2020 : Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

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Went for a ride yesterday, WOW, took all day to shake the chill out of my bones. ( after a 1 hour ride).

Now I am focusing on winter outfits, even though I had winter jacket and gloves, my arms and fingers got frozen 35*. My dual pair of pants helped but I think a snowmobile bib is in order.
Had a wool scarf and a Peruvian hat with n95 mask with eye ware.
Thinking of getting these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08G1DN2CT/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?smid=AKUE7IM9AFGZW&psc=1
to put in my gloves, feet and???
Any suggestions would be "warmly" appreciated.
 
Went for a ride yesterday, WOW, took all day to shake the chill out of my bones. ( after a 1 hour ride).

Now I am focusing on winter outfits, even though I had winter jacket and gloves, my arms and fingers got frozen 35*. My dual pair of pants helped but I think a snowmobile bib is in order.
Had a wool scarf and a Peruvian hat with n95 mask with eye ware.
Thinking of getting these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08G1DN2CT/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?smid=AKUE7IM9AFGZW&psc=1
to put in my gloves, feet and???
Any suggestions would be "warmly" appreciated.
There are several threads on this topic including THIS. They offer a lot of ideas and experiences.
 
I used to commute year round. For hands, by far my favorite solution are moose mitts (specifically the drop bar ones). My pair are a decade old and still going strong.
 
@Readytoride Another wonderful story, I missed your presence here so its good to see another one of your very welcome posts!

@David Berry I hope you are ok David, not seen you around recently!

Speaking of snow, 10 years ago to the day I left for work in my car, (sorry its not bike related) and the snow was falling rapidly, it was coming straight down as there was no wind whatsoever! I made it to work and had to dig my way into my parking spot, I was thinking "how bad is this going to get". At 12.15pm my boss said a customer had just taken almost 2 hours to travel 5 miles to get here and said I should head for home before it gets even worse!

I got to my car and it had a foot of snow covering it and about 2 feet surrounding it, after finally digging it out I headed for the main road which thankfully had been ploughed but was rapidly getting covered again! I had a 4x4 in front of me so I followed in his tracks for a few miles until we hit "THE" traffic jam!

We were going nowhere fast and because the side roads were covered in over 3 feet of snow there was no opportunity to park the car and walk! To cut a long story short I eventually reached home 6 hours later (it was only a 10 mile journey) and was I relieved to get into the nice warm house! Later I got my brother to help me clear the driveway which had over 4 feet of snow covering it, I think it took about 2 hours to get my car in the garage! The snow wasn't even forecast so everybody was caught out big time, apart from the following week when we had a repeat of this we haven't had a major snowfall since then!

Back to today, no snow in sight thankfully and another enjoyable ride round the back roads! Quite a bit of climbing today so my legs are a little tired after riding 3 days in a row! It was a bit murky so I didn't even bother taking any photos! Tomorrow I will rest my old legs and hopefully a longer ride coming up on Sunday if the weather plays ball...

View attachment 72764

The last time it snowed like that in the UK was 1976, I remember standing next to a telegraph pole and being able to hold the wires.
 
Quote "Our rides in words..." so here's the word: OUCH
Stay in the cockpit they say - well 95 Kg of me, and 23Kg of Giant pretty well all landed on one left shoulder...

No dislocations, separations or clavicle damage!. Why do I know - been there done that while playing many contact sports including Rugby.

Ice and analgesics are working, and hopefully be back in the saddle by Monday, but had to lay there for a minute to do a mental check of all limbs before I tried to get up.
Loose snow on top of ice, on a gentle downhill "mini-path" between a couple of single tracks - tom foolery at it's best. Rode home (5Km) mostly one handed on paved paths (which I normally avoid)

More to come on the ride itself, as I came across some interesting stuff before the day's adventure was cut short.
 
There are several threads on this topic including THIS. They offer a lot of ideas and experiences.
Thanks for that link. I think I'll go with a balaclava, those heated inserts (which I can plug into my bike battery with USB conection). and shoe covers. If necessary I will pull out my ski googles.
 
No balaclava or heated gloves were needed on this ride across the high country.

My route followed a repurposed rail line. Whose wonderful idea was it to convert rails to trails? It's probably impossible to say. Anyway, the narrowness of the cutting and the gentle incline are giveaways of this route's origins. It's tempting to imagine riding here without electric assist… but only until the wind blows. And it certainly does just that!

0004.jpg
 
No balaclava or heated gloves were needed on this ride across the high country.

My route followed a repurposed rail line. Whose wonderful idea was it to convert rails to trails? It's probably impossible to say. Anyway, the narrowness of the cutting and the gentle incline are giveaways of this route's origins. It's tempting to imagine riding here without electric assist… but only until the wind blows. And it certainly does just that!

View attachment 72791
Be happy you're not riding in negative 10-15 degrees f.
 
No balaclava or heated gloves were needed on this ride across the high country.

My route followed a repurposed rail line. Whose wonderful idea was it to convert rails to trails? It's probably impossible to say. Anyway, the narrowness of the cutting and the gentle incline are giveaways of this route's origins. It's tempting to imagine riding here without electric assist… but only until the wind blows. And it certainly does just that!

View attachment 72791
Australia. Hot enough there that the wind is most welcome, I suspect. I like your black and white pics.
 
Quote "Our rides in words..." so here's the word: OUCH
Stay in the cockpit they say - well 95 Kg of me, and 23Kg of Giant pretty well all landed on one left shoulder...

No dislocations, separations or clavicle damage!. Why do I know - been there done that while playing many contact sports including Rugby.

Ice and analgesics are working, and hopefully be back in the saddle by Monday, but had to lay there for a minute to do a mental check of all limbs before I tried to get up.
Loose snow on top of ice, on a gentle downhill "mini-path" between a couple of single tracks - tom foolery at it's best. Rode home (5Km) mostly one handed on paved paths (which I normally avoid)

More to come on the ride itself, as I came across some interesting stuff before the day's adventure was cut short.
Whew. Glad to hear that you were able to make it back home without suffering anything more serious than bumps and bruises. Sounds like it was a warm one in Calgary today which likely made the ride it a bit more comfortable. Get plenty of rest and I'm sure you’ll be back in the saddle by Monday. I have a spare set studded tires but I doubt they would fit your wheels assuming those are 27.5s on your Fathom.

I checked the temperature when I left the house on my normal route this morning and it was -2C then it dipped down to -6C not even midway through my ride. We must live in a trough as it always seems to be a few degrees cooler here than in Calgary or even in our fair capital. Warmer weather for the rest of the week though. Wheee! ☀️
 
Tomorrow it supposed to get up to 40f for a couple of hours.....this time I'm putting on the snowmobile pants down jacket face scarf and n95 mask along with the andean hat, down hood and some thicker gloves. Well see how that goes.
I went ahead and ordered the balaclava and the heated inserts today. in addition to running the heat pads off my bike I can get a small power bank and use it for shoveling.

Next year I hope to have relocated to sunny Southern California, where I can ride year long.
 
Next year I hope to have relocated to sunny Southern California, where I can ride year long.
The weather is good in So Cal, but there are a lot of people to share it with! We had in-laws that lived near the Strand Trail we wanted to ride. They advised against it as it was always too crowded; but then maybe they just didn't want us to visit! 🤣
 
No balaclava or heated gloves were needed on this ride across the high country.

My route followed a repurposed rail line. Whose wonderful idea was it to convert rails to trails? It's probably impossible to say. Anyway, the narrowness of the cutting and the gentle incline are giveaways of this route's origins. It's tempting to imagine riding here without electric assist… but only until the wind blows. And it certainly does just that!

View attachment 72791
 
Quote "Our rides in words..." so here's the word: OUCH
Stay in the cockpit they say - well 95 Kg of me, and 23Kg of Giant pretty well all landed on one left shoulder...

No dislocations, separations or clavicle damage!. Why do I know - been there done that while playing many contact sports including Rugby.

Ice and analgesics are working, and hopefully be back in the saddle by Monday, but had to lay there for a minute to do a mental check of all limbs before I tried to get up.
Loose snow on top of ice, on a gentle downhill "mini-path" between a couple of single tracks - tom foolery at it's best. Rode home (5Km) mostly one handed on paved paths (which I normally avoid)

More to come on the ride itself, as I came across some interesting stuff before the day's adventure was cut short.
Get well Randall!
 
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