* Freezing Saddles 2014 *

[Fast Friendly Guy]

@consularrider 74985 wrote:

Oh good, now I won’t feel so bad about riding the ice bike while the hybrid gets repaired.

Just thinkin’ the same thing. I put the studs back on the Black Battleship (formerly known as the Black CrossRip) this morning. It felt the prudent thing to do after hearing Steve E.’s story about wiping out at Clarks Gap. But then I felt funny humming along on my studs with the sun shining. Did I mention that the Battleship can plow through any weather, (but it weighs 253 metric tons)

So I say BRING IT ON!

[TwoWheelsDC]

IIRC, December and January were unseasonably warm last year, then February and March were freaking miserably cold and windy. So at this point, I say bring on the cold in January and February, and let’s have a warm spring.

[americancyclo]

NYT has thrown the gauntlet
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/29/nyregion/snow-ice-and-wind-no-issue-for-citi-bikes-die-hards.html

or: the Cold weather biking in NY is Sooooo much better.

[Justin Antos]

Hang on, only 2571 CitiBike rides during a snowstorm? On the 21st when we got 4+ inches, Capital Bikeshare had almost 1,800 rides. That’s pretty darn good considering Citibike is 2.5 times bigger than Bikeshare.

I’ll do some fancy math. So during a snowstorm, DC had 0.72 rides/bike, and NY had 0.43. After applying advanced hedonic regression techniques, and after controlling for the phase of the moon and sunspots, (aka (72/43)-1), I conclude that D.C. residents are 68% tougher than New Yorkers for cold-weather biking.

Q.E.D.

[Rob_O]

And now this from today’s WaPo: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/frigid-temps-are-no-barrier-to-the-growing-number-of-bicycle-riders/2014/01/30/065155b0-89c0-11e3-916e-e01534b1e132_story.html?hpid=z5

Surprisingly no mention of Freezing Saddles 2014. Who can ID themselves in that photo on the Key Bridge?

[Rob_O]

And this data on ridership: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/2014/01/30/0de13f9a-89e1-11e3-833c-33098f9e5267_story.html

Would have liked to see a little more rigorous analysis. For example, it appears that CaBi use spikes on Mondays, regardless of temperature. Wonder if the stats would bear that out.

[dkel]

@Rob_O 76139 wrote:

And now this from today’s WaPo: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/frigid-temps-are-no-barrier-to-the-growing-number-of-bicycle-riders/2014/01/30/065155b0-89c0-11e3-916e-e01534b1e132_story.html?hpid=z5

Surprisingly no mention of Freezing Saddles 2014. Who can ID themselves in that photo on the Key Bridge?

I emailed the author midday yesterday when I heard he was looking for winter bike commuting info, sending Freezing Saddles links to this forum and the leaderboard. Maybe it’s too crazy for the tenor of the article he was trying to publish. It was a nice article, though, particularly in response to yesterday’s NY Times piece. As usual, the comments section got a little ridiculous; if we check back later in the day, I’m sure it will have all the anti-cycling rants we’re used to seeing.

[americancyclo]

@Rob_O 76140 wrote:

And this data on ridership: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/2014/01/30/0de13f9a-89e1-11e3-833c-33098f9e5267_story.html

That is the worst presentation of that data that I can think of.

@Rob_O 76140 wrote:

For example, it appears that CaBi use spikes on Mondays, regardless of temperature. Wonder if the stats would bear that out.

Mondays seem to be big days, at least on the 13, 20, and 27 even for us crazy folk. Alternate Work Schedules?

http://freezingsaddles.com/explore/riders_by_lowtemp

[Tim Kelley]

@dkel 76145 wrote:

I emailed the author midday yesterday when I heard he was looking for winter bike commuting info, sending Freezing Saddles links to this forum and the leaderboard. Maybe it’s too crazy for the tenor of the article he was trying to publish.

I’m glad that Freezing Saddles wasn’t mentioned. Articles that tout how extreme it is to get around on a bike increase the false sense that this is abnormal behavior. It’s actually just an everyday thing for many people, and it could be for many more if the false perceptions were not out there. For the many people who are riding through the winter, they keep doing it because it’s the easiest, cheapest, fastest, healthiest way to get around. It’s part of their daily routine.

[rcannon100]

I agree with tim.

However,

Freezing Saddles: Virtual contest pushes area cyclists to rack up real mileage WAPO

I actually intentionally did not respond to the request for interview for this article bc I was a bit concerned about the publicity for Freezing Saddles.

[dasgeh]

So, yeah, I didn’t mention Freezing Saddles, basically because it did fit in naturally to the questions and because my answers were more along the lines of “this is no big deal – just how I get to work because it’s the best option for me and my family”. I don’t know exactly what I said, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t say that I only knew one other person biking back in the early 2000s (because I had a lot of friends who’d bike to work so they could bike to play after work, and Metro/Bus/car didn’t allow enough flexibility).

[DismalScientist]

Congrats to Subby for equaling his 2013 Freezing Saddles mileage in 40 days and getting by RCannon100’s sandbag filter.:rolleyes:

[Greenbelt]

What is the scale on the “before sunrise” and “after sunset” charts? For example, Rod Smith and Chris Randall are in the 100,000 range for “after sunset” but 100,000 whats?

[Tim Kelley]

@Greenbelt 77006 wrote:

What is the scale on the “before sunrise” and “after sunset” charts? For example, Rod Smith and Chris Randall are in the 100,000 range for “after sunset” but 100,000 whats?

Rods? Hogsheads?

[cyclingfool]

I think it’s seconds.

[Author]

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