Do you cycle all year round?
- Thread starter Bimble
- Start date
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redflightuk
Guru
- Location
- going round in circles
All year all weather. Had fun showing up the motons trying to get up a 12% climb on packed snow, they only made it half way up the hill. While i waited for them to slowly reverse back down i put my snow string on the rear wheel then rode all the way to the top.
brokenbetty
Über Member
- Location
- London
All year, all weather. I don't need anything special for the snow and ice because I live close enough to wheel the bike to the main road which is always clear.
I only get the train to work if I'm going somewhere other than home afterwards.
I only get the train to work if I'm going somewhere other than home afterwards.
Flying_Monkey
Recyclist
- Location
- Odawa
We've had quite a few threads on this over in Commuting - simple answer is 'yes'.
I should qualify that and say that I live in Canada (and BTW, not even in one of the coldest parts), and it stays below freezing from mid-December to the end of March, and we usually have around half a metre of snow on the ground for most of that time, although it does get cleared off the roads (in most places). This morning it was a (unusually cold) -33. My ride was hampered somewhat by what felt like bits of my bike freezing together...
All you need is the right clothes and a properly equipped bike for whatever conditions you are riding in. My view is make it as simple as possible so in winter I use a self-built single-speed steel MTB with wide bars for balance, and studded tyres.
To be honest though, I prefer these conditions to the driving winds and horizontal hailstones or freezing rain we used to get on Tyneside in winter (and that didn't stop me either!).
I should qualify that and say that I live in Canada (and BTW, not even in one of the coldest parts), and it stays below freezing from mid-December to the end of March, and we usually have around half a metre of snow on the ground for most of that time, although it does get cleared off the roads (in most places). This morning it was a (unusually cold) -33. My ride was hampered somewhat by what felt like bits of my bike freezing together...
All you need is the right clothes and a properly equipped bike for whatever conditions you are riding in. My view is make it as simple as possible so in winter I use a self-built single-speed steel MTB with wide bars for balance, and studded tyres.
To be honest though, I prefer these conditions to the driving winds and horizontal hailstones or freezing rain we used to get on Tyneside in winter (and that didn't stop me either!).
maat1976
Active Member
- Location
- North London
I've only been here in the UK for 18 months and other than 6 weeks when I was sick as a dock this past Nov and Dec, I've cycled/trained it for 60-70% of the time. I hope to up this shortly after getting a sweeter ride!
Skyfoil
The Jolly Ginger Giant
- Location
- Wolverhampton
I've only been cycling for 4 months, and have commuted to work every day since collecting my bike from the shop.
I came off it on a frozen car-park at work early in the winter, but I still had my slicks on. That weekend I was straight back to the shop for some winter tyres. Since fitting then i've cycled on snow, ice and through some pretty harsh winds.
I decided when I stopped driving to work that it was all or nothing. I don't regret it either.
This weekend i'm fitting SPD's to my bike aswell. I've never tried them before, so i'll probably fall off a couple of time next week!
I've heard a popular cyclists comment; 'There's no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing'. All I can say to that is, I still havn't found the right clothing!
I came off it on a frozen car-park at work early in the winter, but I still had my slicks on. That weekend I was straight back to the shop for some winter tyres. Since fitting then i've cycled on snow, ice and through some pretty harsh winds.
I decided when I stopped driving to work that it was all or nothing. I don't regret it either.
This weekend i'm fitting SPD's to my bike aswell. I've never tried them before, so i'll probably fall off a couple of time next week!
I've heard a popular cyclists comment; 'There's no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing'. All I can say to that is, I still havn't found the right clothing!
This weekend i'm fitting SPD's to my bike aswell. I've never tried them before, so i'll probably fall off a couple of time next week!
You just need to remember, until it becomes second nature, that it is a different action, instead of the normal lift of the foot you need to twist it first. Also you will need to learn to pre-empt situations, unclipping as a precaution sometimes.
Flying_Monkey
Recyclist
- Location
- Odawa
I should add - I don't use SPDs in winter. Simple platform pedals mean less can go wrong.
I commute all year round. i have ice tyres, I missed one day of my 15 mile each way ride to work last year as the snow was too deep
Fun rides, I will go out at the weekends if it is ok. I will do sub zero temperatures and extreme heat. I don't like strong wind or rain. I will enter and start events that are likely to feature rain/wind/hail/snow/mud if they go somewhere nice (like Wales)
I should add - I don't use high heels in winter. Simple flat shoes mean less can go wrong
Fun rides, I will go out at the weekends if it is ok. I will do sub zero temperatures and extreme heat. I don't like strong wind or rain. I will enter and start events that are likely to feature rain/wind/hail/snow/mud if they go somewhere nice (like Wales)
I should add - I don't use high heels in winter. Simple flat shoes mean less can go wrong
Tried to start my commute to work yesterday (earlier in the year than normal). Sadly, the route I take uses a bridal path and it appears that in the winter months during the snow some tractor drivers have decided to use this same bridleway.
So, it's gone from this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dvf-woz/3597418859/
To a wide 'path' thats literally 4 inches of slurry and wet mud with a consistancy of a Macdonald's shake
I'm used to muddy conditions, but I was just spinning the back wheel and when I took my foot off the pedals I virtually lost my shoe!
At one point I ground to a complete stop and because of the crap in my SPDs I couldn't detach, so just slowly toppled sideways into the mud
Also, this section was right at the beginning of my 13 mile ride home, so the bike was in a right mess with everything grinding and hissing for the rest of the ride, which virtually killed me!
If I don't use this bridle path, my route takes me on some roads that are dodgy at the best of times in the dark in addition to crossing a roundabout just off a motorway which can be hair-raising in the dark.
Later on the ride, I go on a paved road country road that a farmer has clearly been using to move...er...fertilizer, which was distributed evenly across the surface. I was thanking my lucky stars that my tourer has full mudguards!
I won't be commuting for another few weeks!
So, it's gone from this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dvf-woz/3597418859/
To a wide 'path' thats literally 4 inches of slurry and wet mud with a consistancy of a Macdonald's shake
I'm used to muddy conditions, but I was just spinning the back wheel and when I took my foot off the pedals I virtually lost my shoe!
At one point I ground to a complete stop and because of the crap in my SPDs I couldn't detach, so just slowly toppled sideways into the mud
Also, this section was right at the beginning of my 13 mile ride home, so the bike was in a right mess with everything grinding and hissing for the rest of the ride, which virtually killed me!
If I don't use this bridle path, my route takes me on some roads that are dodgy at the best of times in the dark in addition to crossing a roundabout just off a motorway which can be hair-raising in the dark.
Later on the ride, I go on a paved road country road that a farmer has clearly been using to move...er...fertilizer, which was distributed evenly across the surface. I was thanking my lucky stars that my tourer has full mudguards!
I won't be commuting for another few weeks!
Skyfoil
The Jolly Ginger Giant
- Location
- Wolverhampton
Well, hopefully the worst is over now.
Thanks for the tip though. I think I might keep my platform pedals in a safe place ready for next winter.
Yes, even after only a few months, i'm already thinking about next year. I've seriously got the bug!
Well, hopefully the worst is over now.
Thanks for the tip though. I think I might keep my platform pedals in a safe place ready for next winter.
Yes, even after only a few months, i'm already thinking about next year. I've seriously got the bug!
My SPD pedals have one side SPD and the other flat for normal shoes, or you can actually buy the flat platform separately although it is almost the same price as buying new pedals.
Yeah, I've got the two-sided pedals on two of my bikes (the GT MTB and the Tourer). They work really well and they're weighted so that they fall with one edge down. You quickly learn that bringing your foot to them from the back will engage the clips and from the front will present the standard flat pedal (or maybe it's the other way! Motor-memory verses memory memory!).
trickletreat
Guru
- Location
- solihull
All year, all weathers, with daughter pedaling the trailer, and an ice tyre fitted for traction in the winter.
