More snow
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010Note: I wrote this yesterday, but forgot to post it.
We got a few more inches of snow. This morning my commute was quite interesting; many schools and businesses were closed today. There were an inch or two of fresh snow on the roads, and more snow coming down hard. My cassette and rear derailleur got clogged with snow over the course of my ride to work.
However, I had an absolute blast.
The Beast handled the snow well, I like the feeling of snow on my face, the way it blankets everything … I really just enjoy riding in this stuff. By the time I arrived at work, I had a silly grin on my face.
My ride home was more or less the same, but more intense. It was colder, there was more snow on the ground, it was snowing harder, and it was VERY windy. It was snowing sideways!
Wind blew the snow off roofs, as you can sort of see below.
February 10th, 2010 at 6:27 pm
we are getting a ton of that stuff over here!
February 11th, 2010 at 9:31 am
I’m assuming you have studded tires on The Beast? I keep putting off purchasing some.
February 11th, 2010 at 9:51 am
Yes, I do have studded tires on that bike, but I have ridden in the same conditions with normal knobby mountain bike tires, and they work just as well for everything other than ice.
I only bought the studded tires because I got them cheap, second-hand (but unused). When it comes time to replace them, it’s going to be tough to decide whether it’s worth paying full price for a new pair. I probably will, but man, they’re expensive.
February 11th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
The first winters I commuted through I had clogged cassettes and derailleurs more times than I can count. At some point it just stops shifting. Since we have frequent 1-2″ snowfalls some winters I finally switched to a fixed gear and then a Nexus 8-speed IGH. It solved that problem pretty nicely.
February 12th, 2010 at 2:35 am
Dang, that’s a lotta snow! I love your Koga Miyata. I was just recently on Koga’s site checking out their Traveller with Rohloff. They look so cool and so well equipped!
Have fun!
Peace
February 13th, 2010 at 9:37 am
You don’t have a cassette heater that runs off of a dynohub? Gee, that must be an old bike.
February 15th, 2010 at 5:53 pm
Doc … that was hilarious, thanks for the laugh!