bicycling in winter

[the_siobhan]

Con: Cold!
Pro: Gloves and hats and scarves. And moving so not standing around bus shelters shivering.

Con: Frozen lungs
Pro: I have a filter that's supposed to be for smog that I'm reliably informed will keep the heat of my breath in. Expenditure = $0.

Con: It's too dark to wear sunglasses so I get tons of crap in my eyes.
Pro: The bright hot sun isn't blazing into my eys so I get home without a headache.

Pro: Not a single streetcar passed me on my way home today. Not. One.
Con: Fucking drivers. Seriously, fucking drivers. With sharp things. Rusty sharp things.

Conclusion: Undecided

6,205 / 50,000 (12.4%)

Comments

[pobig.livejournal.com]

There is also the matter of what salt and slush do to your bicycle. One spring I had to get a wheel replaced after nine spokes broke. This might just be me being a maniac, though.

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

the_axel rides all winter and he has regular breakdowns. He also rides every day, which I don't.

[razorjak.livejournal.com]

Con: It's too dark to wear sunglasses so I get tons of crap in my eyes.
Pro: The bright hot sun isn't blazing into my eys so I get home without a headache.

Clear or Amber lense Goggles

[redcountess]

I was going to suggest that - something like safety glasses used for DIY :-)

[sinibar.livejournal.com]

They're pretty common in the mountain cycling fraternity. I was rather miffed that I didn't have any last time I went flying through a freshly mucked field at 40mph. Oops.

[the-fury.livejournal.com]

Yep - clear or amber.

MEC has a good pair (http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442586453&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302692237&bmUID=1130995170462) with interchangable lenses.

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

What's the purpose of the amber?

[zoethe.livejournal.com]

Amber doesn't darken the landscape very much.

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

So amber for sunlight and clear for night?

[zoethe.livejournal.com]

In a pinch, you can even do amber at night, assuming you are riding where there are streetlights.

[razorjak.livejournal.com]

Yeah, amber works well for nighttime city driving. They work WONDERS at that not quite daytime dawn that we northern areas get.

I've found that amber lenses actually make things more "crisp" looking even when I'm not wearing my contacts.

amber for night and clear for cloudy new moon nights

[cris.livejournal.com]

amber lenses work well for cutting headlight glare and are perfectly suitable for city riding. I only use my clear lenses when streetlamps aren't present.

Like, my ride home from work starts with eight miles of unlit bike path (which is, itself, slightly unnerving) so I'll have my clear lenses for the commute. But if I were to ride to the club or a movie aftewards, I'll switch to the amber so that SUVs don't blind me with their xenon hi-beams.

also, the bike path doesn't get shoveled in the winter, so after the first snow I'll switch over to the busier arterial roads and will probably wear the amber lenses for that.

[the-fury.livejournal.com]

A bit late...

In addition to everything listed below, they increase contrast on overcast/grey/typically Canadian days - it makes the green stand out.

I'd go for clear at night, but you can use amber in a pinch.

[mittimus.livejournal.com]

Go the wordcount! :)

[zoethe.livejournal.com]

You're a better man than I, Gunga Din.

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

the_axel rides all winter unless it's actively snowing. He's the only reason I'm even considering it.

[zoethe.livejournal.com]

This year is absolutely out, what with schoolbooks and all - and areas of town that I have to ride through that are okay during rush hour but scary later in the evening. It will be interesting to see, next fall, how far I push the riding. I'm not at all geared for wintery weather - no lights, no raingear. But I am missing it.

I'm SO ready for school to be over. Have I mentioned that?

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

It may have come across in some of your posts. L0(

[emulsional.livejournal.com]

Fucking drivers. Seriously, fucking drivers. With sharp things. Rusty sharp things.

And i say that about cyclists who don't obey traffic laws and nearly get themselves killed by, oh, running red lights.

I think both cylists and drivers should get refresher courses yearly on road rules and how to travel alongside each other. It really is rediculous out there.

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

Oh, I agree - I nearly got nailed by a bike that sailed inches past me when I was walking yesterday. The difference is, a bicylclist who does something stupid around a car may get himself killed, but the driver who sideswipes a bicyclist is going to kill somebody else.

I'm also starting to get seriously pissed off at the sheer number of cars who honk at me or yell at me to "get off the road" or cut me off when I'm riding perfectly legally.

The renewal is a good idea, especially since not all the drivers on the road even originally tested in Ontario. You were able to just bring your licence up from the States without any additional testing, weren't you? I don't know how consistant the road rules are between here and other countries. I know there was a dicussion recently on <lj comm=torontobikes? about how few drivers seem to know what the hand signals mean. And of course, bicyclists never get tested at all.

[siani-hedgehog.livejournal.com]

you can (i think) come straight pver with a UK license, and road rules regarding bikes are definitely different here.

[inulro.livejournal.com]

I traded in my Saskatchewan licence for an Ontario one. As it happens I grew up in the city and had to take a real driving test, but I can just imagine what passed for a driving test in the town where my cousins live. I don't think there's a traffic light for over 100 km in any direction.

[emulsional.livejournal.com]

I had to get a driver's abstract from the Secretary of State which not only proved how long I'd had my licence, and how many traffic violations I may have had outstanding on my licence. They didn't exactly hand me a new licence, but I didn't need a test either.

Honestly, I would be willing to take a test every 5 years (at least), especially if I'm already there to renew my licence.

This said, I get really irritated that I do have to go through a lot of hoops to drive a car but any shmoe with $100 can buy a bike and ride it. There seems to be a lot of confusion between whether a bike is a vehicle or not, and it seems a lot of cyclists out there switch between pedestrian and vehicle rules when it suits them... which MIGHT be the source of a lot of confusion and irritation among drivers.

[zoethe.livejournal.com]

Part of the problem is cops don't enforce the laws against bicyclists, so they tend to slack off because it's really hard to stop and start, stop and start - your knees start crying after a while, and there you are out in the weather just standing there in either pouring rain or beating sun. I try to be good about it, and obey the laws, but there are just some days when I give into the temptation. And that's bad, I concede that.

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

I've run a red a few times when I've been coming home from work at dawn and there is literally nobody else on the road. In part I do it because if there are no cars there, I'm not heavy enough to set of the sensors that make the light change so I'd be standing there for half an hour.

When there is other traffic on the road I stand obediently and wait even if there are no cars crossing the intersection. If nothing else, it pisses off the car drivers less.

[zoethe.livejournal.com]

If it is a demand light and your bike does not set off sensors, then you are legally allowed to treat it as a stoplight. Just FYI.

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

Cool. I'm going to see if I can find anything about that here.

[siani-hedgehog.livejournal.com]

me on my vespa was not enough to make the sensor go at the end of my road. i used to pull up, but the vespa on its stand, and run over and push the pedestrian crossing button... probably just running the red would have made more sense, but there was sometimes fast traffic on the other road.

[razorjak.livejournal.com]

Heh, of course you're not heavy enough to set off the 'demand' lights. Most motorcycles under the size of a goldwing are too light to set off those sensors.

Here in the states they actually sell a device that cause the demand lights to register motorcycles as an actual vehicle.

[lil-m-moses.livejournal.com]

A lot of the streets in the SF Bay Area had special sensors for bicycles (that worked for motorcycles too). There'd be a little picture of a bicycle painted in the middle of the lane, with sensor wire cuts under where bike tires would sit. It was great!

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

Apparently there are three white dots directly above the sensors at some intersections to indicate where a bike should stop so they can pick you up. I never noticed them before Axel pointed them out to me, and they still aren't very common.

[billyname99.livejournal.com]

The sensors are not based on the weight of a vehicle, but a magnetic field sensor.

Sometmes, My Harley won't activate them, so I have to run the red. (with all due caution, of course)

[razorjak.livejournal.com]

The motorcycle I had previously ( to the Hell of a thousand razors with the PBE ) wouldn't EVER set off the sensors.

The trafficlight at the intersection to my old apartment was one of those sensor types. It was quite a fun ride most nights. Seems quite a few patrol cops didn't know about being able to use them as stop signs if they refuse to change.

[emulsional.livejournal.com]

See I think that's forgivable. I know I leave with a lot more time if I'm driving in the rain becuase I know cyclists will still be out, and probably riding more aggressivly to get out of the rain. Plus there are a lot of drivers out there who drive as though the sky is falling, instead of realizing a car is meant to drive well in all weather...

I do know that more often than not, drivers aren't very thoughtful too.

One thing to note, that I've noticed as a driver: Cyclists don't seem to think about a driver's blind spots. There is a place just behind our perferial vision, around the same place the driver's seat is, where a driver looking ahead can not see. If they're looking at the light (which most drivers do when waiting for it to change) you'll shock the hell out them when your body (not your tires, cause we can't see those at all) passes the backseat line and you come zipping in "out of nowhere".

if you then zip around and cut off that same car who's already stunned that you haven't yeilded to them (even though they've been at that night for a minute longer), and that someone KNOWS they could kill you with one wrong turn (which no one really wants to do) it hits the panic button and it becomes even harder to drive after that. Add 10 cyclists in one trip doing the same thing and its enough to make drivers a little wiggy and a little pissed off about all the bikes on the road.

[zoethe.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I really avoid pulling stuff like that. Just because you CAN, doesn't mean you SHOULD.

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

(just realized my comment was cut off)

know there was a dicussion recently on torontobikes about how many drivers don't understand hand signals.

[shillolo.livejournal.com]

I rode last winter, all but maybe a dozen days I walked. Getting to the point I'd call in sick rather than take the TTC, ultimately I end up sick each because I take it.
Knowing I'd be buying a new bike come spring, I abused my bike to hell.
I quite like riding through the winter and somewhat dread the return of fair-weather cyclists.

When I am out before daybreak I see many the amber eye wear - don't like wearing eye stuff and wear clear construction glasses when I race.

[emulsional.livejournal.com]

Come to think of it, it's the fair weather cyclists that are probably the ones making me nuts with their disobediance to traffic laws (thereby putting themselves in danger).

Not that it matters now that I'm not driving to work anymore, but I'm glad they're off the road and making room for better cyclists :)