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..

Wow, it’s supposed to get all the way up to 37 today.  That’s going to feel downright balmy on the ride home.

Did the same ride as yesterday with the same clothes.  There are still 4 or 5 icy spots where I need to unclip and walk/slide myself and the bike across/over, but I’m getting more comfortable riding through some of the others.  It’s not a problem as long as I don’t try to brake or steer and can maintain my momentum.  If I can do that, I ride through; otherwise, I walk.

The bolt holding my rear fender to the brake bridge came loose near the end of my ride.  I probably didn’t tighten it enough when I put the fender on.  Need to keep an eye on this and maybe check it before each ride.

The ride home this evening will probably be my last ride this week, as we’re supposed to get one of those “Alberta Clipper” systems tonight that are famous for dumping just enough snow to mess up the roads and close schools.

Not too much to say about yesterday’s ride home. Uneventful, around 30 degrees. Wore the same stuff as the morning ride minus the head band, and was comfortable.

This morning, I switched to the fixie, with a couple of new twists. The first addition was fenders, which I put on last week, to see how they would work. This was my first ride with them, and it worked out pretty well. The fenders don’t rub the tires at all, and they are pretty quiet. 3 observations:

• On bumpy roads, the rear fender rattles a bit against its mounting clip (behind the brake bridge).  I expected this, and I think I can fix it with a bit of electrical tape on the top of the fender.
• “Toe strike,” where the front toes touch the back of the front fender, is a bit more of an issue on this bike than the other. This wasn’t a problem while riding, but it could be an issue with track standing or low-speed turns.  I don’t think it will keep me from using fenders on this bike, as long as I can take them off when I don’t need them.
• I still need to figure out a good way to attach the front of the back fender, as the bike lacks a chainstay bridge. Right now I’m using zip ties to attach it to the seat tube, but this isn’t an ideal long term solution as it allows the fender to slide back and forth.  Also, I want the fenders to be easy to remove and replace, so I’m trying to avoid using zip ties.

All in all, I think this was a successful proof of concept.  With a few tweaks, it looks like the fenders are going to work out.

The second novelty this morning was my use of a side pannier, facilitated by the pannier adapter I got for Christmas to go with my Topeak “Beam Rack” system.  I’ve been using a side pannier for awhile on my road bike (which has a traditional rack attached to frame eyelets) but this was my first time with one on the fixie.  It worked out fine, and the rack stayed in place.

Nothing else noteworthy about this ride.  I did an 11 miler which included a loop through the park.  River Road, while not completely clear, was bikeable all the way out to the swinging bridge without the need to dismount and walk.  With temperatures pushing freezing, I wore the same clothes as last night and was pretty comfortable.  No cold feet today.. yay.

Yesterday evening’s ride was uneventful. I wore the same clothes minus the arm warmers. It was a few degrees warmer (around 28) and I probably should have shed the PolarTec top instead and kept the arm warmers. That’s what I did this morning, which was 27 with a bit less wind. I was comfortable for the most part, except my head got a bit sweaty and of course I had the requisite freezing toes after 40 minutes or so. They’re still thawing out as I type.

Today I rode down Lawyers Hill Rd and into the park via River Rd, then through the park on the Grist Mill Trail to Ilchester Rd. I then decided to try taking River Rd out to Frederick Rd, which proved to be unsuccessful. It was rideable out to a bit past the Thistle Rd intersection, then the road was blocked by county trucks doing whatever it is they like to do on River Rd. Rather than trying to squeeze around them, I doubled back, rode up Thistle Rd, turned left on Frederick, then right on Oella, then up Westchester and through Catonsville via Rockwell and Edmondson Aves. Total distance was around 13 miles, and it was a pretty good route which I will probably do again. In the past when I’ve ridden up Thistle, I’ve gone right on Frederick and ridden through the Oak Forest/Hilton Ave section of Catonsville. By comparison, today’s route was a few miles longer with less annoying traffic to deal with.

My first ride of the new year was a 15-miler to work. Temperature was 25 with a wind chill of around 13. Not the coldest conditions I’ve ever ridden in, but one of the longer sub-freezing rides I’ve taken (most of my really cold rides last winter were around 8 miles straight to work). I took the newly fender-less road bike, and it’s a lot quieter and less annoying without the fenders.

Road conditions were about what I expected. Generally dry, with a few icy patches here and there, most of which I could ride through, and a couple I had to dismount and walk. I went through Patapsco State Park, entering at the Ilchester Rd bridge and exiting at the Avalon main entrance. The Grist Mill Trail was in pretty good condition with just a few icy patches. I initially crossed the Orange Grove swinging bridge with the intent to follow River Rd to the entrance, but quickly discovered that the trail was in better shape than the road, so I crossed back over and followed the trail the rest of the way.

I layered up pretty heavily, with an ear band, balaclava, PolarTec top, long sleeve jersey, short sleeve shirt, arm warmers, thermal tights, gloves, windbreaker, shoe covers, toe warmers, and heavy wool socks. I was comfortable except for cold feet during the second half of the ride. If it gets much colder than this, I may try ditching the clipless pedals and going with toe clips (or platform pedals) and hiking boots, to see if it keeps my feet warmer.

Later this week I’ll see how the fixie rides with fenders.

I finished up 2009 with 144 rides in to work on the bike, which is an average of 12 per month. My goal for 2010 is to top that. I’m expecting the weather to keep me off the bike more this winter than last, but hopefully I can make up for that with more rides in summer. I had a 3-week lapse last August due to a knee problem.

I took the fenders off the road bike this past week and moved them over to the fixie. The fixie has much better clearance for fenders, so it should be a lot easier to keep them from rubbing the tires. It does lack a chainstay bridge and rear eyelets for mounting the rear fender. I used p-clamps to attach the struts, and Sheldon Fender Nuts (by Problem Solvers) to attach the tops of the fenders to the brake bridge and fork crown. I’m still working out the best way to attach the rear fender to the bottom bracket area. I need the fenders to be easy to take off and put back on. The rear wheel has a horizontal dropout which will necessitate removing the rear fender to get the wheel off. If I have to fuss with the fender every time I put it back on, this setup won’t work. I’ll see how it goes.