, I have heard quite a few surprised remarks from friends and coworkers about the feasibility of what I was doing. I thought a short report of how it is in fact to be cycling around the valley in the winter was in order.
Here it is, I put it in my favorite format of questions and answers.
Isn't it cold?
While it isn't exactly beach weather outside, the frosts have not yet been drastic enough that sufficient protection and exercise can't counteract them. As always, extremities are at risk. Especially this is true for hands, since their function is only to hold on to the handlebars in the wind. Wind becomes a very serious foe anytime temperatures go near or below zero. The only way to counteract it is to wear resistant gear (especially gloves) and keep moving, perhaps exerting more effort than usual in order to keep the blood flowing in one's body and legs. This also has a nice side effect of decreasing the time you are outside.
I even find it more useful in the winter to "stand up" on the bike, placing some of my weight on the arms and thus getting some blood there as well.
It is also key to have some sort of cover for one's mouth so that one inhales warmer air.
What about snow?
The following is a very subjective observation/speculation, I have not yet quantified it. It seems to me that riding in a light rain and also light snow is somehow considerably easier than on dry pavement. Perhaps it's the reduced friction, perhaps its just my imagination (it's been known not to have much traction with reality at times).
My roadster generally can't handle snow deeper than 15-20 cm, depending on its consistency. However, I remember only two occasions when the snow was deep enough to force me to dismount. I have also, knock on wood, yet to have
I find it useful when going on roads that have not been cleaned yet to shamelessly occupy one of the ruts left by cars where the snow (if present) is much shallower.
I did have to move over a bit to make space for passing cars, but I do not recommend doing so unless you think the snow on the side of the road permits it. In my opinion it is much safer for both me and the cars if I don't slip and fall even if I occupy more of the road in order to avoid that and cars have to sometimes wait a little to pass me. Ultimately, if the snow is deep enough that you cannot ride on the roadside, cars really shouldn't be driving much faster than you anyway.
One important thing to be wary of in snow are breaks. The same precautions as when riding in heavy rain should be sufficient: (i) don't speed up beyond the speed at which you can adequately react to a slip by braking and (ii) apply the breaks occasionally so as to clear the layer of snow/water/salt/gunk that may have accumulated between the pads and the wheels.
Does winter affect interactions with pedestrians at all?
I haven't noticed any major difference in the bipeds so far. They may be less likely to notice a cyclist because they're paying even more attention to the 50cm in front of them than usual, but I can't say I've noticed that.
How does the bike hold up against the conditions?
If you have an insanely expensive bike that must be in spotless condition at all times, definitely do not take it out on the street in the winter. However, if you are an average every-day kind of lass/fellow, as long as you are willing to take the two-wheeler inside once now and then and give it a thorough going over with a rag and lube (for the gears and chain), you should be alright.
I have had an interesting experience with fenders this winter. I've had both plastic and metal ones on the bikes I've owned so far and can confirm the general consensus that metal ones are far superior. So with the first snow I got myself some fenders. Unfortunately, the very first time I rode with them I was going to Northampton via the Bike Trail. Naturally, the path was not cleaned and hence covered in a decent layer of snow. Unfortunately, it happened to be of the wet sticky kind. It instantly clogged my fenders and started freezing. At the end of the journey I had to exert almost double the effort it would have taken to maintain my speed at anything more than a crawl. This is not to mention that I had to punch the wheels a couple of times before I parked the thing or else I would not have been able to ride it back.
After such a bad experience, I decided to demount the fenders and brave the elements as is. Due to lack of equipment I was only able to follow through on this plan with the front wheel. But of course, once I took that fender off, the snow outside promptly turned into cold rain and mush, so I was back to spraying myself with cold dirty water every time I got on the bike. It is now January and I have yet to see the same kind of fender-stalling snow I witnessed that one time I rode to NoHo... This past weekend I remounted the front fender and my feet have thanked me for that ever since.
The moral of my story is: get fenders and stick with them! The winters here are clearly not snowy enough to pose clogging as a problem. They are wet enough, however, that plugging the showers that are your wheels will be noticeable.
I was planning on publishing one final post where I would have made sense of what had happened to me over the year I spent in the Old World; what from Germany I missed now that I was back in the US; what maybe not so much.
I was planning on including some beautiful pictures from Bodensee in this last post.
This, however, didn't happen. I'm not entirely sure why. I'm also not giving This means, dear readers, you are still stuck with my rants and/or musings and/or mediocre puns until I run out of topics to write about.
A hot topic lately have been our weather conditions. Western Massachusetts has namely been hit with a streak of days with an average temperature of -10 degrees Celsius and a couple of snowfalls.
I have been riding . While I have not been alone in this, I have heard quite a few surprised remarks from friends and coworkers about the feasibility of what I was doing. I thought a short report of how it is in fact to be cycling around the valley in the winter was in order.
Here it is, I put it in my favorite format of questions and answers.
Isn't it cold?
While it isn't exactly beach weather outside, the frosts have not yet been drastic enough that sufficient protection and exercise can't counteract them. As always, extremities are at risk. Especially this is true for hands, since their function is only to hold on to the handlebars in the wind. Wind becomes a very serious foe anytime temperatures go near or below zero. The only way to counteract it is to wear resistant gear (especially gloves) and keep moving, perhaps exerting more effort than usual in order to keep the blood flowing in one's body and legs. This also has a nice side effect of decreasing the time you are outside.
I even find it more useful in the winter to "stand up" on the bike, placing some of my weight on the arms and thus getting some blood there as well.
It is also key to have some sort of cover for one's mouth so that one inhales warmer air.
What about snow?
The following is a very subjective observation/speculation, I have not yet quantified it. It seems to me that riding in a light rain and also light snow is somehow considerably easier than on dry pavement. Perhaps it's the reduced friction, perhaps its just my imagination (it's been known not to have much traction with reality at times).
My roadster generally can't handle snow deeper than 15-20 cm, depending on its consistency. However, I remember only two occasions when the snow was deep enough to force me to dismount. I have also, knock on wood, yet to have
I find it useful when going on roads that have not been cleaned yet to shamelessly occupy one of the ruts left by cars where the snow (if present) is much shallower.
I did have to move over a bit to make space for passing cars, but I do not recommend doing so unless you think the snow on the side of the road permits it. In my opinion it is much safer for both me and the cars if I don't slip and fall even if I occupy more of the road in order to avoid that and cars have to sometimes wait a little to pass me. Ultimately, if the snow is deep enough that you cannot ride on the roadside, cars really shouldn't be driving much faster than you anyway.
One important thing to be wary of in snow are breaks. The same precautions as when riding in heavy rain should be sufficient: (i) don't speed up beyond the speed at which you can adequately react to a slip by braking and (ii) apply the breaks occasionally so as to clear the layer of snow/water/salt/gunk that may have accumulated between the pads and the wheels.
Does winter affect interactions with pedestrians at all?
I haven't noticed any major difference in the bipeds so far. They may be less likely to notice a cyclist because they're paying even more attention to the 50cm in front of them than usual, but I can't say I've noticed that.
How does the bike hold up against the conditions?
If you have an insanely expensive bike that must be in spotless condition at all times, definitely do not take it out on the street in the winter. However, if you are an average every-day kind of lass/fellow, as long as you are willing to take the two-wheeler inside once now and then and give it a thorough going over with a rag and lube (for the gears and chain), you should be alright.
I have had an interesting experience with fenders this winter. I've had both plastic and metal ones on the bikes I've owned so far and can confirm the general consensus that metal ones are far superior. So with the first snow I got myself some fenders. Unfortunately, the very first time I rode with them I was going to Northampton via the Bike Trail. Naturally, the path was not cleaned and hence covered in a decent layer of snow. Unfortunately, it happened to be of the wet sticky kind. It instantly clogged my fenders and started freezing. At the end of the journey I had to exert almost double the effort it would have taken to maintain my speed at anything more than a crawl. This is not to mention that I had to punch the wheels a couple of times before I parked the thing or else I would not have been able to ride it back.
After such a bad experience, I decided to demount the fenders and brave the elements as is. Due to lack of equipment I was only able to follow through on this plan with the front wheel. But of course, once I took that fender off, the snow outside promptly turned into cold rain and mush, so I was back to spraying myself with cold dirty water every time I got on the bike. It is now January and I have yet to see the same kind of fender-stalling snow I witnessed that one time I rode to NoHo... This past weekend I remounted the front fender and my feet have thanked me for that ever since.
The moral of my story is: get fenders and stick with them! The winters here are clearly not snowy enough to pose clogging as a problem. They are wet enough, however, that plugging the showers that are your wheels will be noticeable.
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