Winter!

"Ron Wallenfang" wrote

Quoted message said:

From the looks of the national weather map, it appears that 40 or more
states are affected by the current batch of Arctic air. For my commute

into

Quoted message said:

Milwaukee, it was 0 degrees F Monday, -1 yesterday, and -4 this morning.
The evening commutes home haven't been much better. When I got home, it

was

Quoted message said:

+4 Monday, +3 yesterday, and had skyed up to +6 today. Time for the heavy
wool socks, mask, and heavy leather/wool mittens. No frostbite but close

to

Quoted message said:

it.

How are you all doing in it?

It was my coldest ride yet yesterday, so cold, in fact, I had to put on a
long sleve jersey.

Sorry. Tried not to say anything.

(SF Bay Area and 54F)

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

Quoted message said:

From the looks of the national weather map, it appears that 40 or more
states are affected by the current batch of Arctic air. For my commute
into Milwaukee, it was 0 degrees F Monday, -1 yesterday, and -4 this
morning. The evening commutes home haven't been much better. When I got
home, it was +4 Monday, +3 yesterday, and had skyed up to +6 today. Time
for the heavy wool socks, mask, and heavy leather/wool mittens. No
frostbite but close to it.

How are you all doing in it?

Pretty much the same weather (Chicago) and the same strategy: wool socks,
ski mask, lab safety goggles, leather mittens with wool inside. Put a
studded tire on the front, as there's patches of ice on the side streets. I
don't have clipless on my winter bike and have been wearing hiking boots to
keep the toes warm.

A lot slower with this combination of things, though.

Ron Wallenfang said:

From the looks of the national weather map, it appears that 40 or more
states are affected by the current batch of Arctic air. For my commute into
Milwaukee, it was 0 degrees F Monday, -1 yesterday, and -4 this morning.
The evening commutes home haven't been much better. When I got home, it was
+4 Monday, +3 yesterday, and had skyed up to +6 today. Time for the heavy
wool socks, mask, and heavy leather/wool mittens. No frostbite but close to
it.

How are you all doing in it?

I'm enjoying it. Biggest challenge is staying upright.
We have a lot of ice left over from last week that has
been covered by a thin layer of snow, and it is
squeaky cold. Currently -7 down from a high of +7.

Robert

Ron Wallenfang said:

From the looks of the national weather map, it appears that 40 or more
states are affected by the current batch of Arctic air. For my commute into
Milwaukee, it was 0 degrees F Monday, -1 yesterday, and -4 this morning.
The evening commutes home haven't been much better. When I got home, it was
+4 Monday, +3 yesterday, and had skyed up to +6 today. Time for the heavy
wool socks, mask, and heavy leather/wool mittens. No frostbite but close to
it.

How are you all doing in it?

Well, for me the bike has been parked for the last 2 weeks, since I fell
off, recovery is complete, but with the temps below freezing, and
darkness coming around 4:30, I am unlikely to see much bike time, over
the next little while. It promises to be rather chilly for the next 2
weeks, meaning we may have a rare white Christmas. I do need to get
somewhere to clean off the bike, probably a wand car wash, I know they
can be dangerous, need a couple of days above freezing first, so it has
time to dry out. It needs a checkup so maybe I will just wait until I
can get it to the LBS!

W

Boy do I feel soft. I had my coldest ride at 18 F last night. I wore
a polar fleece jacket with a down vest, my usual leather gloves, a
Madera hat, and socks, for 30 minutes. Only my fingers got cold. I am
afraid to ride in the snow and ice with my 700x23 tires so I think I'm
just about done until spring.
Ted

Ron Wallenfang said:

From the looks of the national weather map, it appears that 40 or more
states are affected by the current batch of Arctic air. For my commute into
Milwaukee, it was 0 degrees F Monday, -1 yesterday, and -4 this morning.
The evening commutes home haven't been much better. When I got home, it was
+4 Monday, +3 yesterday, and had skyed up to +6 today. Time for the heavy
wool socks, mask, and heavy leather/wool mittens. No frostbite but close to
it.

How are you all doing in it?

Damn. I thought I was tough for riding 15 miles when it was about 3
deg. C outside (~38 deg. F?). Guess I better stick with it.

--
Paul M. Hobson
Georgia Institute of Technology
..:change the words to numbers
if you want to reply to me:.

Ron Wallenfang said:

From the looks of the national weather map, it appears that 40 or more
states are affected by the current batch of Arctic air. For my
commute into Milwaukee, it was 0 degrees F Monday, -1 yesterday, and
-4 this morning. The evening commutes home haven't been much better. When
I got home, it was +4 Monday, +3 yesterday, and had skyed up to
+6 today. Time for the heavy wool socks, mask, and heavy
leather/wool mittens. No frostbite but close to it.

How are you all doing in it?

Worst part here (San Diego) is living in a freezing house (too cheap to have
turned on furnace yet so it's, like, 58 in the living/staging room) while
it's nice and sunny outside (anywhere from mid-50s to 60s, depending on time
of day). Wore full-finger gloves and arm- and knee-warmers the other day;
next day it was downright warm out.

It's a very tough existence...

BS (a little)

Quoted message said:

Boy do I feel soft. I had my coldest ride at 18 F last night. I wore
a polar fleece jacket with a down vest, my usual leather gloves, a
Madera hat, and socks, for 30 minutes. Only my fingers got cold. I am
afraid to ride in the snow and ice with my 700x23 tires so I think I'm
just about done until spring.
Ted

You should try it out some snowy day after work. You'd be amazed how
much 23mm tires cut through the snow down to the solid surface, and on
chunky ice the rubber holds well. Nothing stays on black ice except
studs. I'm not saying the 700x23 tires are just as secure on snow and
ice, but they work better in those conditions than most people think.

I used to commute in Chicago down to around 10F: shirt, sweater, Gill
shell, watchcap, and wool socks and Blundstone boots (slip into
toeclips and are waterproof). Used one of those keffiyah scarves to
guard my neck and face--they're great! (cotton, so not for long rides).
Jeans with lycra tights under did the lower half just fine. Basic
street clothes with a twist--warm as can be.

But the damn hands! Ugh. Cold. Should have got some of those thick
leather mittens with kitten fur in them, as no ski gloves seemed to
ever be warm enough.

Alfred Ryder said:

"Ron Wallenfang" wrote

Quoted message said:

From the looks of the national weather map, it appears that 40 or more
states are affected by the current batch of Arctic air.

....

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

How are you all doing in it?

It was my coldest ride yet yesterday, so cold, in fact, I had to put on a
long sleve jersey.

Sorry. Tried not to say anything.

(SF Bay Area and 54F)

Yeah, but it's also 54F all summer long. Remember what Mark Twain had
to say: "The coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco."

Nah, this does not make it. Nowhere close. Go jump in the ocean, then
you'll understand how the rest of us feel. This is the first winter in
many that we've had snow this early -- and it's sticking around, not
melting. More expected tomorrow night. I've been riding my mountain
bike, with studded tires, for the past week.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored
_`\(,_ | by little statesmen and philosophers and divines." --Ralph Waldo
(_)/ (_) | Emerson

Paul Hobson said:

Damn. I thought I was tough for riding 15 miles when it was about 3
deg. C outside (~38 deg. F?). Guess I better stick with it.

In Vancouver, BC, where we typically have more frost-free days than
Atlanta, it was 39.2°F/4.0°C at 14:00 PST when I went out in cotton
shorts over lycra knickers, merino wool sweater, acrylic jersey and
insulated jacket with open vent zippers By 21:00 it got down to
33.8°F/1.0°C so I put on tights, an ear warmer and zipped up.
No wind nor precipitation is what made it great riding weather.
There were lots of bikes out despite the remaining patches of snow at
higher elevations.
--
zk

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

Quoted message said:

From the looks of the national weather map, it appears that 40 or more
states are affected by the current batch of Arctic air. For my commute
into Milwaukee, it was 0 degrees F Monday, -1 yesterday, and -4 this
morning. The evening commutes home haven't been much better. When I got
home, it was +4 Monday, +3 yesterday, and had skyed up to +6 today. Time
for the heavy wool socks, mask, and heavy leather/wool mittens. No
frostbite but close to it.

How are you all doing in it?

It was 5 degrees this morning where it would normally be about 25 on a cold
morning. I've only been able to get 12 miles in this entire month. I love
this global warming thing.

di said:

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

Quoted message said:

From the looks of the national weather map, it appears that 40 or more
states are affected by the current batch of Arctic air. For my commute
into Milwaukee, it was 0 degrees F Monday, -1 yesterday, and -4 this
morning. The evening commutes home haven't been much better. When I got
home, it was +4 Monday, +3 yesterday, and had skyed up to +6 today. Time
for the heavy wool socks, mask, and heavy leather/wool mittens. No
frostbite but close to it.

How are you all doing in it?

It was 5 degrees this morning where it would normally be about 25 on a cold
morning. I've only been able to get 12 miles in this entire month. I love
this global warming thing.

Global warming means more weird weather, not that everywhere is going
to be warmer.

Ron Wallenfang said:

From the looks of the national weather map, it appears that 40 or more
states are affected by the current batch of Arctic air. For my commute into
Milwaukee, it was 0 degrees F Monday, -1 yesterday, and -4 this morning.
The evening commutes home haven't been much better. When I got home, it was
+4 Monday, +3 yesterday, and had skyed up to +6 today. Time for the heavy
wool socks, mask, and heavy leather/wool mittens. No frostbite but close to
it.

How are you all doing in it?

I haven't been writing much since I got a job that I actually like.
But I was going to post this morning. The subject was:

I am NOT a wuss.

It was going to be bragging about having just commuted to work (14+
miles each way) in 22F weather. I did one in 6F last year. -1 is
really cool though.

I actually like this weather since there isn't much question of what
to wear, I just throw on the whole kit. Cold Lizard bacalava, arm
warmers, and tights (under corduroy pants). Target brand (C9)
underlayer shirt and some hooded polyester midlayer, and a Cannondale
yellow outer layer - which isn't looking so yellow anymore. It gets a
LOT of wear.

My big problem in cold are the fingers and toes. So, Lectra mittens
with "D" cell battery - rechargable, and light poly liner gloves
underneath. Sometimes I keep the thumb in with the fingers, sometimes
I put them back into the finger slot. It's bad enough gripping with
mittens so I do mostly keep the thumbs where they're supposed to be.
It's good the bike has grip shifts since they work ok with mittens.

As for toes, Sorel boots (got 'em cheap at Filene's) and some kind of
electric socks that take a "D" cell (also rechargeable). They have a
thin band of metal down under the toes. Not enough heat to ever really
feel it but enough to keep those toes happy - which keeps me happy.

This morning,nothing was cold, even the small part of the face
sticking out of the bacalava. It was just a joy riding - right through
Queens, over the 59th Street Bridge, and down to the South Street
Seaport area. Here's my commute:

http://tinyurl.com/b7tzg

I did pop a zipper open after a few miles. If anything I was
overdressed and sweated a bit.

I still can't wait for that first ride in a tee shirt though.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Ron Wallenfang said:

From the looks of the national weather map, it appears that 40 or more
states are affected by the current batch of Arctic air. For my commute into
Milwaukee, it was 0 degrees F Monday, -1 yesterday, and -4 this morning.
The evening commutes home haven't been much better. When I got home, it was
+4 Monday, +3 yesterday, and had skyed up to +6 today. Time for the heavy
wool socks, mask, and heavy leather/wool mittens. No frostbite but close to
it.

How are you all doing in it?

Another chicago rider, 9 miles each way via river trail and prairie path,
half at midnight. Quite fun.

Not too bad, a few thin layers, a balaklava and some old Sorels etc.

The biggest porblem isn't the cold as much time it takes to change clothes
at each end, and keeping my eyewear even a little bit unfogged/iced. I still
arrive kinda sweaty, but not as much as in previous years, so i'm getting a
handle on the layers. Wool and cotton woulnd't be have time to dry at work,
so i'm a plastic kinda guy.

People think people like us are crazy. After going out to fetch my mail in
my jammies yesterday, i think i understand why they think this.

..max

Quoted message said:

Boy do I feel soft. I had my coldest ride at 18 F last night. I wore
a polar fleece jacket with a down vest, my usual leather gloves, a
Madera hat, and socks, for 30 minutes. Only my fingers got cold. I am
afraid to ride in the snow and ice with my 700x23 tires so I think I'm
just about done until spring.
Ted

I prefer my studded mtb tires but I have done a lot of winter riding
on 700x25's with no real problems. In fact, I have heard a least one
expert winter cyclist claim that 700x## are better in snow than 26X 2.5
..
John Kane, Kingston ON Canada

Ron Wallenfang said:

From the looks of the national weather map, it appears that 40 or more
states are affected by the current batch of Arctic air. For my commute into
Milwaukee, it was 0 degrees F Monday, -1 yesterday, and -4 this morning.
The evening commutes home haven't been much better. When I got home, it was
+4 Monday, +3 yesterday, and had skyed up to +6 today. Time for the heavy
wool socks, mask, and heavy leather/wool mittens. No frostbite but close to
it.

How are you all doing in it?

I've been taking the bus this week. Except today, when I
was about 15 seconds late, so I walked. My street is snow-
packed, and snow was falling when I left. That and the
early darkness this time of year make the bus an easy
choice.

It was all the way up to +6 this morning too. Felt warm!

Usually when I bike in cold weather -- below 10 -- I just
put lots of scarves around my head. If my head stays
warm, the rest of my body does too. But my commute is
less than 2 miles. Hardly long enough to get the blood
moving.

Long johns are also a necessity.

Scott in Madison

Ron Wallenfang said:

From the looks of the national weather map, it appears that 40 or more
states are affected by the current batch of Arctic air. For my commute into
Milwaukee, it was 0 degrees F Monday, -1 yesterday, and -4 this morning.
The evening commutes home haven't been much better. When I got home, it was
+4 Monday, +3 yesterday, and had skyed up to +6 today. Time for the heavy
wool socks, mask, and heavy leather/wool mittens. No frostbite but close to
it.

How are you all doing in it?

It's FREEZING in montreal....even for this time of year it's too cold.
Temp today -6C for a high, normal is about -2. HOwever, no snow, just
sunny, cold and WINDY. We aren't supposed to get any of that storm
that's headed east... it's supposed to slip just south of us, so we may
just get some flurries.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Scott said:

Ron Wallenfang said:

From the looks of the national weather map, it appears that 40 or more
states are affected by the current batch of Arctic air. For my commute
into
Milwaukee, it was 0 degrees F Monday, -1 yesterday, and -4 this morning.
The evening commutes home haven't been much better. When I got home, it
was
+4 Monday, +3 yesterday, and had skyed up to +6 today. Time for the heavy
wool socks, mask, and heavy leather/wool mittens. No frostbite but close
to
it.

How are you all doing in it?

I've been taking the bus this week. Except today, when I
was about 15 seconds late, so I walked. My street is snow-
packed, and snow was falling when I left. That and the
early darkness this time of year make the bus an easy
choice.

It was all the way up to +6 this morning too. Felt warm!

It has warmed up here, in the region greater metropolitan Chicagoland area,
only 23F.

I'm not biking today.

I'm taking my 24" unicycle* out for a little wobble. and maybe help the
bicycle snowplow guy clear some sneaux.

:-)

..max
*the only question is gazz' or hookworm...