Tuesday morning could be coldest day in D.C. in 20 years

[PotomacCyclist]

I hope this is the last week that the title applies. Even though I haven’t been riding outside that much in January, I’m still tired of this Arctic weather. I didn’t sign up to live in North Dakota or Minnesota. 40F I can deal with. 20F not as much.

(But it’s easier to handle the cold while running, because the feet are more active. I don’t even need to wear socks when I run in the winter, whereas I can never keep my toes warm when biking on sub 40F days.)

[Terpfan]

@PotomacCyclist 75839 wrote:

I hope this is the last week that the title applies. Even though I haven’t been riding outside that much in January, I’m still tired of this Arctic weather. I didn’t sign up to live in North Dakota or Minnesota. 40F I can deal with. 20F not as much.

(But it’s easier to handle the cold while running, because the feet are more active. I don’t even need to wear socks when I run in the winter, whereas I can never keep my toes warm when biking on sub 40F days.)

20 with no wind sounds like a good deal to me! Ha, what a sad winter we have had. I’ve finally figured out keeping my toes warm only for my hands to turn so cold I’ve had to stop to go inside to warm them up.

[PotomacCyclist]

One more day of the Arctic blast, I hope. Cold again tonight (13F). Starting tomorrow, we should see more typical D.C. winter conditions (30s and 40s).

50 degrees on Saturday? Can this be true?

[culimerc]

Its not so much the cold that’s keeping me off my bike as the prospect of an after dark commute on the WOD covered in ice and ruts. The potential for disaster is just a little too high for me. So if it would warm up just long enough to clear the trail, then it can get cold again, I’d be fine with that.

[Geoff]

@culimerc 75886 wrote:

Its not so much the cold that’s keeping me off my bike as the prospect of an after dark commute on the WOD covered in ice and ruts. The potential for disaster is just a little too high for me. So if it would warm up just long enough to clear the trail, then it can get cold again, I’d be fine with that.

I feel much the same. Some of the recent mornings may have been colder than I can handle – I’m OK down to 20, haven’t tried colder – but ice and ruts are something else. A bad fall could put me out of action for months. Don’t need it.

[hozn]

The trails are (well, were) mostly clear between Reston and Vienna. Not sure if the snow today will stick around; presumably the sun will re-melt off much of it. Between Vienna and Gallows and Falls Church there were still significant sections of icy areas. I would probably trust riding it on a mountain bike, but I have been using studded tires and will keep them on until it’s 95% clear/has-a-pathway. They are slow, but I am much more confident that I won’t fall. It’s fun to ride on the ruts and pretend to be riding on cobbles. I have no idea what cobbles feel like, but I imagine it’s similar.

Really, the hardest part has been the impact to speed (and hence complicating logistics since I need to still work a full day *and* pick up my son). That and the cold. I broke down and bought some Bar Mitts (trying them tonight for the first time), but still have trouble with my feet much below 20F. I wore regular boots w/ platform pedals yesterday; that worked, but I was reminded that platform pedals kinda suck (especially under snow boots).

[PotomacCyclist]

Snow tomorrow, possibly freezing rain on Tue. night-Wed. morning. Enjoy the nicer weekend temperatures while they last.

[vvill]

From the forecast temperatures, I can’t imagine snow coverage around DC / beltway will be significant tomorrow, but I’m not a meteorologist. Anything to justify not reaching for the 40lb studded MTB after riding on my significantly faster CX bike the last couple of days.

@hozn 75908 wrote:

I wore regular boots w/ platform pedals yesterday; that worked, but I was reminded that platform pedals kinda suck (especially under snow boots).

Yeah I’ve been riding snow boots on platforms on my MTB. I’ve gotten used to it, although now of course I want to buy fancier platform pedals. (I do think having better pins would help a bit.) I’ve read online some people use “Power Grips” straps in winter to get a bit closer to mimicking a clipless pedal set up but I’m not willing to try that – it has been handy once or twice to be able to stick a leg out in the ice.

I always imagine cobbles are a bit like riding on the wooden sections of the MVT just south of Rosslyn: it’s comfortable enough to cruise at 15mph or so but you really feel the feedback if you push to go consistently faster. There’s a few actual cobble-y bits around Georgetown I think.

[PotomacCyclist]

I’ve gotten used to platform pedals from riding CaBi bikes. But if I go through a stretch where I ride mostly on CaBi, it takes me a few minutes to get used to clipless pedals again on the next ride.

[Toonces]

Cobbles at Paris-Roubaix. A bit harder than the wooden bridge. Put your bike in a big gear, keep a light grip on the handlebars and power through it. That or ride on the sides of the road with no cobbles.
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[ShawnoftheDread]

@dgm 76391 wrote:

Cobbles at Paris-Roubaix. A bit harder than the wooden bridge. Put your bike in a big gear, keep a light grip on the handlebars and power through it. That or ride on the sides of the road with no cobbles.
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Clearly France doesn’t care enough about cycling to maintain even basic cycling infrastructure.

[PotomacCyclist]

Just the latest storm this winter, overnight Wed. and into the day on Thur.

W.Post/Capital Weather Gang: 60% chance for 4″ of snow in DC, 45% chance of 8″.

NBC4 says 4-8″.

More cancellations and closings likely this week. I think that groundhog in Pennsylvania is not doing his job properly.

[Anonymous]

@PotomacCyclist 77077 wrote:

I think that groundhog in Pennsylvania is not doing his job properly.

I mentioned this to someone else yesterday (in the middle of our rather chilly bike ride)– I know plenty of people around here who hunt…

groundhog might want to give some thought to keeping the people happy is all I’m saying

[PotomacCyclist]

[rcannon100]

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