Gonna ride in the upcoming snow?

[helmet hair]

Well are you? Have you in the past? How successful were you?

My lone employee is thinking she's going to make the 5 mile commute from home @ 42nd & Killingsworth to work in inner SE industrial. I think she'll go a couple of blocks, crash then walk her bike home, and call me to come get her in my 4x4 PU.

Of course, one's ease of riding in the snow is based on a lot of factors, but I'm certainly not "going for it."

hh

[tonyt]

Sounds like you're making it out to be a LOT harder than it is. If you have a cross bike or a mountain bike you are totally fine. You just need some tread and enough tire volume to drop the pressure.

Been here 11 years and have been through all of the heavy (relatively) snows. The first winter I was here, we had a bit of heavy snowfall. My 20 minute bike commute took five minutes longer. My house-mate's 20 minute car commute became a 2+ hour nightmare. I don't care if you're driving a snowcat, you can't factor out traffic. If you're in ANY car, you aren't moving if those around you aren't.

There was one winter, I think 2006 or 07, and I remember quite clearly passing all car traffic like it was standing still, mostly because it was. The ride home was a joyous journey in the silent snow.

Not sure why you seem to have such a "wiser than thou" attitude toward your employee. If you had experience in the snow, you'd know it's no big deal. If you don't have experience, why not? You should give riding in the snow a shot. It's a hoot. I hope we get hammered.

[rainperimeter]

i biked daily through 2+ years in minneapolis. regardless of snow or temperature. and on a fixed gear bike riding nothing larger than 700x28 tires. this was pretty standard set up for most everyone i knew at the pizza place and bike shop i worked in. it sucked often but it's far from impossible.

i have been emailing one of my old co-workers from the bike shop. he works at qbp now. it's south of minneapolis in bloomington. i asked if he had a pugsley. they look like they'd be so much fun to ride in the snow! he said he does but for his daily commute he still just rides one of his road bikes. i think people make a lot more out of tire size and snow than they need to. no offense tonyt.

all that said i do get sketched out here in the snow. maybe because of the lack of super cold temps keeping the snow firm. and the lack of plows. it gets either super slick and icy or so rutted that you just can't hold any sort of a line.

[helmet hair]

Tonyt,

Her bike isn't a cross or mountain bike with good tread. I know her and her abilities. I've known her for over 10 years and sometimes she bites off more than she can chew.

"wiser than her" hh

[Psyfalcon]

Its not bad until you get to the steeps. I crossed Sylvan in one of the big storms. Not bad until I had to go down hill.

[Spiffy]

I was thinking about it... but I rode my usual cruiser last week when we got some morning snow and lost traction for the first time...

thought about the mountain bike this morning but didn't really have the time to check air and lube it last night so decided to be lazy as usual when it's cold and just take the train... (:

so yeah, I wouldn't go out there with semi-slick cruiser tires in the snow, but on a mountain bike I wouldn't worry about it...

[bonny790]

Snow is no problem, great traction on my 26x1.5 Marathons. No knobs but some tread. I let a bunch of air out and go. From North Portland to PSU, about 8 miles, worst problem I had was snow building up on the grears causing it to skip. Otherwise, beautiful ride, love the snow (at least in PDX terms!)

Agree with Tony, sounds like you don't give her enough credit. So, did she ride in today and make it?

[dmc]

So, did she ride in today and make it?

Continue the story.

[maxadders]

Wow, what a bunch of garbage. "I bet she's gonna crash"....what is this, the Snoregonian?

[lacorota]

Not much snow to deal with, now, however, on my return from riding yesterday, I was caught off gaurd with patches of ice. I was returning from a trip to Sauvie Island and via. Hwy. 30. Between Sauvie and my exit for the St. John's Bridge, I crossed 5 or 10 strips of ice perhaps a yard or so wide. The ice had formed from watershed runoff from the west hillside. The first one caught me by surprise so I turned up the alert. Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires seem to get a decent grip but ice is another story.