Snow Shoe Action at LaBagh Froest Preserve.

The snow started falling Friday morning and there was about a 8-10 inches by the time it was all done with about 6 of that on the streets by the time I got out of work.  My bike ride to the happy hour at the Empty Bottle was quite the journey.  Milwaukee Ave which is one of main routes to the north western neighborhoods was jam packed with cars and my bike was fishtailing like crazy.  Once I got to the intersection of Ogden and Milwaukee the cars were gridlocked.  I maneuvered my bike through and it was a beautiful sight.  For a mile and a half to Augusta st. not one car came up behind me I had the road all to myself.  Quite the experience.  The night ended at the California Clipper which was a nice respite from the Alberta Clipper which gave us the snow and biting cold.

With a bit of a late start and a gift certificate to REI burning a hole in my pocket I headed out to purchase some snow shoes to have some fun in the powder that had fallen.  I had rented the MSR EVOs a year or two back to hike the Indiana Dunes and had a blast.  However I ended up going with the Atlas Snowfall.   The EVOs have some really heavy duty crampons and serrated edges which make them more suited for glacier summits.  Well I don't know if you noticed but the glaciers left the Midwest at the end of the Ice Age.  I'm a big fan of buying gear for what you do not what you want to do.  These Atlas shoes are light and ridiculously simple.  There is no hinge just a piece of thick vinyl that flexes with your foot.  K2 is the parent company and not over engineering the shoe let them drop money on a great binding system.  Any how they are cheap and light and perfect for what you can get into on the occasional snow dump in the flat-lands.


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I tried them out at LaBagh Forest Preserve. I took my mountain bike out there this summer and it lends itself to snowshoeing and cross country skiing perfectly.  By the time I got there the sun was setting and the snow was still fluffy.  It made for some great pictures of the Chicago River.  I rode the bike there with the shoes hanging out of my panniers.  I love the fact that I was able to do the whole day on two wheels.  Enjoy the pics.

This whole family was CC Skiing.  I got to get in on that next time.

 

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.

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.

Frightful, Frigid,Freakin Freezin.

Holy crap its cold out there. I pedaled in today and to my amazement three other people biked in too. Im so proud of my work bike rack. I wish I could say the same for the city streets. For those who don't know in an order to save money this year public works (or should I say public "works") is not salting any side streets in Chicago and my block looked like the Blackhawks could have played the winter classic in Pilsen instead of Wrigleyville this morning. The attire for riding in consisted of fleece lined cycling bibs, two layers of socks, and my Dickies over it all from the waist down. My torso was covered by a cycling jerzy a long sleeved t-shirt and a fleece jacket while my ski coat covered it all. Neck gator, beanie and gloves keeping their respective parts warm. I cant wait to pedal home.

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.

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Old Route vs New Route
map is interactive

Keep It Going

The temp is dropping out in the mid-west. North west Indiana got hit with snow today and the mercury in Chicago feels like December. Surprisingly the bike rack at work is still being used. Last winter there were four bikes that rocked the house all winter I'm hoping to see two more out there this season. There was a great article in the Tribune about cycling in the winter yesterday. It was a good how-to and talked about what to wear. The main bullet was that the key to cycling is momentum so keep going and stay motivated. I found motivation in a sweet upright bike storage rack. A few months ago I cruised past a garage sale and saw a few bikes littering the lawn so naturally I stopped to check for some suburban gems. The bikes were decent but lying on the grass was an aluminum pole that the guy thought was a coat rack. It had a $3.00 sticker on it. Not wanting to drop $90 clams on a new one I was gonna build one out of 2X4's. Well it just so happened I had 3 bucks and in the back of the truck it went.

Hanging like that they just beg to be ridden.

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.