Windy winter wonderland

We are having a very "bikeable" winter week. It is pretty warm for Boston's February standards (high 20's F) and sunny. Yet there are two things that make my commute a bit troublesome the last few days.

Headwind. (Comic strip from http://yehudamoon.com/)

Wind. It slows me down to a crawl. I noticed that it takes me a couple more minutes to get to my destination, especially in the morning. And why does it always have to blow the wrong way?

Salt. We are at the end of winter season, which means that by now all streets around are thoroughly preserved with a thick layer of salt. But what may be good for roads is not good for bicycles. Not only my usually black bicycle looks greyish-white right now, but I also noticed multiple corrosion spots on it. These are mostly on the rear rack and I couldn't care less about them. Generally, as long as the drivetrain (rear hub, chain, cranks and bottom bracket) and breaks work, I don't worry about the rest. I keep the chain oiled and brakes adjusted. Nevertheless, my bike desperately needs a serious spring cleaning.

The advantages of winter blizzards

The "scary" blizzard is long gone but despite a much warmer weather this week there is still plenty of snow piled up everywhere along roads. And still a lot of it is blocking some traffic lanes to the point where you can't really fit a car between the huge snow bank on one side and the second traffic lane on the other.

While biking to work this week I realized something - blizzards are good! They really help cyclists! Well, not blizzards themselves but what happens after. With half of the width of the rightmost lane occupied by snow there is simply no space for cars to travel, but there is plenty of space for bikes. Usually, I ride my bike about 2-3 feet away from the curb but now I have the comfort of taking the whole lane and not being honked constantly by passing drivers. They too realize that out of two lanes in each direction they can only use the left one. The rightmost one becomes a cycling lane. Nice!

Scare tactics

"You are riding your bike to work? On those busy streets? Aren't you scared? It's dangerous!". How many times have you heard something like this? I guess, we like to be reminded requently about the "danger" waiting for us around every corner. And when we tell our kids to put those tools down and don't play with "dangerous" toys, kids in Norway learn how to use a hammer and cut wood with a saw. A real one. In kindergarten (I can't give you a link but I read about Scandinavian children upgringing several months ago).

We are supposed to get up to 2 feet of snow tomorrow night. Weather reports are filled with scare tactics: Blizzard is coming! Stay home! Buy bottled water! I never really understood this panic mode many people here seem to follow in such situations. When I happen to be in a supermarket just a day before the blizzard I see most of the water bottles gone, batteries, canned food, etc. And I think to myself: "Is this the end of the world?". No, it isn't. It is supposed to be only 2 feet of snow. Supposed to, which means that usually it is less than that. And even if we get 3 feet of snow, it is winter now. Snow is not something unusual, right?

I also wonder why I never witnessed such panic mode when living in Europe and I can't find a simple explanation. Maybe it is because many of European low-voltage electrical lines are underground so you would never have that many downed wires as here and, as a result, electrical blackouts. Or maybe just people are different. Or media reports are less dramatic. Or both. I am not sure.

But I am sure that tomorrow would be just another great day to ride a bike.

Stay warm. Happy shoveling!

Racktime WorkIt Classic pannier review

Those of us who ride bicycles for transportation know that sooner or later you will end up buying panniers or another similar storage system that can be attached to your bike. Whether it is a front-mounted bag, top rack bag, or a rear rack pannier set, having the cargo attached to your bike rather than your back is simply much more convenient in the city (Mountainbiking is different - I prefer a small backpack for such situation).

I have used two simple rear rack panniers on my Coffee for over a year. What was supposed to be a temporary solution turned out to be a long-term one. The panniers I used were very old. I mean it - probably over 15 years old! They do their job in carrying stuff but I had to leave them permanently attached to my bike. The mounting provisions are simple hooks and straps and there is no quick-release system of any kind. That proved to be very inconvenient.

My old setup with two ancient panniers.

I bike to work but on some days I have to visit client sites, which means driving tens of miles. Obviously, I drive to work then since bicycling would be simply inefficient. This all means that often I have to move all my usual office stuff from the panniers on my bike to my regular office bag. I ended up using zip-lock bags where I kept all loose items and placed those bags inside my panniers. Then when I had to drive to work, I moved those zip-locks to my office bag. Similarly, once I got to my office and parked my bike, I had to carry those zip-locks to my desk, together with the helmet, gloves, jacket, etc. As you can tell, this wasn't the best solution.

What would definitely work much better is a simple pannier, designed to carry my office stuff (papers, lunch, laptop, bike tools) with a quick-release system. This way I would use the same bag for all situations and never have to switch between the panniers and another office bag. I did some search and my eyes turned toward Racktime WorkIt Classic.

Racktime WorkIt Classic.

WorkIt is a pannier that looks and works like a regular laptop bag. However, except of just carrying a laptop and some papers to/from your office, it can do couple more things. First of all, it has 2 main compartments. The one in the front comes with many internal pockets. Great for keeping those loose business cards, pens, phone, wallet and of course... a few bike tools as well! The back compartment can easily store your laptop and some papers. Should you need more space, WorkIt can be unzipped to expand its width. I liked this feature a lot because I usually don't need that much space and I can keep WorkIt compacted for its lower profile on the rack. There is also a large pocket in the front and a smaller one on the outside, where you can keep the items you would want to have a frequent access to. Carrying strap is included as well.

 Main compartment.

 Secondary (expandable) compartment.

Small front pocket.

 The pannier in its narrower form...

and when expanded.

Up to now, the bag looks like a regular laptop case but when you unzip two covers on the backside you can access the part that is the most interesting for cyclists - a quick release system. Racktime used QL2 system by Ortlieb and it works well with almost all rear racks. It comes with an adapter if your rack uses a smaller diameter tubing (max. is 16mm). Installation and adjustment is quick and simple. Putting on and taking the bag off the rack takes only seconds.

Ortlieb QL2 quick-release system...

which can be hidden when unused.

WorkIt is not exactly waterproof. It will survive a light drizzle easily and its fabric looks heavy-duty. But if you bike in a heavy downpour, unzip the little pocket on the side where you will find a rain cover. Easy to install, the cover is 100% waterproof and protects the bag from all debris from the road. Well, almost all. The back of the bag where it is mounted to a rack is not covered and can get messy. Fortunately, the fabric seems to be hydrophobic and it is very easy to clean. What I also liked was that cover can be detached from bag and rinsed. Not such an obvious feature, I guess. I had an older Deuter backpack where cover was permanently attached, which meant that washing it was a bit troublesome.

Waterproof cover in its storage pocket...

and on the bike. 

Is it worth it? Well, depends on what you are looking for. As an office bag, WorkIt is nearly perfect. If you have to stop by at a grocery store on the way home, you may have to add more storage options to your bike. Available in brown, black, grey or red, WorkIt costs between $100 and $120.

Cycling in snow

It was supposed to rain only. And after 6pm. I would have been home by then. Instead, what we got was snow. It started snowing in the early afternoon and continued until evening. For the first time this winter I had to bike home with snow falling on my face. It wasn't the most pleasant ride since I rode my bike upwind so at the end of my ride I looked like a biking snowman. However, it was suprisingly easy to ride my bike in these conditions. The only problem I had was with the snowy mud that kept sticking to the front tire and ocassionally braking the wheel when jammed between the tire and the fender. I made sure to ride slowly since roads may have been icy. The new tires had suprisingly good grip to the road. Probably better than my shoes.

As you can tell, my bike's color changed from black to white and at the end of the ride I was a bit worried leaving all that salt and snow on it. I wanted to rinse it right away but since my garden hose was frozen I had no choice but to leave it this way until the next day.

Feeling flat

It was a nice winter day yesterday - sunny and mild. And I wasn't too happy that I had to drive to work instead of riding my bike. I felt a bit "flat", although not as much as my bike did. The old problem came back on Monday and my Schwinn lost all the air in the rear tire. It turned out that my temporary fix was only temporary. The tire is cracked and there is no way I can fix it.

I stopped by at Cycle Loft in Burlington to buy new tires for my Coffee. I put them on last night togehter with the new brake pads since old ones were quite worn.

This morning invited me for a bike ride with a beautiful, sunny, winter weather. It is getting cold though. The thermometer showed 8F (-13C) but the wind chill made it worse than that. I decided that wearing a thin woolen hat under my helmet would be a smart choice but I still overdid it a bit under my windbreaker. I wore a thin, short-sleeve t-shirt under my sweater and I was getting a little too warm. Apparently a thin t-shirt, sweater and an uninsulated rain shell is more than I need to keep me warm on my bike at this air temperature.

Winter clothing - do you really need wool?

I like reading Velouria's posts on The Lovely Bicycle. She is touching various subjects and her writing is often more technical than you can find on many other, female-authored, bike blogs. However, frequently I get a feeling that she may be complicating things for not much reason.

Just yesterday, she published a post on winter clothing. This is a very comprehensive list of garments she recommends based on her own experience (and clearly she has plenty of it). The list is directed towards those readers of The Lovely Bicycle who seek advice on how to dress up properly for winter conditions. Once I read that list, I started wondering if people who up to this point were considering riding their bikes in winter, but were not yet completely convinced they were ready for it ("It's cold out there!"), are going to be put off by the amount of garments they have to arm themselves with.

(Velouria divided her list into two categories: clothing for transportation cycling and one for a sporty, recreational cycling. I realize that riding for sport requires a more sophisticated gear and instead, I am going to focus on transportation cycling here. I assume that a seasonal cyclist will start his/her year-round cycling this way.)

First, I seriously wonder if you really need all those wool layers. Well, maybe, yes, if you bike more than 40 miles non-stop and air temperature is around -20C (i.e. in negative Fahrenheits). But if it is a mild winter day (meaning -4C or about 25F) and your ride is of a moderate length (10-15mi), I really question that you would have to buy wool underwear because your usual cotton one is not regulating your body temperature well enough. On the other hand, I obviously don't wear bras so I can't comment on this topic.

Also, Velouria recommends skirts since she can easily add some more layers under them if needed. Unfortunately, this is not an option for guys (unless you are Scottish). But I rode my bike at temperatures lower than 10F and I didn't feel that I needed anything else than my usual "winter" pants - thicker corduroy trousers. Oh, and they are made out of cotton. No wool necessary. They are warm enough all the way down to about 5F. That is - on a ~10 mile long bike ride, of course. Again, if you have to ride for something like 40 miles non-stop, you may need something different.

Jackets. It must be really cold (i.e. below 10F) outside to make me put on anything thicker than my usual windbreaker shell. Is an old GoLite jacket (or a waterproof shell) that I bought 10 years ago. It is still in a pretty good condition and travels with me nearly everywhere. It is not warm (has zero insulation) but blocks all the windchill completely to the point that once I rode my bike in winter wearing only this jacket and... a single long-sleeve, cotton shirt (It wasn't freezing that time, of course. Maybe around 25F). In general, I quickly figured out that I am well dressed for a winter ride if I feel cold once I leave my house. After a couple of miles I feel warm already and while a wool baselayer may help, I don't necessarily need it.

The only true "special" clothing that has to be considered in winter is for your feet, hands, and ears. Normally (down to ~15F), I wear my regular leather shoes, just like the rest of the year. But once the temperatures go down or the dry winter (no snow or old frozen snow, clear streets) turns into a wet winter (precipitation, mud, fresh snow) I put my Bogs on. They are perfectly waterproof and keep my feet warm.

Bogs Bridgeport - my winter shoes.

Hands need some special attention as well. I found out that what works best are... cheap skiing gloves. Those bulky, thick, bit oversized ones that leave plenty of air pockets around your fingers. They are warmer than special, tightly fitted bike gloves. I tested skiing gloves at temperatures below 10F and they worked well on a short distance ride. I didn't even need a liner inside.

Ears can get frozen quickly. I just wear a head band once I feel that it is too cold to leave the house without it. In general, I avoid hats as my head overheats too quickly, but if it gets really cold (~5F and below) I wear a thin hat (I guess it is made out of wool) under my helmet. That's right - a helmet is my regular winter "hat". Also, on those colder winter days I add a second protection layer for my ears - Rox Dog Earz. They work surprisingly well in insulating my ears from the freezing wind chill.

Rox Dog Earz - extra insulation for your ears in winter.

What else? Scarfs? Not needed. I can wear a turtleneck and just pull up my zipper a bit higher. But when it is truly freezing out there (below 5F), which I always determine by breathing some of the cold air and checking if everything in my nose starts to freeze, I add one cycling-specific garment - Gore Windstopper Face Warmer. It is a mask made of a thin fabric underlined with silicone that I can wrap around my face and velcro-secure it at the back of my head. It is pretty good in blocking all that freezing wind that hits my face. This way my cheekbones are safe and my nose is freezing less. I considered full-face balaclavas but found them to be too warm and troublesome most of the time.

Gore Windstopper Face Warmer

This all means that on my way to work in winter I do have to take some special care of my feet, hands and ears, but except that, I don't see much need for any other special clothing. The main rule about transportation cycling is to "dress up for the destination, not the ride". In winter we have to add one more rule - "dress up for the end of the ride, not the beginning". Remembering that, I can avoid overheating and still stay warm most of my ride.

So in general, before you spend $200 on that winter Rapha jersey, just open your closet. The perfect winter clothing is probably already there.