So, rode in snow today...

[JMcDonald]

About 40% of my commute this morning was on pretty solidly-packed snow, with the rest being either wet or dry pavement. I made it all the way there, and had to come back home a bit later because I forgot something, and then dropped the bike out from under me in my own parking lot :P . I was turning into a parking space and the rear tire got stuck in a light groove that I didn't see, so I basically skidded 90* sideways and it fell out from under me at the last second. Oh well, no worries and no real damage (it had already been dropped on that side a couple times by the GF and PO). But, I think I was getting overconfident and didn't slow down as much as I should have given the roughness of the terrain. I think I was used to the relative smoothness of the surface on the roads, and didn't take into account how rough the snow typically is in parking lots.

There were a couple of turns which had their "Doriftoooo" moments, but other than that it was not nearly as scary as I thought it would be. i never had the tires brake traction unintentially either under braking or throttle.

A habit I learned from commuting by bicycle, keeping the bike's tires as perpenticular as possible, kindof automatically transferred over. There was one road with a heavy crown and I found myself lean my body to the inside, so I could lean the bike to the outside, before I even thought about it. And, of course, for turns and obstacles, perpendicularity in every axis was definitely paramount.

Cages kept lots of distance from me, cause Im sure they thought I was gonna go skidding down the road at any second. After a while, I did start to think, "man, maybe this was really stupid..." But, here I am!

[wvninja]

nice... im waiting for it to thaw a little more

[spooph]

[JMcDonald]

And btw, Spooph, thanks for the pointers on snow-riding :P .

[spooph]

Your welcome!

[Yasko]

You guys are hard core...

[DropDeadLED]

Wow, that's impressive. I'm in Stillwater and wouldn't have dared to take the bike out. Besides the ice it was about -19 F this morning. Brrr.

[JMcDonald]

Two notes:

1) Do NOT tell mother you rode a motorcycle on snow-covered streets.

2) Ice (noticed by its more transluscent appearance) is way slicker than packed snow. I had to go over about 100 feet of ice today, just going slow through a neighborhood, and it was everything I could do just to keep the bike upright, let alone in a strait line. When a bump moves you laterally or even just when you start drifting due to the road's crown, there is pretty much no way to correct without going down. Several times I found myself wandering over to the curb (due to the road's crown) and having to use my foot to keep upright. Eep! But, other than that, 95% of my commute today was just wet / dry pavement.

It is supposed to get up into the 40s today and stay in the 60s for at least another week, so I'm definitely looking forward to the change. Oklahoma never used to be like this... as a kid I remember goin several years at a time before seeing white ground at all (it might dust a bit and then be gone by the next morning, but eh). I mean, I think in all of school I'd missed like 3 days total, heh. Now the last 2 years have had record-setting snowfall and ice storms. But maybe this will be the last of it. Where is Global Warming when you need it? :P

[Snake]

You Sir are a brave man.

[JMcDonald]

...Or maybe just stupid :P .

[Snake]

We won't tell your Mother. It will just be between us.

[JeffM]

[JMcDonald]

Here is what it looked like when I got to work that day.



It was an exciting experience, but Im super glad the roads are clearing up. It's been like a full two weeks since I got to actually rip on the bike, and oh is it wonderful!

[Cazper]

I really do take SoCal for advantage... I remember just a year ago I was living in MN and it snowed way too much there. Here I almost never have to worry about any kind of bad weather. You sir, are a brave man!

[JMcDonald]

It used to never used to be like this here. I remember going years at a time seeing nothing more than the occasional dusting of snow that melted after a few hours. Then in the last few years we've had several snowfall records set. I figured last year was a fluke and I'd be fine this winter, but this has kinda been a PITA lol.

[Sailariel]

Spring will be here soon. Saw two H-D riders on the road yesterday. The roads are clear except for some patches of ice--but it is wicked cold. Soon we will see Robins--then we de-winterize the bikes. Started riding today--but it was the pedal variety of bike. You have a lot more guts than I have--then again you are also a lot younger and can bounce better in a fall than I can.

[spooph]

McDonald, I just recently got myself a cage, and have no desire to play in the snow any more. At least no this season.. Want me to mail you the knobbies I have? If you like them you can give me something for them? Or ship them back? They'll be off the bike anyway, I need to get my front wheel straightened for race season....

[JMcDonald]

Heh nah the snow has been gone since Friday and ~60s are in store for the forseeable future (pretty much back to normal). But I do very much appreciate the offer!

And I definitely understand about playing in the snow, heh. It was neat for the first day, but it was already started to get old real fast, lol. I have a car, but the GF and I were split up at the time and she had it, so I was left with the bike :P . But, all is good now (GF, weather, etc) .

In any case, the cold hasn't really been a problem, just the snowstorms of the last couple weeks. Granted, when temps never got out of the teens for several days strait last month, I didn't do much joyriding, but getting to work wasn't all that bad. Though, the Ducks hand warmers were an absolute necessity :P .

[gfloyd2002]

Much respect for riding in that weather.

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