[NicDiesel]

Starting later this month I’m finally, after a five month layoff, going to be bike commuting again. The commute for my main gig will still be a jaunt up the stairs to our loft, but I just picked up a second gig doing SAT and ACT tutoring out in Plymouth. It’s easy (and good) money, it’ll help fund the “Fat Bike” fund, I get some personal interaction, and, best of all, I’ll have a built in 34 mile round trip commute every Thursday and Saturday to look forward to now that it’s finally warming up.

[NicDiesel]

Looks like we’re not going to break the (modern) record of 51 days of subzero weather this winter. Looks like the ice may be melting this week which is perfect since I’ve finally been cleared to resume physical activities. Looks like it’s time to make up for lost mileage.

[NicDiesel]

@OneEighth 78616 wrote:

Pain is only weakness leaving the body.

Or you freezing to the bike.

[NicDiesel]

In anticipation of my orthopedic surgeon giving me the go ahead to start riding again I dragged ol’ Blucy up from the basement to my home office this morning. Definitely need to give it a serious cleaning and a tune up but if all is ok with the good doctor Imma start burning the trainer (Fluid2) I got for Chanukamas up next week.

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[NicDiesel]

It could be worse, you could be dealing with this:

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[NicDiesel]

Now that you mention it, walking up and down the stairs has caused more IT Band irritation…

[NicDiesel]

You could always go with the Surly Straggler and outfit it with a flat bar and still keep your disc brakes. The nice thing about the Straggler is that you can run it with gears or go single speed (or even a flip flop hub if you want a fixed gear option) thanks to the rear drop outs and still have disc brakes. The frames are pretty much no frills and the decals come off pretty easily (they’re not clearcoated, a plus for me) but for a sub $500 frame I think they’re pretty excellent. For a commuter I don’t see why you’d spend over $1,500 unless you’ve got money to waste since it’s going to get used and abused and for $1,500 you can build out a killer commuter rig that’ll last forever.

[NicDiesel]

To the dude on the Pugsley shouting out the chorus to the Bone Thugs N Harmony classic “Tha Crossroads” on Cedar Avenue yesterday – keep kicking ass.

[NicDiesel]

@ebubar 74667 wrote:

I think you have some rage issues since you feel the need to scream at me from inside your car as I sit in the turn lane waiting for a chance to turn. I apparently offended you just by being on my bike.

Man, this is the skata I don’t miss. Be safe and don’t let the bastards bring you down.

[NicDiesel]

So, I lied. I did finally go riding outdoors this past weekend and, outside of my shoes getting soaked, had a blast. The slush makes it hard to go over 12mph but I did manage to ride 10 miles and not crash.

[NicDiesel]

@jrenaut 73846 wrote:

Yeah, I keep thinking I should get some. Definitely would have helped today.

BarMitts are great, these are probably my favs – Dogwood Designs Pogies. They’re good down to -20 or so.

[NicDiesel]

Took the trash out last night without my gloves and wound up with a really bad wind burn since it was -17 degrees but -42 with the windchill. It’s -22 degrees here today and -45 with the windchill so schools are closed and everything is pretty much on lockdown. My neighbor (an insane guy that rides his stable of bikes 365 days a year) rode down the block and then quickly turned around and came home after his chain broke. Crazy times.

[NicDiesel]

@creadinger 73036 wrote:

Hey man, don’t sweat it. “Winter” here is balmy compared to MN. The 40’s?? You may not see them again until mid-February. Few people are properly geared for riding in 15 degrees F, let alone 15 degrees BELOW zero which happens there routinely. It’s downright dangerous without the proper gear. If you can stay healthy, you’ll have a really nice summer of long days, and mild temperatures to look forward too.

Definitely. It’s disappointing that I’m not getting to ride outside but I knew it would probably take me a year to get used to just living here given the long, frigid winters, much less ride year round. What I didn’t anticipate is just how weak my immune system still is and how much the cold weather seems to be affecting my breathing. But hey, I’m still above ground and I can still exercise and ride so it’s not all bad, just a speed bump on the road to Kick Ass-ville.

[NicDiesel]

@Geoff 72975 wrote:

Everyone here talks about studded tires. My brother, who lives in Michigan, uses tire chains on mountain bike tires. I did some checking, they are easy to find online. Why does everyone here use studs instead of chains?

On the lakes a lot of people do the roofing nails through old MTB tires but everyone that I know that rides on the street and paths uses either studded tires on road or MTB bikes or has a fat bike. Since I only have one bike I just have Conti City IIs but I don’t ride on ice or slush. Next year I’m hoping to have a fat bike so I can take advantage of all of the cool winter riding.

[NicDiesel]

@cyclingfool 72967 wrote:

I think the beauty of it is that peds have a separate parallel trail, but NicD will be able to provide a definitive response.

That is correct – there’s a separate trail for peds that doesn’t get plowed during the winter (at least at Lake Nokomis where we live) so everyone uses the same path. That’s only a problem from December until March, so it’s not a huge deal, but during the warmer months there are separate trails.

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So what’s it like riding in the Great White North? Much harder than here?

I’m not riding this winter until around March or so (health issues) but the rides that I did before it got too cold and snowy were a lot of fun. Lots of trails and bike lanes here so you don’t really have situations like the overcrowding on the MVT during the warmer months (this may not be true over at Lake Harriet and Calhoun) and the ride down Minnehaha Creek is really pretty. The slush is probably the biggest challenge during the winter months, but if you have studded tires it’s not that bad. I thought the wind would be the biggest problem but it actually hasn’t been too bad.

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