Soon, the studs will be back on the bikes....

The weather we've had in Southern Alberta has been pretty terrible this summer. August was the only month so far this calendar year that we haven't had snow. We've had very few hot days, and my short-wearing days were less this year than I remember them being ever. After a terrible, cool, wet summer, it's hard to get excited about winter coming.

Until I remember how much fun winter cycling is. I almost think I prefer it to summer cycling. Everything about it is a little more epic. Lights, studded bike tires, careful wardrobe selection, and the fact that a perfectly flat and straight gravel road can turn into an almost impossible-to-ride trail with the slush and snow. Winter is harder on the bikes, and every ride pretty much requires an after ride wash-down, but it's a little funner. There's a greater feeling of achievement after a winter ride than a summer ride. Not that I don't love a nice warm ramble in the country on a hot summer day, stopping to take pictures and drink water while the birds and bugs sing around you. Those are great too, and I"m sure I'll be missing them come mid-January when I'm staring outside at -30 degrees.

I'm not sure why (and I think it's kind of sick) but, I'm pretty stoked for winter cycling to be coming around.

The driest part of the commute

Snow does,nt remain snow when temps are 10C (50F). It turns to water. Lots and lots of water. The planet bike cascaidas do a great job of protecting me from that former snow.

I'm having to take the whole lane was I enter the industrial park in this little town of ours. There are simply two wheel ruts, and the rest is sloppy coated ice. Nice and brown. It's okay though, with only water on the pavement in the wheel ruts at least I can sustain a decent clip and keep the motorheads from getting too ticked at me. Besides, if the motorheads are sick of being behind me......blame the town. It's their roadway and it's their job to clear it. I even pay them handsomely to do so. Strathmore is becoming notorious for not clearing roadways when it snows. At least that makes me not feel so bad about holding up traffic.

Morning ritual.....

.....shoveling snow. Kind of a warming up of the Soots' engine if ya know what I mean.

Studs on the Xtra

Last night I made a little time to install the studded tires on the Xtra. I wasn’t necessarily going to run studded tires on the soon to be named Xtra, but with all of the snow we’ve recently received, and the fact that the roads and sidewalks is pretty much solid ice, I needed something with studs. Either that or drive........ Yesterdays ride on the KM proved this. 3 wipe outs on the way home for lunch. 2 on a busy road. Not my idea of a risk worth taking. Also, seeing as the only set of studded tires I’ve got are 26”, and the only 26” bike I’ve got is the Xtra, I didn’t really have much of a choice. The studded tires that I run are Schwable Snow Studs. I don’t think they make these tires anymore. I think they’ve been replaced by the Schwable Marathon Winter. I do like these Snow Studs I have though. While they’re not aggressively studded, they do offer that extra little bit of bite that aids in keeping the bike vertical. I’ve been eyeing up the Nokian 29er 294, with its 294 studs. Those on the single speed Karate Monkey would make for a very well planted bike on the winter roads around Strathmore. However, I think that once the ice is gone, the studs would wear down really quickly. At least the ones in the center band of the tire. One thing I really like about the Snow Stud is that I can pump them up to 65PSI, and the studs are clear of the road. Obviously cornering will bring them into contact, but you just have to remember not to corner very fast. Last night, I put 35PSI in them, and that lets the center of the tire flatten out, and brings the studs nicely down to the icy surface. Where these Snow Studs really shine is when everything starts to melt. Slush and slop pose no issues for these tires. The tread pattern sheds slush, snow and mud like crazy. I’ve never seen a tire as good at shedding mud as the Snow Stud.

After a season away from the studded tires, you forget how big of a difference the do make. Especially after abandoning my bike ride back to work after lunch yesterday I really notice the difference. If you think you may benefit from running studded tires on your bike, I’d say give them a go. You’ll be amazed at how much it helps. With the current conditions that I’m commuting in right now, I’d say that I couldn’t ride my bike to work safely without studded tires.

(This is the way home for lunch today. Warmed up to a balmy -16C!)

Now……..I’m seriously second guessing my decision not to buy a set for the Karate Monkey……

First Blizzard of the season!

Weekend blizzard fun. Neighbors having to clear my front door so I could get out of my house, shoveling 5 foot drifts behind my truck with a quad, and spending 3 solid hours clearing a 7 foot drift that built up against my garage door. Ah, what fun. Such is the life in Southern Alberta in the winter. Many plans cancelled, and happily opt to just stay inside, consuming copious amounts of coffee and hot chocolate while in pajama pants and watching movies with the kids. Sometimes, unplanned weekends are better than anything we could have planned.

Riding to work this morning was interesting. -27C (-17F) when I headed out the door. Still most of the sidewalks were covered, so I was forced to share the narrow paths between drifts on the roads. Even my back-routes were complete drifted, to the point that it would be carrying the bike through waist deep snow. I figured it’d be better to risk the ice, and take it easy, that to get to work sweating like a stuck guy on a bike. Biffed it once at a low speed. Two footed landing though, no harm done.

It’s amazing how weird your bike sounds when riding in this kind of cold. Tires on the snow are deafeningly loud, and brakes make noises that I’ve never heard before. Cranks creak when you wax on them, and I think I could hear the KM frame complaining. While it was cold, it was a good. Sure beats starting up my truck, letting it warm up for 30 minutes, riding in it even though it hasn’t really warmed up inside, and then doing it all over again. Thanks, but I’ll just get a quick fresh blast of wintery goodness, and then enjoy the sweet feeling of appendages unthawing after the journey. If you’ve experience such sensations, you’re really missing out! Regardless of the weather, ride yer bike!

Cheers.

What a Mutt

I present to you my winter beater. This is the ugliest bike I've ever owned. I king of like it though. If it were stolen, I wouldn't be upset, and the parts are all those of which I am willing to sacrifice to the act of winter commuting in snow, slush, slop and salt. Single speed is a huge bonus for the nasties. Winter here is brutal on a bicycle. We winter cyclist must give up the desire to ride on fine bicycles, enjoy the use of high quality components, and simply come to terms with riding bikes that look like they've been cobbled from the scrap heap. At least that's my take on it. And I mean really, it take 10 minutes maximum for me to get to work. Do I want to destroy my nice bikes, or am I will to have ride junk. I'll ride junk, and leave the nice bikes for nice(r) bike rides.

Schwalbe Snow Studs back in action. Going on their 4th winter. I think this will be the last season for them, if they last all the way through. The studs are seemingly recessed, and they are not as effective as they were when they were new.

Cockpit is pure function. Some old bar/stem combo that's been in my parts bin for a year or so. Why I don't know, I guess I was saving it for this winter.

Selle An-atomica Saddle was a gift from good man Vik. I need to talk to Vik about this. I'm finding that the sides of the leather are pressing into my legs, and it is very uncomfortable after about 5 minutes. Might be a slightly different setup required for the SA, and it might be the fact that this saddle has reached the end of it's usable life, and the tensioner bold only has about 1/4" left until it's maxed.

Also from Vik, and idea. Pop-bottle mud flap. Adds to the ghetto-bike look, and as tested this morning, it's highly effective. Slush and slop everywhere, feet dry and clean. Sweet.

Winter commuting. sort of.

This morning I had an early appointment to drop our minivan off at the Chevy dealer for some warranty service. Perfect. I throw the pink bike into the van, and get a bit of early morning riding in. I dropped the van off at 7:30, and the guy booking me is asked if I needed a ride. “Nope” I told him, “I’ve got my bike”. He looked up from the computer screen like I was crazy. “Really? You’re going to ride a bike in this?” Some people just don’t get it.

The distance from the dealer to my work place is minimal (4kms), so I did a little touring around town. All the old memories of commuting in the winter when I lived here in town all came back to me. Man I miss riding my bike to work every single day.

I threw on the Schwalbe Snow Studs last night as I knew that the streets would be icy. Traction was excellent. I’ve never tried any other studded winter tires, but I’ve got very few complaints about these ones. They perform very well, and the only time I have issues riding in this weather, are in circumstances that I don’t think any tires would do well in.

I think a longer lunch time ride is now on the agenda!

Fixie gets some brakes

Not installed yet, but they showed up in the mail today. While I know they're not the greatest, they were a deal for only $15 on eBay. It'll give me a nice chance to ride the fixie with a front brake and see what it's like.

I'll also change gearing down a bit and install some 42 width tires with tread I've got kicking around the garage. Call it the winter conversion.

Foggy Commute

Invigorating???

Today I rode to work. I've ridden to work every day for the past month. Very, very steady. In fact, so far this year I've driven my truck only once to work, and that was because I had to drop off my table saw with a buddy before work.

The Xtracycle has made huge contributions to making this happen.

Today however was the coldest I've ever ridden my bike. It was -38C (-36.4F) with a windchill factor of -48C (-54.4F). I know in my post this morning I said I would not be taking pictures, but you just can't turn down a shot like this can ya? The 15 seconds I had my gloves off almost brought tears to my eyes. They said on the radio that exposed skin freezes in less than a minute with these windchill factors. I think they might be right. Didn't really want to find out though. We haven't had too much snow, but some monster drifts. I've lately found them to be very handy as bike racks. Seems everywhere I want to park my bike (work, the arena, outside of my shed) there seems to be a great stiff snow drift that does the job well. One of those benefits to winter cycling, huh?
Cheers.

PR

I just woke up, walked over to our little thermometer and it is -37.6C. We have a wind of 15 km/h. The temperature with wind chill is -51C!! I'm riding my bike to work today. That will be the PR part. I've never ridden in temperature that cold. You can be sure I won't be stopping to take any pictures.

Stay warm, wherever you are. Peace.

One speed is all you need

While pillaging through my bike junk, scrounging parts for building up my Xtracycle, I thought I'd also build up something else. A single speed.

Not that I was looking for another bike project, but my faithful Trek (at the time a single speed) was being geared again, in preparation for the big loads I'd be hauling.

I've been hanging onto an old mtb frame for something just like this.

It's an old Shimano??? Tange steel frame. I haven't measured, but I'd say it's a large and fits me quite well. Pink too. I thought a pink and black bike would suit the SS attitude.

All the parts for the build were grabbed from the recycling yard. This build cost me $0.00. I've built some cheap bikes in the past, but I wanted to do something that was completely free other than the time to build it.

Right now I'm running a 38 up front with a Dicta 16 tooth freewheel in the back. Riding it to work was great, but I went for a little romp in the snow (kind of the purpose for this build; a snow bike I could beat up and leave lying around unlocked) and 16 is not enough in the back. Or 38 is too many in the front. I've got an 18 and 20 tooth (those are brand new and cost me $5.36 on Ebay including shipping) and I'm gonna give them a try. Still makes this bike something I wouldn't be heartbroken if it was stolen.

Here she is. You may notice I don't have a rear brake cable. That's cause I haven't stolen it from another doner bike in the shed yet. I'll get to that in the next couple of days.

Cheers.

Where's the Pugs?

Today I wish I had a Pugsley. At least for this morning’s commute. I’m sure that by the time I head home for lunch, I’ll be glad I’ve got my studded tires, but this morning would have been great on a Pugsley.

We’ve gotten about 3 inches of snow in the past 24hrs and much of it has drifted. I am glad though that it is snowing. I’ll be a little sad when there is no more snow riding for the season. I don’t know why I like it so much, but I think that most people who do it, really enjoy it. There something different about it. You feel more like a kid when you’re riding in the snow, maybe because most adults would thinks it’s crazy.
Anyway, a great ride in this morning. -8C and not too much wind. I ended up stopping half way to work to loose some of the air in my tires, as the soft ruts in the snow were having their way with me. Once I had my tire foot print a little bigger and softer, things seemed to settle down quite nicely.
Today was actually a day that I had to ride my bike! I lent my truck to a friend who is picking up a wheel chair lift for his wife in Saskatoon, and my wife and our boys need the mini van. This is probably the first time that I’ve actually had to ride my bike, and I can’t say it feels any different. I didn’t have a vehicle to drive to work, and yet the first time it crossed my mind was after I was at work. I think I’m starting to live like I have wanted to. I think my mind set is getting to a good place, and on top of all that, it’s so stinken fun!!

Love your bike!!

More Snow

Well, we've received a fresh dump of snow here in Strathmore. Kind of nice to cover up the brown again, but much of this white stuff is hiding the frozen car ruts and ice patches that don't seem to die.

I wiped out on my way back to work from lunch. Not bad, just embarrassing. I don't think that anyone saw though. That's the important part. These studded tires to make a difference, but I guess they don't compensate for stupid. I was moving far to fast for the corner I was trying to take. It's the only corner that I've ever crashed my bike in the past 2 years. After the crash, I thought it would be a good time for a picture, as I was off my bike already.

Ride on.

Bicycle T.L.C.

Well, all of this great warm weather (note the Chinook arch in this photo) that has come lately is creating a lot of muck on the roads.

After missing and struggling for shifts on the way home today, I decide it was time to give my winter (beater) a quick cleaning.

This muck loves bikes. Particularly the drive train. Bottom Bracket





Rear Derailer

Wheel

Rear Hub
Scraping crap out fo the cogs with a screw driver

Well, I soaked them all in degreaser, cleaned everything up and ran through some shifts on the stand and noted a significant improvement.

Tomorrow (this) morning, we'll do a road test on the way to work.

Cheers,

Jerome