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ice man

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Road Cycling
Published
19 February 2008
Last activity
21 February 2008
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max
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  1. word pr()n.

    last week, at night, in the snow ...

    The my bike light beam fractures across the glitter snow in a
    stroboscopic dance. My wheel is relentlessly thrust aside by jarring ice
    cobbles and crevasse, and unremitting sound of ice, pulverizing beneath
    my 600 silicon carbide studs, is hypnotic. my surreal world is reduced
    to a jagged flashing white obfuscation 15 feet long and 3 thee feet
    wide, and i am a ball of purposed white clawing luminance, grinding
    through the lonely, dead night.²

    .. . .

    if last week's rides were a study in simple endurance, this week has
    descended into a pulp fiction arctic horror story.

    Only some stories are true. No purposed luminance clawing this week,
    it's been more of a desparate reeling veering teeter from chasm and
    massif to cleft and summit, a bravado-goaded terror-sustained aspiration
    to defy gravity, just this once, i promise.

    Never fall down, never crash, because you'll stick to the ice and there
    is so much ice, and it is hungry for your heat. Never fall down, because
    that would belie your gloating boastful words, and you'd have to eat
    them, post by post, during your convalescence. Never fall down, never
    hear I Told You So. That's what keeps you up, through the miles and
    miles of ice.

    ..max

  2. "max" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:

    word pr()n.

    last week, at night, in the snow ...

    The my bike light beam fractures across the glitter snow in a
    stroboscopic dance. My wheel is relentlessly thrust aside by jarring ice
    cobbles and crevasse, and unremitting sound of ice, pulverizing beneath
    my 600 silicon carbide studs, is hypnotic. my surreal world is reduced
    to a jagged flashing white obfuscation 15 feet long and 3 thee feet
    wide, and i am a ball of purposed white clawing luminance, grinding
    through the lonely, dead night.²

    . . .

    if last week's rides were a study in simple endurance, this week has
    descended into a pulp fiction arctic horror story.

    Only some stories are true. No purposed luminance clawing this week,
    it's been more of a desparate reeling veering teeter from chasm and
    massif to cleft and summit, a bravado-goaded terror-sustained aspiration
    to defy gravity, just this once, i promise.

    Never fall down, never crash, because you'll stick to the ice and there
    is so much ice, and it is hungry for your heat. Never fall down, because
    that would belie your gloating boastful words, and you'd have to eat
    them, post by post, during your convalescence. Never fall down, never
    hear I Told You So. That's what keeps you up, through the miles and
    miles of ice.

    .max

    Ah...riding on ice.

    Tried it once.

    Didn't like it.

    Forget the lack of control, the extra effort required to push thru frozen
    slush, the sticking drivetrain, the ice rime on your wheel rims making
    braking barely possible...it's the Almost Dying that put me off...

    I'm still here man, and I'm telling ya: don't rely on luck and good
    reflexes forever...'cause they'll both run out on ya sooner or later. It's
    a classic case of; "just because you CAN, does not mean you SHOULD".
    Apologies if it is a necessity for you...but I myself would chose public
    transit <shudder> before riding in the snow again...even if I did have the
    proper tires...which I don't.

    B.

  3. Brian Sanderson said:

    "max" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

    news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:

    word pr()n.

    Quoted message said:

    last week, at night, in the snow ...

    Quoted message said:

    The my bike light beam fractures across the glitter snow in a
    stroboscopic dance. My wheel is relentlessly thrust aside by jarring ice
    cobbles and crevasse, and unremitting sound of ice, pulverizing beneath
    my 600 silicon carbide studs, is hypnotic. my surreal world is reduced
    to a jagged flashing white obfuscation 15 feet long and 3 thee feet
    wide, and i am a ball of purposed white clawing luminance, grinding
    through the lonely, dead night.²

    Quoted message said:

    . . .

    Quoted message said:

    if last week's rides were a study in simple endurance, this week has
    descended into a pulp fiction arctic horror story.

    Quoted message said:

    Only some stories are true. No purposed luminance clawing this week,
    it's been more of a desparate reeling veering teeter from chasm and
    massif to cleft and summit, a bravado-goaded terror-sustained aspiration
    to defy gravity, just this once, i promise.

    Quoted message said:

    Never fall down, never crash, because you'll stick to the ice and there
    is so much ice, and it is hungry for your heat. Never fall down, because
    that would belie your gloating boastful words, and you'd have to eat
    them, post by post, during your convalescence. Never fall down, never
    hear I Told You So. That's what keeps you up, through the miles and
    miles of ice.

    Quoted message said:

    .max

    Ah...riding on ice.

    Tried it once.

    Didn't like it.

    Forget the lack of control, the extra effort required to push thru frozen
    slush, the sticking drivetrain, the ice rime on your wheel rims making
    braking barely possible...it's the Almost Dying that put me off...

    I'm still here man, and I'm telling ya: don't rely on luck and good
    reflexes forever...'cause they'll both run out on ya sooner or later. It's
    a classic case of; "just because you CAN, does not mean you SHOULD".
    Apologies if it is a necessity for you...but I myself would chose public
    transit <shudder> before riding in the snow again...even if I did have the
    proper tires...which I don't.

    B.- Hide quoted text -

    - Show quoted text -

    Imagine if someone told you they tried cycling, didn't like it, and
    would never try again. Imagine they then tell you they were on a $5
    yard sale Huffy with 10PSI & siezed cables all around. What would
    your feelings be? I'd be tempted to profess the beauty of a proper
    bike, and "real" cycling.

    To me your post here is the same thing. You're disregarding something
    really fun because you tried it with the wrong equipment.

    The point about the extra effort to push through snow and slush is
    valid. That said, it's also good strength building. Also, much ice
    biking tends to be done on solid ice, without slush and snow to crank
    through. I know many people who consider riding on shoveled ponds to
    be one of the most fun ways to ride.

    Regarding braking, rim brakes will work well in an environment like a
    shoveled pond, all ice and no snow or slush. If you ride in the snow
    and slush as well, it may be a good idea to go to discs.

    What really killed me is the comment that you don't have the right
    tires. If you didn't try it with studded tires, you're not in a
    position to determine the amount of control available when properly
    icebiking, since most icebikers would tell you studded tires (usually
    nokians) are the most important part of ice-specific cycling.

    I hope you get a chance to ride a bike with nokians on a pond one
    day. It

  4. In article <[email hidden]>,

    Brian Sanderson said:

    "max" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:

    word pr()n.

    last week, at night, in the snow ...

    The my bike light beam fractures across the glitter snow in a
    stroboscopic dance. My wheel is relentlessly thrust aside by jarring ice
    cobbles and crevasse, and unremitting sound of ice, pulverizing beneath
    my 600 silicon carbide studs, is hypnotic. my surreal world is reduced
    to a jagged flashing white obfuscation 15 feet long and 3 thee feet
    wide, and i am a ball of purposed white clawing luminance, grinding
    through the lonely, dead night.²

    . . .

    if last week's rides were a study in simple endurance, this week has
    descended into a pulp fiction arctic horror story.

    Only some stories are true. No purposed luminance clawing this week,
    it's been more of a desparate reeling veering teeter from chasm and
    massif to cleft and summit, a bravado-goaded terror-sustained aspiration
    to defy gravity, just this once, i promise.

    Never fall down, never crash, because you'll stick to the ice and there
    is so much ice, and it is hungry for your heat. Never fall down, because
    that would belie your gloating boastful words, and you'd have to eat
    them, post by post, during your convalescence. Never fall down, never
    hear I Told You So. That's what keeps you up, through the miles and
    miles of ice.

    .max

    Ah...riding on ice.

    Tried it once.

    Didn't like it.

    Forget the lack of control, the extra effort required to push thru frozen
    slush, the sticking drivetrain, the ice rime on your wheel rims making
    braking barely possible...it's the Almost Dying that put me off...

    I'm still here man, and I'm telling ya: don't rely on luck and good
    reflexes forever...'cause they'll both run out on ya sooner or later. It's
    a classic case of; "just because you CAN, does not mean you SHOULD".
    Apologies if it is a necessity for you...but I myself would chose public
    transit <shudder> before riding in the snow again...even if I did have the
    proper tires...which I don't.

    B.

    I am grateful for the concern, but not to worry; ive been honing my mad
    winter bike skillz thru almost a decade of winter bike commuting.

    I agree with your equipment assesment -- it's a lot easier with Nokian
    Extreme 294 studded tires <http://www.gazzatyres.com/ext294.html> and
    disc brakes. It's all about the gear, starting with easy stuff, gaining
    experience and ... the gear.

    As far as the difficulty factor: more glory for .me :-)

    ..max

  5. Brian Sanderson said:

    "max" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:

    word pr()n.

    last week, at night, in the snow ...

    The my bike light beam fractures across the glitter snow in a
    stroboscopic dance. My wheel is relentlessly thrust aside by jarring ice
    cobbles and crevasse, and unremitting sound of ice, pulverizing beneath
    my 600 silicon carbide studs, is hypnotic. my surreal world is reduced
    to a jagged flashing white obfuscation 15 feet long and 3 thee feet
    wide, and i am a ball of purposed white clawing luminance, grinding
    through the lonely, dead night.²

    . . .

    if last week's rides were a study in simple endurance, this week has
    descended into a pulp fiction arctic horror story.

    Only some stories are true. No purposed luminance clawing this week,
    it's been more of a desparate reeling veering teeter from chasm and
    massif to cleft and summit, a bravado-goaded terror-sustained aspiration
    to defy gravity, just this once, i promise.

    Never fall down, never crash, because you'll stick to the ice and there
    is so much ice, and it is hungry for your heat. Never fall down, because
    that would belie your gloating boastful words, and you'd have to eat
    them, post by post, during your convalescence. Never fall down, never
    hear I Told You So. That's what keeps you up, through the miles and
    miles of ice.

    .max

    Ah...riding on ice.

    Tried it once.

    Didn't like it.

    Forget the lack of control, the extra effort required to push thru frozen
    slush, the sticking drivetrain, the ice rime on your wheel rims making
    braking barely possible...it's the Almost Dying that put me off...

    I'm still here man, and I'm telling ya: don't rely on luck and good
    reflexes forever...'cause they'll both run out on ya sooner or later. It's
    a classic case of; "just because you CAN, does not mean you SHOULD".
    Apologies if it is a necessity for you...but I myself would chose public
    transit <shudder> before riding in the snow again...even if I did have the
    proper tires...which I don't.


    Not just studded tires, but internally geared hubs and hub brakes are
    best for the all year commuter in Chicagoland.

    --
    Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
    The weather is here, wish you were beautiful

  6. Quoted message said:

    [...]
    What really killed me is the comment that you don't have the right
    tires. If you didn't try it with studded tires, you're not in a
    position to determine the amount of control available when properly
    icebiking, since most icebikers would tell you studded tires (usually
    nokians) are the most important part of ice-specific cycling.[...]

    I have read some positive things about the new (with carbide studs as
    opposed to steel studs) studded Schwalbe tires. Anyone here using them yet?

    --
    Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
    The weather is here, wish you were beautiful

  7. On Feb 19, 9:28 pm, Tom Sherman <[email hidden]>

    Quoted message said:
    Brian Sanderson said:

    "max" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:

    word pr()n.

    Quoted message said:
    Quoted message said:

    last week, at night, in the snow ...

    Quoted message said:
    Quoted message said:

    The my bike light beam fractures across the glitter snow in a
    stroboscopic dance. My wheel is relentlessly thrust aside by jarring ice
    cobbles and crevasse, and unremitting sound of ice, pulverizing beneath
    my 600 silicon carbide studs, is hypnotic. my surreal world is reduced
    to a jagged flashing white obfuscation 15 feet long and 3 thee feet
    wide, and i am a ball of purposed white clawing luminance, grinding
    through the lonely, dead night.²

    Quoted message said:
    Quoted message said:

    . . .

    Quoted message said:
    Quoted message said:

    if last week's rides were a study in simple endurance, this week has
    descended into a pulp fiction arctic horror story.

    Quoted message said:
    Quoted message said:

    Only some stories are true. No purposed luminance clawing this week,
    it's been more of a desparate reeling veering teeter from chasm and
    massif to cleft and summit, a bravado-goaded terror-sustained aspiration
    to defy gravity, just this once, i promise.

    Quoted message said:
    Quoted message said:

    Never fall down, never crash, because you'll stick to the ice and there
    is so much ice, and it is hungry for your heat. Never fall down, because
    that would belie your gloating boastful words, and you'd have to eat
    them, post by post, during your convalescence. Never fall down, never
    hear I Told You So. That's what keeps you up, through the miles and
    miles of ice.

    I fell on the ice two years ago at 10:00 PM avulsing both cruciate
    ligaments and causing a plateau fracture of my tibia (no studs, I
    thought there was no ice under the snow). (I'm a real man, I somehow
    remounted and rode home, all with one leg, went to work the next day,
    then to the ER after work). I am since petrified of the ice but I had
    so much fun riding through snow fields. Unbelievably hard to ride
    through snow with a thick frozen crust. The cold air is great. I
    would love to do it again but I might not be able to recover the next
    time.

    Have fun.

    Ted

  8. Tom Sherman said:
    Quoted message said:

    [...]
    What really killed me is the comment that you don't have the right
    tires. If you didn't try it with studded tires, you're not in a
    position to determine the amount of control available when properly
    icebiking, since most icebikers would tell you studded tires (usually
    nokians) are the most important part of ice-specific cycling.[...]

    I have read some positive things about the new (with carbide studs as
    opposed to steel studs) studded Schwalbe tires. Anyone here using
    them yet?

    I'm on Nokian 106's (and will be for years yet, as these tires are quite
    sturdy and I'm happy with them). Another guy in the bike club just bought a
    set of Schwalbe Marathons and likes them, although he wishes they were
    better in the snow. On my roads, snow is a temporary problem and it's ice
    that's the issue, but your mileage may vary.

    The best page on studded tires is Peter White's
    http://peterwhitecycles.com/studdedtires.asp

    White sells many different models. Which tire is best depends (as usual) on
    your riding and your weather. He says of the Schwalbe Marathon: "A fine all
    around tire for snow and ice. The perfect tire if you want one tire to do
    everything."

  9. In article <[email hidden]>,

    Tom Sherman said:
    Brian Sanderson said:

    "max" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:

    word pr()n.

    last week, at night, in the snow ...

    The my bike light beam fractures across the glitter snow in a
    stroboscopic dance. My wheel is relentlessly thrust aside by jarring ice
    cobbles and crevasse, and unremitting sound of ice, pulverizing beneath
    my 600 silicon carbide studs, is hypnotic. my surreal world is reduced
    to a jagged flashing white obfuscation 15 feet long and 3 thee feet
    wide, and i am a ball of purposed white clawing luminance, grinding
    through the lonely, dead night.²

    . . .

    if last week's rides were a study in simple endurance, this week has
    descended into a pulp fiction arctic horror story.

    Only some stories are true. No purposed luminance clawing this week,
    it's been more of a desparate reeling veering teeter from chasm and
    massif to cleft and summit, a bravado-goaded terror-sustained aspiration
    to defy gravity, just this once, i promise.

    Never fall down, never crash, because you'll stick to the ice and there
    is so much ice, and it is hungry for your heat. Never fall down, because
    that would belie your gloating boastful words, and you'd have to eat
    them, post by post, during your convalescence. Never fall down, never
    hear I Told You So. That's what keeps you up, through the miles and
    miles of ice.

    .max

    Ah...riding on ice.

    Tried it once.

    Didn't like it.

    Forget the lack of control, the extra effort required to push thru frozen
    slush, the sticking drivetrain, the ice rime on your wheel rims making
    braking barely possible...it's the Almost Dying that put me off...

    I'm still here man, and I'm telling ya: don't rely on luck and good
    reflexes forever...'cause they'll both run out on ya sooner or later. It's
    a classic case of; "just because you CAN, does not mean you SHOULD".
    Apologies if it is a necessity for you...but I myself would chose public
    transit <shudder> before riding in the snow again...even if I did have the
    proper tires...which I don't.


    Not just studded tires, but internally geared hubs and hub brakes are
    best for the all year commuter in Chicagoland.

    i wish! you are so correct. I was down to a six-speed a couple weeks
    back. three in front, two in back. Sunday, my front shifter mechanixm
    got so covered in ice that it froze up.

  10. In article <[email hidden]>,

    Tom Sherman said:
    Quoted message said:

    [...]
    What really killed me is the comment that you don't have the right
    tires. If you didn't try it with studded tires, you're not in a
    position to determine the amount of control available when properly
    icebiking, since most icebikers would tell you studded tires (usually
    nokians) are the most important part of ice-specific cycling.[...]

    I have read some positive things about the new (with carbide studs as
    opposed to steel studs) studded Schwalbe tires. Anyone here using them yet?

    The nokians have carbide studs, and they work great, so i imagine
    Schwalbe's would be comparable. Mine have stayed grippy for four winters
    and ... looks like about 1200~1500 miles.

  11. In article <[email hidden]>,

    Brian Sanderson said:

    Ah...riding on ice.

    Tried it once.

    Didn't like it.

    Forget the lack of control, the extra effort required to push thru frozen
    slush, the sticking drivetrain, the ice rime on your wheel rims making
    braking barely possible...it's the Almost Dying that put me off...

    I'm still here man, and I'm telling ya: don't rely on luck and good
    reflexes forever...'cause they'll both run out on ya sooner or later. It's
    a classic case of; "just because you CAN, does not mean you SHOULD".
    Apologies if it is a necessity for you...but I myself would chose public
    transit <shudder> before riding in the snow again...even if I did have the
    proper tires...which I don't.

    As a fellow Lower Mainlander, I'm with you.

    What other people don't understand is, we just don't
    get /hard/ ice here. It's just a slushy, slurry mess.
    We don't even get snow. We get a white substance that
    superficially looks like snow, but it isn't. It's
    something else for which there isn't a name yet in the
    English language. At least, nothing better than
    "wet snow," or "incipient slush."

    My brother up in Walachin/Savona (between Cache Creek
    and Kamloops) gets snow that you don't shovel -- you
    blast it away with a leaf-blower (or just let the
    local winds eventually do it for you.) It's so floury,
    you can't pack a snowball with it. /That's/ snow.

    We just get "White Rain."

    Maybe the Inuit have a name for it. They have
    all kinds of names for different kinds of "snow."
    If they did, I wouldn't be surprised if it was
    pretty vulgar.

    Anyways, what we get is soft ice with puddles of
    meltwater (often sepia-coloured) atop it.

    Good luck with that.

    We need a "SlopBike" web page.

    cheers,
    Tom

    --
    Nothing is safe from me.
    I'm really at:
    tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

  12. -snip winter-

    Quoted message said:
    Tom Sherman said:

    Not just studded tires, but internally geared hubs and hub brakes are
    best for the all year commuter in Chicagoland.

    max said:

    i wish! you are so correct. I was down to a six-speed a couple weeks
    back. three in front, two in back. Sunday, my front shifter mechanixm
    got so covered in ice that it froze up.

    Everyone is an expert on his own taste but I think my fixie is 6x better
    in salt slush than a six speed!
    --
    Andrew Muzi
    www.yellowjersey.org
    Open every day since 1 April, 1971

  13. Andrew Muzi said:

    -snip winter-

    Quoted message said:
    Tom Sherman said:

    Not just studded tires, but internally geared hubs and hub brakes are
    best for the all year commuter in Chicagoland.

    max said:

    i wish! you are so correct. I was down to a six-speed a couple weeks
    back. three in front, two in back. Sunday, my front shifter mechanixm
    got so covered in ice that it froze up.

    Everyone is an expert on his own taste but I think my fixie is 6x better
    in salt slush than a six speed!

    I suppose it depends on how one feels about fixies. Being uncoordinated,
    I would have issues just getting in and out of the pedals on a fixie.

    A fixed multi-speed hub with a clutch might be a different matter, but
    such a thing does not appear to exist.

    The fact that I learned to ride on a bicycle with hand brakes and a
    five-speed freewheel may have biased my future tastes, however.

    --
    Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
    The weather is here, wish you were beautiful

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