This is my third winter as a smart winter commuter — rather: a prepared winter commuter. But there was a winter — four winters ago — when I worked from home. Although I did all my out-of-office errands and went to all my meetings by bike. I remember the first time I decided to go…
Continued from “Learning to Ride In the Wind "” Real Wind“ Since this is the first year that we don’t have a car, we have had to learn how to pack things home, and have had quite a few mishaps along the way. I knew that without studded tires, I had to walk over the…
Editor’s Note: Ever since her first contribution, “Blizzards and Meth Labs and Bears. Oh my!,” Shanna Ladd has sent me a wealth of information on her experiences winter bike commuting 10 miles into Wasilla, Alaska. It’s way too good to publish in one long post, but I will give away the ending: To us wussies…
It is that time of year, you take off your slicks and add a tire to your bike that will grip in the rainy or icy conditions. There are a good amount of tires out there that I highly recommend but for now. I’ll look at you all to give me feedback for studded tires…
If you remember the Bugle Boy Commercial from the late 80’s you’re going to love our Swrve video. Swrve may spell their name funny, but I can assure you that their cycling specific clothing is some of the best in the business. Swrve focuses on making cycling clothing that goes from bike to office without…
I bought a bike in Madagascar.I met a kid in the town of Mahajanga. Five years old and full of attitude. I couldn’t understand much of what he said in Malagasy, but bicyclette came through loud and clear.He wanted one, bad. I told him I’d work on it.A month later I heard from the kid’s…
In making the transition from car to bike as my vehicle, I found that many of the things that applied to my car now apply to my bike. My car had a good windshield so I purchased a good set of Oakley Goggles. My car had studded tires for the winter, so my bike does…
It snowed all night last night in Flagstaff. It’s supposed to snow all day today, and tomorrow. And it got me thinking about some of the reactions to Shanna Ladd, our guest blogger who is learning to bike commute in Alaska — 10 miles from her cabin in the boondocks into Wasilla. Some readers have…
Commuting by bike through the winter has presented several challenges. One of the challenges has been adequate lighting. Without good lighting, I have lost the trail and ended up off my bike. I have had to stop many times by the highway until the bright lights of the oncoming cars passed, because the headlights completely…
For those of you who don’t follow us on Twitter, or like us on Facebook, Google Plus, etc.: Are you working or something? This is a roundup of some of the things we saw fit to share with our less productive readers over the last seven days:
Shanna Ladd is a bike commuter in Alaska’s Matanuska-Susitna Valley (a.k.a. “The Mat-Su”), north of Anchorage. She’s getting ready to bike commute through her second winter. Her summer/fall commute looks like this: Shanna commented on my post about marketing cycling to women, and told me that what she needed was a fatbike, with or without…
Back when I was single… back when I still owned a car… back before the housing bubble… (Yes, this was a long time ago in Internet years.) I bought a condo. It was the first piece of real estate I’d ever owned. I was very proud and began gleefully nesting like a little girl with…
It was getting late. I knew it would be cold outside. I was starting to think of my commute home, and thinking of what pretext I might have to get a ride home from my wife — a pretext that would not involve an admission that I just didn’t feel like cycling home. Aha! My…
So, 2011 is almost over. It’s time to coast across the finish line with a look back at those times when I wasn’t feeling quite as lazy as I am today, after three days off. To determine the top ten posts of 2011, I took a look at how many times each post was viewed…
Today I did my first official slippery-road, snow-coming-down, winter-is-here, denial-is-no-longer-an-option commute of the season. I’ve been thinking about winter commuting in the abstract; from a blogging point of view. I’ve been thinking, Yeah, yeah. Every other bike blog is going to do the obligatory series of posts on winter bike commuting; regurgitating the same how-to’s…
At $35 MSRP, the Helmetclava is more expensive than other balaclavas you can find. It is indeed a fine piece of winter commuting gear, but it takes a little getting used to.
If we want our winter commute to be seen as a heroic, we are also saying, “You mere mortals couldn’t handle it.†And if they internalize this message, they won’t ever try.
Whether you’re hitting the slopes, making snowmen with the kids or riding a bicycle in sub-freezing temperatures, those who subject themselves to harsh winter conditions will eventually start to feel its wrath. Some of this stuff might seem girly, but all who spend time outdoors in the winter can benefit from these simple tips. As…