Chicago Winter Survival Guide

Satellite view after last years blizzard.

Home sweet H.O.M.E.S.

Nowhere else in the world have I heard the weather described in finite terms.  In the middle west it is rampant.  The second that September comes around it is echoed through out the land, "Summer is gone"  It is said with the absolute certainty that it will never be back.  Ever.  I get it people are getting their minds set for a cold and brutal couple of months.  The winters here are survivable though and we make it to Summer every year.   I personally love Old Man Winter.  The year before I started biking in the winter though I had it tough.  Now I have my own set of helpful tips.

Number one: Hibernation is not an option.  I know too many Chicagoans that bury themselves under blankets and wait for their late February/early March trip to Arizona.  Get out in it.   Stay just as active as  in the summer months and you will change with the seasons.  I ride my bike all winter and besides the clothes I wear I don't notice much of a difference.  However clothing does matter.  The majority of my winter layers started out as inexpensive GI gear bought at an Army Navy surplus or handed down from servicemen friends and relatives.   Season by season I upgraded one piece to a sport specific article.  Now this is what gets me though most of what mother nature tosses at me.  Remember there's no bad weather only bad clothing.   Chicago's average wind chill is 24∘

A fleece lined wind breaker and jersey for temps down to 40∘.

Below 40∘ I add a base layer.

At 30∘and lower I add a fleece vest.

With shorts that convert to pants for the teens and below.  

A full length bib is under it all.

Number Two:  Keep a rosy view.  What really gets to me is not the biting cold its the lack of sunshine.  Chicago gets and estimated 43% sunshine in the winter and it will get you down.  I've gone to extreme lengths to see the hope of sunshine.  Even woke up to see it at the horizon before it went into a cloud covered sky.  However even this is not the answer because sleep deprivation won't help you any either.  In comes eye wear.  I advocate protecting your peepers all the time.  Invest in some interchangeable sunglasses.  Mine not only have an amber lens but a rose colored one also.  Switching them in for the doom and gloom outside might just trick your brain enough to where you don't notice the gray so much.  And when it is too windy I bust out my ski goggles.  Go with a low tint and you will be able to wear them at night with the aid of street lights.

 

For my head I have a GI Issue insulated helmet liner.

The chin strap goes in the holes and under the chin.

The peripheral vision is unobstructed.  This thing is perfect.

Number Three: Fire and Friends.  Find your self a bar with a fireplace and invite your friends.  Support is crucial and there is something about a fire that makes things special.  One of my warming memories is going to a friends house for a dead of winter BBQ every Monday and eating in front of their wood burning stove.  It is something I've been meaning to recreate at my current locale.  Give yourself something to look forward to every week and you won't be counting down the days till Spring Training in Glendale.  So keep the grill out and for a list of pubs with fire places click here.

Finally keep a weathered eye here are some of my favorite weather sights with lakefront cams. NOAA and Midwest HazeCam.

Lake Front Ride In.

As the tough Chicago winter is turning into spring the Lakefront path is clear and trees are budding, even the bike path has a construction season. The Lakefront path is certainly a bicycle expressway and one of the greatest assets of the city. Enjoy!

Ridin to Work

As a long time listener to the Dirtbag Diaries I was super stoked when my good friend Brendan asked me to be a part of a story he was working on. He said the topic would be "Hardcore" I was happy to lend my insight. After the interview without fail a million things came to mind that I would have liked to say. He did such a great job with the episode that I'm glad I didn't over think it. If you haven't listened to it yet check it out here

I just got a helmet cam not to long ago and made a quick vid of my pedal through Chicago's Loop and into work. Enjoy.

Temps plunge and push me forward

Yeah the needle has dropped into the danger zone and the daily rags are lovin' it. The Trib has a clock timing how long we have been below zero and all the other news outlets are covering the same story. The artic blast has made for some great pictures though my favorite this one with the cyclist:Yes I was one of these hooligans on two wheels that walked into work holding my goggles and ski helmet under my arm through a chorus of people saying "you didn't?!", "did you ride today?", and smiles and shaking heads while ice drips off my mustache. I tell you not much can make you feel more alive than battling mother nature. Granted she takes it easy on me but it is fun none the less.

Snowy Commute

Chicago got hit with our biggest snow of the season and it came just in time for the evening rush hour. The streets were horrible and four wheel traffic took hours to get anywhere. As I crossed Lake Shore Drive on Monroe st some one in a car that hadn't moved for two lights gave me the thumbs up and a fist pump. Its nice to have a cheering section. The lake front path wasn't plowed but the skinny tires cut like a knife through powder drifts anyway so it rode pretty nice. I followed one other track for most of the ride and it belonged to a guy I work with that lives in my neighborhood. I finally caught up to him and we cruised as a pair for a while but I had to keep a faster pace in order to stay upright so we split once we got on the city streets. All in all I think it took me an extra 20 to 30min to get home and my cruiser was a snow covered badge of honor. Enjoy the pics.

Winter Biking

We have snow today. Not much can make you feel more alive that sliding on the snow and avoiding city traffic. Today marks the first day of cycling on city streets in the snow. In previous seasons I was situated on the Lakefront path which surprisingly is plowed regularly. This year I live a few miles inland and the snowy commute is very different. Most notable being the wetness factor. The whole point of plowing and salting is to achieve the slurry mix that keeps snow-melt from turning to ice. This makes for a wet ride. On the path there was no slurry so my feet kept dry. Not the case while in the presence of cars and buses. I knew I had it good on the path.

View Larger Map

Old Route vs New Route
map is interactive

The City in Photos

The view from 18th St. Bridge on the way home. This bridge is in one of the shots in the latest Batman movie.

One look at the photos in this site and clearly my favorite subject is the city skyline. Come to think of it my entire portfolio is skyline heavy. When I moved from Hyde Park to Pilsen my bicycle commute changed from lakefront views to riverfront views. Along with the river comes bridges and Chicago has the most movable bridges in the world. On my commute alone I can see 5 and use 2, Roosevelt on the way in and 18th on the way home. The movable bridges are mostly cheese greater style but the new ones have a paved bike lane on the side (below).

Roosevelt (12th St) looking north on my way in.

I was thinking the other day that I pass some pretty cool stuff in my city so I took some time to document my daily ride. Enjoy.Looking south from 18th St.

Commuter rail yard.

Soldier Field. Bear Down Chicago Bears.

My cruiser.

Beware of the windowless work van

I encountered a first on my bicycle commute to work a few days ago. I got something thrown at me. As of late I've been feeling a tad confrontational on the road. When I got honked at I'd give a stink eye or when a car would purposely gun past me without sharing the lane my tall finger would appear in all its glory. More times than not shouting match ensued and I was swerved at a few times. I decided that all I was achieving was an adrenaline rush and a sky high heart rate so I chilled out and went to my happy place and had a few weeks of zen commuting. The other day in a construction zone in the Loop I got zipped past by a work van. It scared the shit out of me and I gave in to a shouting match and was swerved at then while 2 lanes away a cardboard box was tossed out the passenger window and fell to the street. Really..? I'm going to get crap thrown at me. Ridiculous. Maybe a new route is in order to limit my Loop time travel.

Cycling Excitement

The past few days have been good ridin. I caught a flat comin to work on Friday. I was on the lakefront path heading north and just before McCormick place when that all too familiar hiss appeared at every revolution of my wheel. I was able to get to the Museum Campus where I threw the bike on the bus rack and got a ride in. It was nice to have a support vehicle just a mile or so down the road. During lunch I went into the Millennium Park Bicycle station and introduced myself to the resident bike mechanic, Dan and picked up a tube. Dan it turns out used to work at Breckenridge Ski School the same time I was working lifts at Breck and we knew some of the same people including the only Macedonian I've ever met, Marion. It was a nice blast from the past. Today I gave my Raleigh the day off and took my fancy Specialized in. Wow what a difference lightweight aluminum makes in constant headwinds, plus everything works on it. The Raleigh is in dyer need of new calipers.

Three Cheers for Spring

Blame it on the groundhog. Winter isn't going anywhere. My ride in today was geared up with goggles and a winter coat. The path was plowed at least once prior to my ride this morning but the snow is wet and slippery. It had me taking the turns extra wide.

The one thing thats great about pedaling in the snow is that you get the progression of riders who have been on the path before you. I live as farther south than most commuters and the evidence is in the snow tracks. I get on the path at 51st and there is only one other track until 35th st. Maybe one or two more by Soldier Field. Once I'm at the museum campus there's a good cache of tracks for the home stretch to the Loop. Not today. There were two other tracks besides mine and I'm pretty sure one of those bikes goes to my building.

Not a Puddle

I woke up this morning pretty jazzed to pedal into work even though its a Sunday. It was the first day I rode with out the winter coat and just my fleece. What started out as dogging puddles on the lakefront path turned into slowly riding through them. I made up my mind to turn off the path and hit up the road instead. Now if you're not familiar with Chicago's lakefront path this is no easy task due to the fact that one has to cross at a bridge over Lake Shore Drive in order to ride on a side street. On my way to the 32nd street bridge there is a low spot which has now turned into mini Lake Michigan. So as I lost all speed in the middle of this lake I had to pedal below the water line in order to stay upright and dry from my ankle up while keeping my pants dry. I think Ill stay off the path till the snow melt is complete.


If you read all of this you deserve to see a picture. Behold the city in fog.

Whats in the Pack

I was inspired by my friends at A Year of Bike Commuting to log the contents of my messenger bag. The only things that are intentionally in the bag are the copy of the Chicago Bicycle Code and the "I parked in a bike lane" sticker. Go here for yours. The rest of the gear just made it in there by chance.
Light
Tool
Phone (hard to see)
Bottle Opener
Pocket Knife
Sun Glasses + Case
Various sharpie and pens
Thermos
National Geographic
MP3 Player + USB Cable
Copy of Chicago Bicycle Code
Electrical Tape
Zip Strip
Sewing Kit
I Parked in a Bike Lane sticker ( I can't wait to use it )