The ride home today was around 10 degrees warmer than the morning ride.  I shed the extra layer of socks, PolarTec top, and head band.  It was a fairly comfortable ride.  I rode into the park to check the road conditions, with the expectation that I would have to hike the River Rd access road.  The roadways inside the park were more-or-less clear, but down to one lane in spots.  The access road had about an inch of snow covering it.  I was able to bike a good bit of it, thanks to the fixed-gear, which gives me a lot better sense of control on slick surfaces.  I did have to hike the uphill section.  Not surprisingly, the Look cleats don’t work too well when packed with snow.  I could get them to clip in, but I had to tap some snow out of them before they would stay clipped in.  Not great, but better than my old Wellgo cleats, which I had to clean out with a screwdriver before they would even engage the pedals.

For tomorrow, I switched the Looks out for some toe-clip pedals, and I’m going to see how it goes riding these with my hiking boots.  At least I know the snowy sections will go better.  Next year, I hope to have a cross bike that I can ride in the snow.

19° for my ride this morning.  I rode down Lawyers Hill with the intent of riding into the park, but found (not unexpectedly) that the River Rd access road was still snow covered.  Not possessing snow tires, and not feeling like hiking it in road cleats, I turned around and detoured onto U.S. 1 to get to South St.  While never my first choice, it’s only about a quarter-mile stretch and there is a decent shoulder the entire way, so it’s not all that bad.  It does make for a very short ride – only 7.5 miles.  I think my best option is to switch one of my bikes over to toe clips while the park access road is snow covered, so I can hike it.

I totally overbundled for this ride.  I had 4 layers on top: short sleeve with arm warmers, long sleeve jersey, PolarTec pullover and windbreaker.  Next time it’s like this I will try it without the long sleeve jersey.  I tried something new this time, and wore two layers of socks.  I’ve avoided mulitple layers in the past because I don’t want to make the shoes too tight, which would restrict circulation and make my feet even colder.  To avoid that, I kept my toe straps really loose, and my feet stayed warm.  The real test will be to try this on a longer ride.

Unfortunately, last week’s blissfully salt-free roads are a thing of the past.  The salt is back with a vengaence and will probably be with us for the rest of the winter.  Fortunately, the fenders keep most of it off the bike.  I guess I can hope for a warm-up with some more rain to wash all of it away again..