The best season for cycling begins now. Nothing is automatic. Step out the front door,
throw your leg over the bike for your commute and the sleepy winter mind comes alive.
A quick trip for groceries becomes a complex adventure. The ride to often becomes the
event of the day, and some of the best conversations are the ones a winter cyclist has with
them selves and the environment. Should I ride the off camber ice transition next to the
parking lane, or the sidewalk? How are the cars doing with these conditions? Wow! I
made it down that whole block of tire ruts without putting a foot down. Now that was a
little bit of hell. So hard core. I’ve never seen snow do that. I’m sick of the wind.
My god that’s beautiful. Cars are so filthy. I didn’t know it was possible. I’m going to be
so strong come spring and my skills are growing like mad. The list goes on and on.
Sun., Nov. 21, 2pm David Meyer and Chris Huff (me) will be presenting a talk
on Winter Biking at the Midwest Mountaineering, Expedition Stage. I started winter
commuting 17 miles at midnight to my job sorting at U.P.S. in Eagan the winter of 1987.
My first winter bike was a Schwinn Varsity, and my gear was well suited to deer hunting
at that point, but also worked for cycling. I’ve had many winter bikes since. I rode a
Centurion Ironman down Franklin Ave. the morning after the Halloween blizzard in 30
inches of snow. I’ve run various MTBs geared and single speed. I’ve had everything go
horribly wrong and gotten some good lessons from that that I can help you not repeat.
I’ve seen a lot of what works and what doesn’t and I’m still learning every year. David
has run fixed and this year is running a kick back brake and has an impressive resume
himself. So come to Midwest Mountaineering on Sunday if you want some of this frost earned wisdom. It's free.
