and local advocacy?
mmmmmmmm… albany bicycle coalition?
ny bicycle coalition?
troy bicycle rescue?
each needs willing individuals…..

I’m glad to hear you’ve had good luck.

Wind:
Nothing you can do about it making the ride harder. Headwinds are the bane of my existence.

As far as wind chill, it’s all about having windproof everything. I have rain shell pants than are coincidentally also windproof, which helps a lot, especially with UnderArmor cold weather pants under my regular pants. I wear a leather jacket with a Thinsulate liner and I sprayed it with leather waterproofing spray. With just a T-shirt on under it, it keeps me warm enough in the worst winds without making me horribly sweaty.

With those, windproof gloves, a balaclava, and ski goggles, my attitude towards the wind chill has mostly been “what’s that?” Waterproof boots insulated for weather down to -20F help as well.

Traction:
Studded tires are amazing, but they’re not perfect. I’ve got ‘em on my commuter and they give great traction going straight on ice, hard pack, thin (viscosity, not depth) slush, and powder. If you try to turn at speed, you’ll probably slip. Ruts, as well as snow and slush that slides around while you’re on it, those will still be dangerously treacherous. Avoid those when you can, and go slow and careful when you can’t.

Maybe tires wider than my 700×40’s handle those problems better.

All in all, my first winter commuting by bike has been going well. It’s been a learning experience, certainly, but no falls, crashes, or other mishaps of note yet. *knocks on wood* It has been somewhat mild, thankfully, though not “all we’ve got is rain” mild.

http://www.nashbar.com/bikes/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10052&storeId=10053&productId=175533&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=201521&top_category=10000

I want to get these too. Don’t see any bikes set up with them in the US with the exception of REI’s Navaro Safari which is too stretched out for me. http://www.rei.com/product/775749

No, you’d get taxpayer-funded health care.

Plus, I’m pretty sure I could outbike anyone on foot…at least that’s what I tell myself…

Statistically how many cyclists are assaulted vs. hit by cars? I’m going to bet that the assault numbers are tiny by comparison.

I don’t know the vampire/chupacabra attack statistics. I think the government does not release those.

I also think the baddies are ‘fair weather folk’. I always feel safer riding nighttime in the dark when it’s also crappy weather, less safe when conditions are warm and pleasant.

I rode the river and the canal last night in a cool rain. Hardly a soul to be seen, plenty of wet leaves, darting wildlife and autumn smells. Nice.

I love being mean to ‘gas hogs’ or bike snobs.

Keep on rolling!

No matter what they say, I think they are great and fit what you need really well. This coming from the great Central Plains of salt and sludge.

Keep up the useful hacks and you’ll get that Mad Max look yet.

Maybe a little copper tape on the frame just for an extra shot of color. Recycle to your hearts content.

This is an example of misguided people with good intentions at the local level trying to put rules in place that the State government has NOT granted them the authority to enact.

School officials finally had to admit they didn’t have the authority to ban students from riding to school, and that their initial rule had no more legal status than a simple advisory. They backed off a little bit but they are still trying to get people to pretend they make the law when they actually don’t.

A good outcome here would be an official notice from the State governor’s office reminding the School district what the limits to its legal authority are, and what decisions are solely for the State legislature to make. The School District obviously has no clue how the law works.

Plus, our buses never arrive quite on time. :) The up-side is that they’ll generally wait for you if you run after them, or stop for you if you flag them down at a non-stop.

As for snow, showing up on-time, ready to work, in snowstorms where 4WD SUV-toting co-workers were late (or no-shows) “due to the weather”, cured them all of that.

A couple of doses of that, and they quit.

I get the same thing where I work — folks think they’re doing me a favor, but mostly they just piss me off.

Sometimes I feel like the ‘people who care’ are talking to me like I’m driving drunk or something. “Are you sure you should be driving? I think you’ve had a few too many.”

I don’t really know much about cyclo-cross beyond the fact that I just googled it. :) It looks cool.

That’s what I ended up using toward the end of my 30-years’ Rochester winter commutes of 1 or 2 miles each way.

Fine to -5, with liner plus heavy hiking wool socks.

I haven’t tried their new “waterproof” ones, but those they said weren’t waterproof worked fine in snow.
–

A couple of other lessons-learned:

For rain, I use Nokian rubber boots.

For real comfort in rain and snow, try a plastic face shield on a full-face motorcycle helmet. (Also protects your brain and keeps your ears and head warm.)

Studs. And don’t bike the first few snowy days each year, when drivers are relearning how not to slide.

Try to find two of the old Dick Burns lights and use them every day and night so drivers can really see you. I think it’s too dangerous to bike without lights at least that good.

(After Roch — DC, Columbus — I really miss biking in snow…..)

i have been refraining from saying something like “it’s only dangerous because people in cars drive like selfish idiots.” i know they’re only saying “be careful out there” because they care.

awesome. glad I’m not the only one,
but I bet they don’t call you ‘Lance’ at work.
New idea, I’ll start calling everyone Dale (ernhardt) – but they won’t get it. sigh.

See:

http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/dc-car-free-day-22-september-2009/

The most important factors are:
1. Circulation- don’t try to pack in more socks into your regular shoes! Circulation is more key to warmth than insulation. Your shoes must be fitting to slightly loose or you will get frostbite!
2. Energy expenditure- I’ve gone winter mountain biking wearing wool socks, normal mtb shoes, and just the neoprene toe-booties. Perfectly comfortable for over 2 hours in 25deg. weather. But I was hammering most of the time. I’d never try that at higher speed commuting, with higher wind chill and less effort to heat me up.

I’ve traveled the Greenway, at different times, on all the sections between Portageville, which is the south end of Letchworth SP, to the U of Rochester.

My favorite trips have been between the Yard of Ale in Piffard and Scottsville during the very early morning hours in the summer. The illuminated canopy and bucolic river valley scenes that consistently reveal themselves as you go along is just magical. I can’t recommend it enough.

Unfortunately, it is hard for me to get back to Rochester during autumn, which I’m sure is a truly dramatic time to be on the Greenway. To anyone who reads this, please count your blessings and try to enjoy it a little extra for me during that especially beautiful time of year:-)

There are surely cheaper versions out there. I haven’t tried them but they seem like a perfect idea. I used to be in to whitewater kayaking and we used pogies on our paddles to keep the wind off our fingers while retaining some dexterity. It worked great, even paddling in January. If they work in that kind of situation it seems like they’d be perfect for the bike.

And yes, my mom wrapped sandwich bags around my feet :)

I have a question. I have installed your program. I can’t runing it.
What must to do, that it works. Can I change the language to German.
Sorry, I can’t only litel English.

Thanks for you help
Berthold

Thanks,
Gary

-Kelly

I feel most strongly about making sure one’s winter footwear is completely waterproof – nothing worse then soaking your foot in a slush puddle at the start of a long trip. My first few solutions kept my feet warm but only kept them dry if I didn’t step in a Rochester pothole.

I picked up the waders years ago for walking through manure pits when trespassing on egg farms, and they’re also amazing at keeping out rain, slush, and snow. I had to repair the right one this year because the crank wore completely through the rubber!

They look a little funny when I get to where I’m going, but also I’m never cranky when my feet are dry.

But I found my dry feet were getting too cold, so I started wearing a comfy pair of Hanes Double-Tough socks over my feet and a heavy pair of ski socks on the outside of those. That always seems to keep my feet at the perfect temperature, even during 15 mile trips. I found that I wear through an average of 3 pairs of ski socks over one season.

I’m sure you’ll work out something with all these different ideas!

100% worsted weight wool socks – handmade by my lovely wife.

Specialized BodyGeometry Taho MTB shoes.

Louis Garneau XTR shoe covers – Warm but very poorly constructed. I will buy another brand this fall.

A few times I did the TNUA rides too. My hands got cold at times, but never my feet. I think the heavy wool socks are the key – wool insulates well even when wet with sweat.

My feet froze.

I’m not sure why it is, but everything I tried that had been successful when on foot, failed when on the bike.

My second year, I knuckled down and bought cycling-specific winter boots. Holy cats! What a difference! I’ve had toasty tootsies ever since–and I’ve ridden down to +4°F, the coldest it’s gotten in R-Town these past two winters. I don’t even need a second pair of socks until well down in the teens.

I chose Lake’s Winter Cycling Shoes. They’re bloody awful expensive–and worth every penny. I ride clipless, but you can leave the plug in the bottom and use them on platforms too.

They also seem to be the winter boot of choice among the TNUA riders, even for the women. Order them from any LBS, and a size too large to accommodate extra socks when you do need them.

I found some great winter hiking(?) boots at DSW last year. They were Columbia brand, waterproof, and Thinsulate-lined. I’m not sure how they’ll do riding, but they worked great walking. They kept my feet warm and dry through daily 2-mile walks in the dead of winter even with ordinary socks. They didn’t even get uncomfortably hot indoors.

The only down side was that they were gray and bright orange.

Fight Like Susan!!!

Thank you for the linking my page to yours. I appreciate it very much. More importantly, I appreciate the cause for which you have ridden for and the strides which I hope we will make together. Looking forward to more of your posts and maybe at some point we will cross paths on the trails.

Sincerely,
Dave