The Chainlink

Traffic 'round these parts dropped off pretty dramatically a few weeks ago... hard to tell from the "I rode today" thread who's still riding, as one would have to conclude that Gene is the only one out there most days by reading it....

Who's sticking it out and plans to continue to ride pretty much every day regardless of weather?

(Was winter 2013;   2014 starts on p. 36;   2015 starts on p. 61)

 

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Looks like I'll be grounded this winter with a newborn (any day now). But I've ridden previous winters, and my kids and husband will be on their bikes to school and work.

I can't wait. Yesterday was one of the first days I didn't ride, but walked somewhere instead. It was weird and it felt like it took a long time to get there.  

This is gonna be my eleventh winter.  Only seems like a long time ago when you say it out loud. 

By the way, it was only a few winters ago that I started riding with full fenders, and I discovered how helpful they are - not only for preserving your clothing and person from the salt and slush, but for keeping all that wet corrosive slurry from accumulating on the bike.  If you don't have 'em on your winter ride, install them now!

October and November are some of my favorite months for riding because you get the cool temps without the roads being icy. I just rode home from a friends house and it was nice and brisk but without yesterday's winds. 

I"m still riding, but I don't really consider this to be winter--The current season we are in is called ROAD CONSTRUCTION! My biggest gripe is not the weather, but rather the fact that all of the major east-west roads up where I live seem to have construction going on and the few side street routes are too crowded due to drivers avoiding the construction. My formerly quiet side street route to work, Granville, is now crowded with SUVs and cars driven by very impatient drivers and it doesn't have a bike lane. Peterson is a mess between Western and Lincoln for sewer replacement; Devon is closed between Ridge and Western for who knows what; and Foster is closed at Ravenswood to fix the rail overpass. Whose bright idea was it to mess up three major east-west roads all near each other at the same time? I believe Lawrence between Ravenswood and Western is also messed up with construction, but that is too far south for me to use as an alternate.

It is a rule of ROAD CONSTRUCTION that main roads travelling in the same direction are to be torn up at the same time.  That is why we are looking forward to winter!

Sol said:

I"m still riding, but I don't really consider this to be winter--The current season we are in is called ROAD CONSTRUCTION! . . . . .Whose bright idea was it to mess up three major east-west roads all near each other at the same time? 

What about Bryn Mawr?

Sol said:

I"m still riding, but I don't really consider this to be winter--The current season we are in is called ROAD CONSTRUCTION! My biggest gripe is not the weather, but rather the fact that all of the major east-west roads up where I live seem to have construction going on and the few side street routes are too crowded due to drivers avoiding the construction. My formerly quiet side street route to work, Granville, is now crowded with SUVs and cars driven by very impatient drivers and it doesn't have a bike lane. Peterson is a mess between Western and Lincoln for sewer replacement; Devon is closed between Ridge and Western for who knows what; and Foster is closed at Ravenswood to fix the rail overpass. Whose bright idea was it to mess up three major east-west roads all near each other at the same time? I believe Lawrence between Ravenswood and Western is also messed up with construction, but that is too far south for me to use as an alternate.

serch iditarod bike invitational. 

I'm giving it a try this winter. I usually ride along the LFP from the north side to the loop, my alternate route being Halsted to Lincoln to Wells (which I have to try). Ice and threading the dooring needle scare me. Gonna make a trip to Marshalls pretty soon as a lot of people here recommend that place for winter clothing. I will have to work on my smugness but that's a lesser challenge.

MagMileMarauder said:

I ride every day to actually enjoy winter, among other countless benefits. I often feel smug about it among the "I love Chicago, but I hate winter in Chicago" crowd :).

This has been said before, and I learned about it on the Chainlink, but it warrants repeating:  http://www.sierratradingpost.com/ has been my "go to" site.  First, go to the web site and sign up for the Deal Flyer.  You will get an e-mail that gives you 35% off immediately and free shipping.  No sales tax.  Their order turn around is very quick.  Their prices are pretty good, and then there is ALWAYS some discount being given on top of the low prices.  I have pretty much outfitted myself through them this year from base layers to boots to goggles.

Joe Guzzardo said:

. . .  Gonna make a trip to Marshalls pretty soon as a lot of people here recommend that place for winter clothing. 

Way cool, thx.

Clothing can be a pretty idiosyncratic thing and being up close and personal has its benefits. I like A-Z Wallis which is also very near 2 of my other most favorite places, Uptown Bikes and Gigio's Pizzaria, which was rated number 22 in Chicago Magazine's top pizza places. 



Lisa Curcio said:

This has been said before, and I learned about it on the Chainlink, but it warrants repeating:  http://www.sierratradingpost.com/ has been my "go to" site.  First, go to the web site and sign up for the Deal Flyer.  You will get an e-mail that gives you 35% off immediately and free shipping.  No sales tax.  Their order turn around is very quick.  Their prices are pretty good, and then there is ALWAYS some discount being given on top of the low prices.  I have pretty much outfitted myself through them this year from base layers to boots to goggles.

 

I ride regularly during the winter, although my commute to work is walkable. However, it's not as easy to walk for groceries or to my Hebrew class, so I will bike to those. Hope that the roads stay clear on Mondays, for that matter!

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