I love the idea of a Wiki and would happily participate.
Some quick comments (as I sit in my office smelling a little funny from my 90 minute morning ride- no showers around here…)
1. Clothes options- you hit on the one-way commute (usually my MO) but an alternate is the Monday drive where you take in your week’s worth of clothes. Personally, I hate carrying anything when I ride and manage 100 miles/week without a backpack.
2. Clothes choices- Some folks (me) have real problems keeping their nether regions and belly warm when the temp is below freezing. Runners use a product called “wind briefs” that essentially have a wind-barrier “cod.” Bib tights are also a pretty good bet. In general, folks need to remember the impact of wind chill- 20 mph riding at 30 degrees is an effective temp of 17! That’s eyeball freezing cold!
3. Snowy trails- the frozen bike rut problem and studded tires for the truly hearty
4. CX bikes- unless you are on mixed terrain that includes some gravel (e.g. G’town branch) you probably don’t want CX tires- you’ll wear them out very fast and you don’t gain much int he pavement traction department. A nice fat 35mm on a CX will do most people fine
5. Bike Maint- specifically rinsing (yikes!) In a word, don’t do it unless you are planning to fully dry the bike and re-lube everything. Derailleur pulleys, cables, brake linkages, chain, cassette and pedals will all suffer premature wear from frequent washing. The problem comes when you let it go for too long and a simple wipe won’t get the grime off. I’m as lazy as the next guy but I keep some rags in my office for a quick wipe down and re-lube bi-weekly. Every two months I use the White Lightning chain cleaner and do a thorough cleaning. As a result I get 5K (+) out of an Ultegra chain.
6. Headphones- might want to mention the hazards of headphones on self and others. Personally, I listen to Pandora or NPR but only in one ear and never at high volume
7. Smart phone devices- I use a $5 iPhone app called “Cyclemeter” and think that it’s the best thing since sliced bread- it tracks route performance based on best, median and worst and whispers your relative performance in your ear after automagically lowering the volume on Pandora. I love it for training but also keep track of my annual mileage and map rides
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