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Nice first ride in the COLD.

 

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lots of ice on N. Clark too. Once I got into E-town it was actually less icy. Lots of crunching... you know, from the ice under my tires. Reminded me of when I used to say to myself... "man I wish I had a fat bike." and of course... HEADWIND!!!
I took a spill on the LFT as well heading north. There was a nasty spot of ice at the underpass at the harbor at 31st. Looking forward to all the ice disappearing for the evening commute.
Geez - is that where we're all falling? I fell at that underpass, too!
Yeah, it is a tough spot. You pick up speed with the down slope, water collects and freezes there, and the turn causes your front tire to lose what little grip it has on the ice.

Hope your bruises don't cause you to much anguish.
Thanks. Just a bit of soreness; glad more than anything else that I didn't break anything. Though I suppose I've biked through worse conditions in which to become seriously disabled on the trail.

You're right about that bit of the LFT. I'd taken the usual precautions - taking it slower and clicking out - but I think what caught me was that the ice had accumulated in the part of the trail that's usually pretty safe in icy conditions. My tires probably also had too much PSI, relative to my typical riding pressure over the winter. Still running the winter tires, though.

Anyway, it wasn't a bad morning to take a moment looking up at the sky, sprawled across the trail. Not too much traffic, and a pleasant morning's sunlight.
Okay this is getting weird. Is this ice/icy conditions just closer to the lake. I spoke with two coworkers who bike up on California and Sacramento. No icy ness. Is the ice line halsted or is it got more to do the time we are riding?
I got on the lakefront trail at around eight this morning, and around 8:30 I started seeing pickups spreading salt headed north. If they had started two hours earlier like they did all winter the ice wouldn't have been a problem. I had a couple of close calls, but kept upright all the way in.
A bit slick in places, but a nice slow ride from Bryn Mawr to Ohio. I saw one spreader going northbound (thanks for making the only two riders on the trail get off onto the worse ice on the side of the trail, buddy). That was probably 8:30. Didn't have time to take effect yet. I rode in more than one part with both feet hovering over the crunchy ice, thinking I was close.

Sorry to those of you who fell, Advil & Epsom Salts!
I walked the side streets in my neighborhood (the sidewalks were just as bad as the road, but no-one was going to run over me with their car on the sidewalk!), but had no trouble with the LFT from Belmont to Chicago. It was much warmer than I had expected--if only it would stay this way (cool and not crowded on the Lakefront) all year!
Icy but not slippery, if that makes any sense.
The only snow accumulation around here was on spots I'm responsible for cleaning. It's like someone poured sno on only my steps to mess with me....
The Clark bike lane/area was filled with frozen slush that was very slippery and bumpy. I biked with a friend for a while who told me she had crashed on it, thankfully she is ok.

I took my time and took the lane. There were a lot shadow areas that weren't allowing the sun or cars to melt it.

Ethan Spotts, 9.5 miles, Active Trans

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