brrrr... Fox River trail F-F-FUN

Hewing to my promise to let no weather stop me from my appointed
cyclecommute, i found myself on the Fox River Trail, heading from St.
Charles to Batavia. Outside temp was -5.1F.

The trail has been somewhat plowed, by a fellow cyclist who pulls a plow
down the trail with his bike, and by the Geneva park district, but some
areas were still badly drifted over. In St. Charles, the trail was only
discernable as the _big_ white space between trees.

My first mile, from St. Chas to Genva, took about 17 minutes.

My safety glasses developed an annoying tendency to completely ice over
on the lee eye. Monocular riding isn't as much fun as it sounds and
eventually i just pocketed the glasses. I think my bakalava wasn't
adjusted right or something, channeling my panting wheezes into my face.

My extremities were quite cold until my vascular system decided to join
the ride about 15 minutes into it, at which point i was toasty and
serene. Lots of layers, nothing constrictive.

I have decided to switch my bike from inverted tread Kendas to knobbies
in the hopes that i might actually gain traction in the drifts. We'll
see... I have a cyclecommute buddy whom I meet in geekneeva, which
makes the ride funner [sic], but today it also was nice to know there
would be backup should either of us have a problem on the trail.

So: Total trip time: 7.5 miles in 52 minutes. :-)

And finally -- i had more fun riding today than you did driving. Neener.
and I wasted less gasoline, too. 8-p 8-p 8-p

..max

--
the part of
was played by maxwell monningh 8-p

Max wrote:

Hewing to my promise to let no weather stop me from my appointed
cyclecommute, i found myself on the Fox River Trail, heading from St.
Charles to Batavia. Outside temp was -5.1F.
snip the details

So: Total trip time: 7.5 miles in 52 minutes. :-)

And finally -- i had more fun riding today than you did driving. Neener.
and I wasted less gasoline, too. 8-p 8-p 8-p

Not as many out on their bikes down Elston Ave. this morning, but still
some intrepid riders out there.

One guys balaklava was totally snowy/ice encrusted. Brrr!

I was afraid for them, because with the salt spray kicking up on the
windshield and drying AND the sunshine on the windsheild, visibility was
kinda crappy in the car... Wish more city cyclists had on lights and
brighter clothing.

I imagine a trail is much funner than a salt-spraying city street...
you're a trooper.

In article ,
barb gee wrote:

I imagine a trail is much funner than a salt-spraying city street...
you're a trooper.

Once that pesky DUI is behind him it's all Escalade pulling the pontoon
boat.

In rec.bicycles.misc kenji wrote:
: In article ,
: barb gee wrote:
:
: I imagine a trail is much funner than a salt-spraying city street...
: you're a trooper.
:
: Once that pesky DUI is behind him it's all Escalade pulling the pontoon
: boat.

& if he really is a state trooper that'll likely be real soon now.
--
david reuteler

On Wed, 07 Jan 2004 03:08:59 GMT, Max wrote:

Hewing to my promise to let no weather stop me from my appointed
cyclecommute, i found myself on the Fox River Trail, heading from St.
Charles to Batavia. Outside temp was -5.1F.

The trail has been somewhat plowed, by a fellow cyclist who pulls a plow
down the trail with his bike, and by the Geneva park district, but some
areas were still badly drifted over. In St. Charles, the trail was only
discernable as the _big_ white space between trees.

My first mile, from St. Chas to Genva, took about 17 minutes.

My safety glasses developed an annoying tendency to completely ice over
on the lee eye. Monocular riding isn't as much fun as it sounds and
eventually i just pocketed the glasses. I think my bakalava wasn't
adjusted right or something, channeling my panting wheezes into my face.

My extremities were quite cold until my vascular system decided to join
the ride about 15 minutes into it, at which point i was toasty and
serene. Lots of layers, nothing constrictive.

I have decided to switch my bike from inverted tread Kendas to knobbies
in the hopes that i might actually gain traction in the drifts. We'll
see... I have a cyclecommute buddy whom I meet in geekneeva, which
makes the ride funner [sic], but today it also was nice to know there
would be backup should either of us have a problem on the trail.

So: Total trip time: 7.5 miles in 52 minutes. :-)

And finally -- i had more fun riding today than you did driving. Neener.
and I wasted less gasoline, too. 8-p 8-p 8-p

.max

Hey, Max, what a great post. You have a way with a phrase, haha. 'The
lee eye'. I love it.

It's kind of nice to -visit- a much colder climate, as when we
journeyed from Virginia to Pennsylvania during a cold snap, due to the
novelty. The way the hairs in your nose freeze and get all tingly and
stuff.

I grew up in Pa., where we sometimes had 4-5 feet of snow, so I can
remember some of that, but it's amazing, IMO, to be biking in it.
Awesome.

Anyway, thanks for sharing; you've definitely got some Viking blood in
those veins. g

I rode today too, but it was a (relatively) balmy 28, with 19 wind
chill. Tomorrow, in deference to your feat, I shall wear a Hawaiian
shirt, um, under my windbreaker, and over my wool sweater. It's cool,
b/c it's a polyester Hawaiian shirt. ;-)

-B


-B

barb gee wrote:

Max wrote:

Hewing to my promise to let no weather stop me from my appointed
cyclecommute, i found myself on the Fox River Trail, heading from St.
Charles to Batavia. Outside temp was -5.1F.
snip the details

So: Total trip time: 7.5 miles in 52 minutes. :-)

And finally -- i had more fun riding today than you did driving. Neener.
and I wasted less gasoline, too. 8-p 8-p 8-p

Not as many out on their bikes down Elston Ave. this morning, but still
some intrepid riders out there.

One guys balaklava was totally snowy/ice encrusted. Brrr!


There's nothing quite like frozen boogers on your balaclava. Mmmmmmmm,
nose trails.

trent

--
I read it on the Internet, therefore it must be true.

On Wed, 07 Jan 2004 03:08:59 GMT, Max wrote:

Hewing to my promise to let no weather stop me from my appointed
cyclecommute, i found myself on the Fox River Trail, heading from St.
Charles to Batavia. Outside temp was -5.1F.

The trail has been somewhat plowed, by a fellow cyclist who pulls a plow
down the trail with his bike,

Okay, here's something weird. Our club (Naperville Bike Club) gets
together every Sunday during the winter. If weather permits we ride.
If not we do an alternative activity, like cross-country skiing. Last
Sunday's host lives in Batavia. It was snowing, but not enough had
fallen to support skiing, so we decided to take a hike in Fabyan
Woods.

At one point we took the trail that takes a tunnel under Route 31 and
joins up with the Fox River Trail. As we were walking along the trail
along comes a guy on a bike towing a wedged shaped thing behind him,
plowing a clear path about 18" wide down the trail. We just looked at
each other quizzically and wondered "why?".


jeverett3ATearthlinkDOTnet http://home.earthlink.net/~jeverett3

Max wrote:
My safety glasses developed an annoying tendency to completely ice over
on the lee eye. Monocular riding isn't as much fun as it sounds and
eventually i just pocketed the glasses. I think my bakalava wasn't
adjusted right or something, channeling my panting wheezes into my face.
.max
B]


Give ski goggles a try, they've worked for me. (I've bike previou
winters here in Minnesota, and ran into the same issue as you di
with glasses)


-

barb gee wrote:

Not as many out on their bikes down Elston Ave. this morning, but
still some intrepid riders out there.

One guys balaklava was totally snowy/ice encrusted. Brrr!

Once while x-c skiing in near-zero temps I tried to remove my
balaclava, only to discover that it was frozen to my beard. Ouch! I
had to wait until I got back to the car and got the heat going before I
could remove it.

--
Ray Heindl
(remove the Xs to reply)

On Wed, 07 Jan 2004 20:53:47 -0000, Ray Heindl
wrote:

barb gee wrote:

Not as many out on their bikes down Elston Ave. this morning, but
still some intrepid riders out there.

One guys balaklava was totally snowy/ice encrusted. Brrr!

Once while x-c skiing in near-zero temps I tried to remove my
balaclava, only to discover that it was frozen to my beard. Ouch! I
had to wait until I got back to the car and got the heat going before I
could remove it.

OK, so I have a balaclava question.

Is it OK to wear a camo Balaclava with a camo baseball cap? (my wife
says the two camos don't match.)

[BTW, as promised, I wore my Hawaiian shirt under my wind breaker -
it's polyester. I tried to wear it on top of the windbreaker, but got
stopped at the back door by the fashion police (my 16 y.o. daughter).
Compared to those riding at -5 deg, the Hawaiian shirt added about 10
degrees of mental warmth. Recommended.]

TIA.

-B