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So had two near misses on my evening commute home thanks to ninja riders. sigh… first time it was a matter of 1-2 seconds miss, the 2nd time was literally barely missed the tool as I was riding straight on the road and he popped out from site path right in front of me… and of course he was on his phone too.
So… why do I sometimes (not always) have brighter lights?? so I can have a chance at seeing this @$$hats in time to evade them!!
When riding the actual roads… my bar-lights are just “on” (usually low-mode, but pointing ahead to catch anything reflective)… but I often have a smaller blinky on top of my fork AND on top of my helmet. Sometimes that’s all that “saves” me. But then again it didn’t seem to help the idiot CT driver this morning who passed within less than 18″ of my left elbow as we descended a hill in Hawkwood before then closing the gap further before pulling into his next stop. At his next stop I smacked his mirror… made me feel better at least. who knows if he had a clue why?
Right now I figure studded tires are a “must” given the frozen mornings and meltwater. Don’t need some nasty surprise so I’ll take the buzzing-bees (studded tires) quite happily thank you.
Am I the only one annoyed with the other ninja riders? (ie all dark, no lights at all) I generally now just yell at them “hey buddy your lights are off!” and keep going. Don’t need a conversation. If everyone did that maybe they’d “get it”. Please help… it could save someone from having a really bad accident.
What a great run of nice weather!! No bugs today either. yeesssssss
Anyone know if the ped bridge under NW Stoney Trail by Bowness is now open? I want to ride that route then north up the new Tuscany path.If anyone wants one 26″ ice spiker, hardly used, I’ll sell mine as I’m running 29’er/700c wheelsets with my Gravdal/Hakka combo studs. Used my regular 2.2″ Schwalbe tires,with softer pressure, to ride in this morning and found myself walking a couple of sections (and a short sidewalk jaunt) up here in far NW that I’ve never had issues with before. Combination of CYA, ice slick, and too many cars. Gotta save myself from myself somedays. Don’t need another bad crash and busted body parts. Glad it’s warming up, melting/sublimating, and we’ll be back to safer rides by end of week.
Oh… and those people with zero bike lights and ninja outfits… it doesn’t matter if you can see me if I can’t see you when you swing wide through corners!! I don’t care (much) if you endanger yourself but please don’t take me out!!
Buy a quality FRONT studded tire… as in both center AND side studs. That’ll take care of 90% of any issues. Increase your certainty with a wider tire… I run about a 40c Gravdal up front. As it gets icier and more ruts I drop my pressure a bit. Decent ‘cross tire on the back, of 35c+ width with soft rubber and not too firm gets you through must stuff in the river valley…
I start putting the front stud on once we can expect some freezing cos it can get nasty quickly. Lose your front end and you’re probably going down so why risk it I figure? A little slower/noiser isn’t an issue if you don’t crash… and besides how much difference does it really make on a commute? not much IMO.
Hey Crivak… just curious about your sub-optimal experience with the Gravdal. I used to run a Hakkapolitta and nobody seems to carry those anymore and I needed a new front so Gravdal it was. The Hakka is now on the back for the winter wheelset. So was it on your front tire or back or both? Do you run higher or low pressure? Was your flat as a result of something penetrating it… or sidewall issue… seating it… etc…?
Winter tires… on the old BC website there were extensive discussions on the topic… sadly gone now??
I’ve never taken the time to “bed in” any winter tire… don’t think I’ve lost any studs over ~15years of winter riding either and I’ve had everything from cheapo crap studded to 45Nrth and Schwalbe’s.
For front tire… I highly recommend full studs… meaning that the tire sides lugs and center have studs. None of this partially studded for the front. Over many many different tires my all time favorite has been the 45Nrth Gravdal. Expensive though. But bulletproof. I think they’re 40mm, but 700c. The Schwalbe snow stud on the rear tire has been my go-to now for about 5years.
Of course having 2 wheelsets for my commuter helps… relatively quick change in the morning when needed, or if unsure just put the front studded on and keep running the regular rear as long as reasonable.
First spotting (…er and hearing) of studded tires today.
16 Sept 2019.
No snow/ice yet, nor in sight.Today a coworker and myself observed a Lime bike, in a relatively high foot traffic area, that stayed there for pretty much the whole day. However several of the scooters came and went. It led him to theorize that the Lime bikes have now effectively gone the way of the Beta and CD, having been replaced by a more accessible and user-friendlier (and possibly funner) technology. I wonder if the winter will make any difference. What do all ya’ll figure?
Just got back from a couple weeks in Japan. It was incredible, astounding actually, the number of cyclists and bikes everywhere. Generally bikes/peds shared a transportation “lane” somewhat split with only a solid yellow textured line, and generally stayed off the busier roads (non on major highways). During the whole time I saw many cyclists effortlessly weaving in and out of pedestrians/walkers, NOBODY ever got upset or vocal. Everyone just accepted it and kept on with their day. It was awesome. I never witnessed any obvious angst or issues.
The second observation was the vast number of ebikes there. I looked at a couple stores and their equivalent price was ~$1500-4’ish thousand. VERY common on all types of bikes. Just accepted as a part of their culture and utility for all types of riding: commuting, transporting up to 2 kids, transporting goods, etc… It was very refreshing to see how commonly they were accepted.
3rd observation was that most riders had some type of front nightlight… generally some solid or blinky white light. most, not all. a small percentage had rear lights, or even reflectors. I never witnessed any obvious angst or issues.
These observations are based on traveling through Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo, Toyama, and Hakuba.
A coworker was contemplating doing a team building activity on the scooters somewhere near downtown Calgary and thought it would be good fun. Things that make you go… hmmmmmm?
Thanks Gyro. I had *no* idea… logically most Calgarians call it the “Edworthy Bridge”.
Anyways, here’s a link to a great back story on both this Harry Boothman and the Hextall bridges:http://everydaytourist.ca/2016/2016/9/17/calgary-old-bridges-get-no-respect
So I’m annoyed because I think it’s a safety risk… I guess Flames on the golf course are risky too (despite all their experience with early season golfing). 🙂
You might be talking about the Hextall bridge. The wooden-slat-covered one with the big planter boxes that used to actually be the main crossover bridge years ago when I was a kid.
All the rain lately, and in the upcoming forecast, should help wash away all that goose poop. niiice.
Anybody else annoyed by that new construction immediately east of Edworthy Park… and specifically that harsh/deep gravel detour around that corner? with the skinny tires that’s just asking for trouble. I’ve already noted lots of tracks on the grass. Given I don’t know the schedule for that specific area… but it sure doesn’t look like it’s a short term thing so are they likely to put down some asphalt?
What really grinds your gears?
Mine:
– having to wash my bike so often the last 6 weeks
– too many consecutive biking days in wind or rain or both
– too much sand in my gears…grinding my gearsKudos to that lady on the MUP this morning still pushing those noisy studded under-pressured tires. I’m sure riding with those was just as hard as it looked from your full body effort.
