Looks like this is going to be one of those “ice storm” winters, where we get more ice storms and light dustings of snow than real snowstorms.  Anyhow, we got freezing rain most of Monday night, and today I got back on the bike.  Main roads were all fine, but the roads through Patapsco State Park were quite exciting.  On the River Road entrance (Howard County side), we had the usual 1 or 2 inches of snow and ice.  This area never gets plowed or treated, and it doesn’t get much Sun, so as a result, it’s typically snowed over more than not in January and February.  Still, I was able to mostly ride through it on my fixed-gear road bike.  Once inside the park, the roads were plowed and treated, but there was still a lot of black ice everywhere.  I had to keep my rear wheel weighted down on the uphill parts, to keep it from slipping.  The Grist Mill Trail had a fair bit of ice on it, but it had been cleared at some point and it was easier going than the access road.  Still, it was quite an adventurous loop through the park and I was happy I stayed upright.

For the past two winters, I’ve been exclusively riding fixed gear in snowy and icy conditions.  It’s a mixed bag, but I prefer it to my road bike.  The fixed gear is really nice on flat and downhill stretches, because it allows me to use the pedals to regulate my speed, and provides a good “feel” for the overall surface traction.  However, going uphill, it’d be nice to have a lower gear.  Maybe the solution is to run fixed gear with a lower gearing than I’d use on dry roads.  But then I’d have to switch cogs more often, which is a pain.

I think a mountain bike with studded tires is the “ultimate answer” for icy conditions.  I’d lose the “feel” I get with fixed gear, but the studded tires should make up for that by providing extra traction.  My plan is to take my rebuilt mountain bike out for its maiden voyage tomorrow morning.  If it works out well, I’ll look into getting a good set of studded tires for it for next winter.  Some research will be required, as I need a set that also performs adequately on ice-free pavement.  I’ve read good things about the Schwalbe Marathon Winter, so that’ll likely be my starting point for comparison.

I’ve ridden to work 7 times so far this January, the same total I had this time in 2010.  In the news media, everyone has been complaining that this winter has been colder than usual.  That may be true on average, but it seems like the mornings haven’t been as cold as last year’s.  I haven’t had any morning rides yet where the temperature has been in the teens.  Today was my coldest morning ride so far, at 21 degrees.  I was out for around an hour.  We got a one-inch snowfall Tuesday night, and the trails in the park are still snow covered, so I stuck to roads today (all of which have been pretty much salted into oblivion).  Next winter, maybe I’ll pick up a set of studded tires for my mountain bike, so I can still hit the trails in these kinds of conditions.

I’m noticing an interesting pattern with my winter rides.  During the first 20 minutes or so, my fingers get really cold.  Then they warm up, and after maybe 40 minutes, my toes start getting cold.  My usual footwear includes wool socks, road bike shoes with cleats, toe covers, and neoprene shoe covers.  This setup works well for anything down to around 25 degrees.  Any colder, and my toes get cold after the aforementioned 40 minutes.  There are a couple of things at play here:  first, I can’t add an extra layer of socks because it would make my shoes too tight, cutting off circulation and making my feet even colder.  Second, there are giant holes in the bottom of the shoe cover soles, to accommodate the pedal cleats.  I think the answer is to either go with a close-sole winter cycling boot like those manufactured by Lake, or ditch the clipless pedals when it’s really cold, and go with Power Grips and hiking boots.  The latter is less expensive and better for snowy conditions where I would need to walk (no cleat), however it does necessitate switching pedals, which is inconvenient and takes time.  Power Grips don’t give quite the “clipped in” feel that clipless pedals provide, which is particularly nice when riding with fixed gear.  However, they’re not too bad and make for a decent compromise during the 1 or 2 months when you need them.

Here we are in 2011, another year of bike commuting.  I spent most of the Holidaze doing things other than riding.  As a result, I was a little out of shape for my first ride of the year today.  Hopefully, that’ll be short-lived.

I rode to work 174 times in 2010, eclipsing 2009’s total, which was my goal.  So this year, I’ll try to top 174.  We’ll see how it goes.  I was shooting for 176, but bagged riding in the final two workdays of the year due to snow and poor road conditions.  I figure that if I take vacations, business trips, and random days off into account, my ceiling in any given year is around 200 rides.  Whether I’ll ever actually hit 200 is anybody’s guess, but it’ll be fun trying.

I didn’t do any riding over the last 2 weeks, but I did spend some time working on my bikes.  My Masi Speciale Fixed, which handled most of last year’s rides, got a full tune-up and a new chain.  It still needs a new set of tires.  I’ve *almost* got the front derailleur on my road bike shifting the way I want.  And my ’93 Specialized Rockhopper got a new set of tires, and a set of fenders which I still need to put on.  Once the fenders are on, it’ll be road-worthy and will become my third commuter bike.  I replaced the old Onza tires with a set of Kenda Pathfinders.  The Onzas had a very aggressive tread pattern and weren’t very good on pavement.  The Kendas should be much better in this department, and we’ll see how they do with some light single-track too.

Perfect biking weather lately.  20° with a wind chill of 10..  pitch dark at 5:00pm..  wind advisory until 10:00pm..  what’s not to like?  As long as there’s no snow or ice, I’ll take this over hot and humid any day.

I’m still figuring out the optimum layering strategy for comfort in these conditions.  I think I’m pretty close now.  I’ve been packing a PolarTec pullover on my rides, but I haven’t needed it so far.  I was comfortable today with a short-sleeve top, arm warmers, long-sleeve jersey, wind breaker, and hi-vis vest.  I do like having the PolarTec top as an insurance policy, in case I need to stop to change a tire or something.  But as long as I’m moving, it looks like I’m good without it down to 20° or so.

The back fender on my bike has been giving me some trouble lately.  The bike lacks a chainstay bridge, so I’ve been using two zip ties to attach the fenders, one around the chainstays and another to attach the fender to the first tie.  In general, this setup has worked well for me.  The first zip tie occasionally breaks, maybe 2 or 3 times a year, but it’s easy to replace.  However, it’s now broken twice in the last week, both times in the dark during my ride home.  Not sure why it’s suddenly taken to breaking, but I can’t have it happening in December on my rides home.  So this morning I replaced the zip tie with a hose clamp.  I wrapped the stays with electrical tape to protect the frame, attached the clamp so that the screw housing was centered between the stays, and attached the second zip tie to the screw housing.  It seems pretty solid, but it raises the end of the fender a little farther above the stays than I’d like, so I may experiment with it a bit more.  In any event, the clamp shouldn’t break as easily as a zip tie, I hope.

This blog entry from Problem Solvers shows how to make a fender mount using an old presta tube.  It’s an intriguing idea.  If you look at the picture there, the end of the fender is still a little high.  I’d like to get mine down between the stays, to keep more debris off the bike, and also to keep the fender from shifting side to side.  I think this could be accomplished by using an extra nut (and maybe a washer or 2) on the other side of the fender, to get the tube down a little lower and space the fender farther away from the seat tube.  I may give this a shot.

Typical winter day at the office.  I spent an hour riding in sub-freezing weather, and was perfectly comfortable and warm for the entire ride.  Now I’m freezing cold sitting here in my 70° office.  Never underestimate the power of moving around to keep blood circulating, I guess.

This was my coldest ride into work of the season so far, and I actually dropped a layer for the ride.  The past few rides, where it’s been around freezing, I wore a long sleeve shirt over a short sleeve athletic tee.  My outer layer was a reflective vest over a wind-breaker jacket, for a total of 4 layers on my torso and 2 layers on my arms.  I was getting too sweaty with this combo, so this morning I decided to lose the short sleeve tee shirt, and it worked out pretty well.  I didn’t sweat as much, nor was I any colder.

I rode through Catonsville again today.  I am slowly refining my route through this area.  I recently discovered Magruder Ave., which runs parallel to and just south of Frederick Rd.  Magruder is a great alternative to riding on Frederick through the heart of Catonsville, particularly the area around the Post Office, which seems to be a magnet for inattentive drivers.  Coming east on Edmondson Ave., I’ve been taking Beaumont Ave., turning left on Frederick, right on Locust Dr., left on Magruder, then right on Mellor, left on Bloomsbury, and right on Asylum into Spring Grove.  It looks like I could take Magruder all the way out to Bloomsbury if I wanted to, though that area is currently under construction.  An alternative would be to take Osborne instead of Beaumont, then cross Fredrick and take Forest to Magruder.  The pavement on Beaumont is in really bad shape, so I would be curious if Osborne is any better.

Looking back, I see it’s been just about a year since I started blogging regularly about my bike commutes to work.  One thing is for sure:  Winter is the most interesting time of year to ride, because the varying weather conditions give each ride its own set of challenges.  That starts with figuring out what to wear, and also what gear to pack for the ride home, as conditions can change a lot from morning to evening.  But in addition to that, winter weather conditions can also dictate what route I take to work, to a greater extent than during other times of the year.  Snow and ice on roads are often a factor, but today’s challenge was the wind.  We started out the day in the upper 20s with a brisk west wind.  I wanted to get around 15 miles in this morning, and soon after starting the ride, I realized I was dragging a bit.  Given this, ordinarily it’d be a no-brainer to head through the park and then up through Halethorpe/Relay, because it’s less hilly than the alternative of riding through Catonsville.  However, going through Halethorpe would mean a long uphill grind into the wind, which would have been brutal.  So I elected to do Catonsville instead, where I pick up the same elevation riding east on Edmondson Ave.  The initial climb up Thistle Rd. and Oella Ave. was a bit of a drag, but once I got onto Edmondson Ave., I picked up a tailwind and the remaining uphill climb was (literally) a breeze, in spite of me not being 100%.  The next couple of days look like carbon copies of today, so I might be riding similar routes through Wednesday.

Thought I’d put a plug in for my favorite commuter saddle, the Forté Classic, available at Performance Bike for around $40-50. I bought one of these in 2002 when I initially bought my road bike, because the racing saddle that came with it wasn’t working for me. The Forté Classic seems “just right” in almost every aspect – it’s inexpensive, not too hard, not too soft, not too wide, not too thin, and reasonably light. I find it very comfortable, and it’s still in good shape 8 years later after countless rides in all sorts of weather. I just picked up another one for my second bike, and will likely get one for my mountain bike as well. I’ve never been 100% happy with the saddles on either of those bikes, and I figure I’ll just go with something I know will work for me. The 2010 Classic has slightly different logo design, but other than that, it looks like the same saddle.

I’ve been dialing-in the fit on my second bike, a Masi Speciale Fixed, for awhile now, and I think it’s getting close. So far I’ve raised the bars around 1/4″ by rearranging the head tube spacers; moved the saddle back around 3/4″; and replaced the stock saddle with a Forté Classic. It’s now much more comfortable for me than it was this past summer. The bullhorn bars are at just about the perfect height for standing climbs. The only thing I’m missing is a comfortable upright sitting position. When I’m sitting upright, I still feel like the reach to the bars is a little too far. It seems to me I can remedy this by getting an extender to raise the bars another couple inches, and then switching to a set of mustache bars. My hope is that the “drop” on the mustache bars would put the bar ends at roughly the same height as the bullhorns on my current bars, while the middle of the bars would be higher for more comfortable upright riding. We’ll see how that works out.

After not working a single 5-day work week in November, I have 3 straight full weeks of work between now and the extended Christmas break, starting today.  Weather (and health) permitting, I’m hoping to turn that into 15 rides.

This morning was my first ride of the season that truly felt like winter.  It was sunny and in the upper 20s.  I rode around 17 miles, out to New Cut Rd. and through Patapsco State Park.  I wore a head band for the first time of the season.  There were a couple spots where my chin got cold (mainly going downhill) and I could have used a balaclava.  I did bring a balaclava, and almost stopped and put it on, but most of the ride was comfortable enough without it.

It’s been a bad autumn for jackets.  One of my main winter jackets is a Performance “Transformer” hi-vis shell with zip-off sleeves.  The zipper on one of the zip-off sleeves broke, and no longer engages, so the jacket is only good as a vest now.  It’s a cheap jacket, but all the same, it’s only 2 years old, so I’m a bit disappointed with it.  Over the break, I may dust off my sewing skills and try to see if I can replace the zipper.  In the meantime, I’m getting by by wearing the vest over an old dark green windbreaker, which works OK but adds an extra layer that I don’t always want.  On top of that, I lost my Marmot rain jacket last month.  Yesterday I went to our new REI and bought a Patagonia Torrentshell jacket to replace it.  It’s a similar jacket, maybe slightly better made, and it was also available in a brighter shade of green than the Marmot, which should help with visibility on the bike.  Based on the weather forecast, it’ll likely see its first action tomorrow.

I’m beginning to notice a trend.  The more often I ride my fixed-gear bike, the more comfortable it seems to get.  Last week I took my first ride on it in about 3 weeks, and my shoulders and wrists were bothering me after the first half hour.  Now, a week and about 5 rides later, I’m not having the problem any more.

Here’s my theory.  On a fixed gear bike, it’s impossible to coast.  On a bike with a freewheel, you can “take a break” and coast when going downhill.  When coasting, you can support most of your weight with your legs, even if you’re tired.  On a fixed gear, as you get tired, most of that weight ends up going to your arms/shoulders and rear end, particularly when spinning downhill.  As you start to get “used” to riding fixed, your legs start to pick up more of the slack, so the bike gets more comfortable.  My observation is that I start to lose this conditioning with any significant time off the bike (say, more than a week).  So, more so than with other bikes, it’s important to keep riding fixed regularly to maintain conditioning.

I rode on single track Sunday for the first time in around 15 years.  I had forgotten how different it was from road biking.  I woke up Sunday morning with a bit of an upset stomach, so I didn’t want to do anything too strenuous, but I wanted to get out and test-ride my newly rebuilt ’93 Specialized Rockhopper, and I was hoping to find a trail connection between Belmont and Patapsco State Park.  I hopped on the bike and rode from my house out to the Morning Choice Trail head on Landing Rd.  I rode around a mile on the trail, out to just past the northern end of the Belmont property, then turned around.  It was a successful test ride, but I wasn’t able to find a way through Belmont from that area.  It’s all fields.

Compared to my road bikes, the mountain bike felt small, particularly on pavement.  Once I hit the trails, it started to get a bit more comfortable.  I think the frame is a little small for me.  For road riding, I may want to think about a longer seat post.  I rode with standard pedals and Power Grips straps, the same setup I use in snow.  The brakes worked fine; the Kool Stop pads did the job nicely.  The new fork worked fine, although with no suspension, the ride was a bit punishing in spots.

I did some more reading online trying to find out about the Belmont trail connection.  Local riders call it the “farm loop.”  Apparently one end of it intersects Morning Choice right near Landing Rd, and the other end ties in with Rockburn Branch Trail further to the east.  It’s an unofficial, un-blazed trail, and the Patapsco trail map has stubs in the spots where the trail appears to intersect “official” park trails.  It looks like the trail cuts across Belmont Woods Rd, so my next time out, I’ll ride down Belmont Woods and try to find the trail from that direction.  All of this is on the south side of Belmont, which explains why I couldn’t find a connection on the north side.