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Well, January was nice and warm. I supposed we shouldn’t be too surprised to actually get some real winter. I found that dressing for it made it quite a nice ride today. Everything was a little slower, but at least I stayed warm.
Wow, this morning my van (during the car portion of my commute) said it was -30 in the bow river valley (5 degrees colder than what they were reading at the airport). Even so I saw 6 other cycling commuters on my way in.
Good job everyone! Hope you were all warm enough!
It was -34 at my home weather station this morning and didn’t warm up to -30 until after 9 am… didn’t bike today as I had to stay at home for an appointment. Hopefully it’s a bit warmer tomorrow, my e-bike was not that happy with the cold temps yesterday.
Speaking of ebike…yesterday I had some dude on his ebike come past me quite briskly as I slogged away with my frozen drive train that felt like I was going uphill through mush. Rather than be annoyed I must admit to some envy* but I also wondered… if the bike is doing that much work plus with that much wind chill, does the rider still generate enough heat to stay warm?
* – the rider seemed to be riding in a responsible manner and although could have provided more notice when passing it wasn’t that unusual. Not to mention they were about 1 of 8 riders I saw during my 10km commute so hardly an issue with being a traffic jam, unlike the bumper to bumper Memorial Drive traffic.
Pedal Assist E-bikes can keep you warm. I test rode my dad’s new e-bike, and as Greg Lemond says:
“It doesn’t get any easier, you just get faster”
I have also experienced that shot of envy while being passed by an e-bike in the winter. Specifically during a -30 blizzard, and this fatbike with studded tires and a battery goes cruising past me doing 30, working enough to stay warm but obviously not struggling. Meanwhile my 2” studded tires were going this way and that in the heavy rutted snow while I huffed and puffed my way into work at what felt like a snail’s pace.
A bike like that is definitely on my n+1 list, someday….
RichieRich, thankfully that wasn’t me blowing past you… I didn’t see any other cyclists on Monday and I spend very little time on the Memorial pathway…
The e-bike does keep me warm. You still have to do a fair amount of work, especially when it’s cold out. The drivetrain is still frozen like a regular bike, and the motor simply can’t overcome all of that. On Monday I was sweating quite a bit by the time I got to the top of the hill on 14 St by the winter club. I also find that the only time I go faster is up hills and into the wind; my total journey time is roughly the same because I can’t pedal fast enough on flats or downhill…
I think that e-bikes will be a gamechanger in terms of commuting over the next few years. I’ve already put 1700 km on mine since July, ONLY riding on days when I would have otherwise taken the car. I still ride my regular bikes whenever feasible.
Bailed on WBTWD 🙁 I was looking forward to it, but the unkempt state of the roads this morning would have made for an extremely dangerous ride in. I knew I made the right decision when I saw a car that had slammed into the median on the exit from 10 st to SAIT and subsequently broken its axle. That person would have skidded right across the bike lane. Man, I wish there was a feasible pathway route from my area of town!
Next week is looking pretty good for biking once they get the snow cleaned up…
The ice cometh?? On this evenings commute home… balmy temps I may add… my impression heading from downtown westward was that in many places the snow is converting to ice, or possibly just sublimating revealing the ice that was there before. This could end up sketchy as we slowly warm back up.
WOOHOO!
The City finally cleared the ramps under the Crowchild bridge on the north side of the Bow. It’s rideable but still a little bit squirrelly.BUUUUTT,
Getting out of my neighbourhood is a nasty ice & brownsnow challenge.Anyone out there able to give advice on having a cycling addiction issue (ok extremely frequent bike commuter regardless of weather) AND trying to recover from Mono? Just got diagnosed after a few weeks of feeling like crap. Need some encouragement here… thanks.
Hey Gyro that might give me the mental boost I need… but I also need the physical recovery. On the positive side buying a new bike always makes me feel good. Other than the wife asking (again) if I’ve grown another butt, since I only have 1 butt why so many bikes?
Problems with Lime Scooters – I hope this doesn’t happen with their bikes as well…..
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