This has not been the kindest early winter.

Starting winter cycling is not the easiest task. There are gear selections to get straight, bike prep to do, and a whole new set of riding skills to learn. All of this is made easier when the weather cooperates. By cooperate, I mean gradually gets colder over a longer period of time. This way, adjustments can be made easily and lessons can be learned. When it is only five degrees colder than yesterday, and your footwear stops being warm, it is much less of a problem than when it is twenty-five degrees colder than yesterday and your footwear setup isn’t working. Careful experimentation is key when you are learning what works for keeping you not cold while cycling. Through several years of riding, I can wake up, look at the current temperature, the projected temperature for the evening (when I’ll be riding home) and be able to put together the appropriate attire for the day. That skill took a while to develop. Even if you have a go to guru available, they’ll only be able to tell you what works for them, not what will work for you. Simon used to wear Tevas and wool socks all winter, while this seemed to work great for him, thinking about it causes my toes to ache in angry warning.

In addition to widely fluctuating temperatures, we have had a lot of early snowfall this year. Alaska DOT in Fairbanks has been good for the most part, but there have been several mornings when an unprepped bike would basically have been just another item to carry while walking.

I have in my mind that every year we probably lose several riders from the year before who simply bought a car or decided that winter riding just wasn’t for them. We gain about as many from people that decide that it’s time to try it and see what happens. I also have an idea that somewhere every year a long time great finally retires the bike and decides to sit by the fire for the winter watching reruns of a TV show that was popular three decades ago. If you are a new winter rider this year and you are still riding, congratulations. Last year would have been an easier year to start winter cycling. You have been baptized in ice.

Let there be Winter.

I was Outside last week to see my mom retire and visit with family. I left on Monday and the first snow of the year that had a chance to stick was coming down nicely. It apparently snowed heavily (for Fairbanks) while I was gone, because we have a good three or four inches floating around firmly declaring that the ground shall not be seen for several months. This morning's commute was at a brisk -8°F and the unplowed bike path was stark reminder that unused snow bike handling skills don't come back as easily as one would like, or that alternately pedestrians are a mixed curse. While foot traffic will pack a trail down, it also tends to leave it severely uneven and capable of rattling the bearings from your bottom bracket. All this means that after a questionable summer and a drawn out fall, things are finally back to normal.

Send me stuff (please)

Apparently the FTC has decided that Americans are stupid and can’t do research for themselves. Accordingly, they are passing new rules regarding the disclosure of connections between bloggers and companies. In that spirit, I’d like to disclose that I have never received any sort of monetary compensation from any company whose products I have reviewed, although Bike magazine once sent me a free tee shirt. I chose to not review the shirt because it failed miserably is several key categories I consider when shirt testing. The shirt is cotton, which is a strike against almost any upper body clothing item in my opinion. I am proud to say that I don't own a single item of winter cycling gear made from cotton. Additionally I will say that if you have an item of clothing made from cotton, it is not winter cycling gear. Bike's shirt also failed miserably in stain resistance and is now home to strange marks that resulted from carrying chunks of wood into my house. While I know this, anyone else looking at me sees a shirt with weird brown streaks on it. In what I consider the most important category, “Does it make me look cool?”, it also failed. It is white, with large black letters that spell out Bike (and a couple brown streaks). Unless I am actually holding a bike, the coolness effect seems nonexistent. It should be noted, however, that only one shirt I have owned in the last three years has not failed in this category. It was a shirt which said “Bike Ninja” and was red, pretty much making it the sweetest shirt ever. Sadly it now has a hole, and so didn’t stand up in the longevity department.


This got me thinking what the perfect shirt would be. I am thinking it would be made of high quality wool. While there are plenty of great materials out there, I know wool is the best. It would also be long sleeved, since occasionally one has the need to cover their forearms. It would also have a collar, since some employers (one of mine in particular) will demand that employees present themselves in a collared shirt. Additionally it would be red, because red is the best ever. So if you have a shirt company out there and want to make me the best shirt ever, feel free. Just send me one (or several if possible), but no money, and I will immediately begin testing it for review. I am sure the review would be favorable.

Where does the time go?

August rolled by as the horrible answer to the prayers we had muttered silently in July. That's what happens when you get what you ask for. Like making a deal with the devil, after all the smoke and heat of July, the Fairbanks breathed a collective sigh of relief as the rains began in August. Then we tried not to curse as the rain continued through the rest of the month. August was almost as bad a month for riding as July was. You just needed a rain jacket and lots of degreaser instead of a respirator. September was rushed to say the least. The weather was great, 60s during the day and 40s at night. The trails were great and if you weren't worried about getting shot by folks out to fill the freezer with moose for the winter, there was some fantastic riding to be had.


Every year I wait for morning temperatures to drop down into the low thirties, and when it finally happens, the rigid fork goes on the commuter. This year, my timing couldn't have been better. I spent last Sunday afternoon swapping forks on both my wife's and my bike. Monday morning saw a commute filled with huge fat flakes of snow that had me wishing I had remembered a set of goggles. Tuesday of the same week, the skies were clear and the temperatures colder. Winter, I felt, had finally arrived.


When you trail ride in the winter in Fairbanks, you start to get excited this time of year. Noyes Slough, the original path of the Chena River some hundreds of years ago, is now mostly a brown streak of sludgy mud and stagnant water. If I was into kayaking, it might be cool that it was so close to my house. As it is, it is a great place for my dogs to swim, provided I have a hose to remove the muck from them afterwards. Considering the beaver dam, loads of water fowl and slow moving water, I wouldn’t swim in it for a brand new bike. Every year, usually right around Halloween, it becomes useful to me. Noyes Slough might be my favorite place to ride. Light snow machine traffic keeps the snow packed enough to be rideable almost all the time. It is right in town, but sometimes, you’d never know it. You are just as likely to encounter no one as you are a group of people getting drunk around a bon fire.


Of course I realize that my mind is probably romanticizing a bit. But what can I expect? It’s someplace I haven’t been able to ride for a good five months now. My mind has turned it into the best trail ever in its absence. Just like when May finally rolls around I’ll remember the Ester trails ten times better that they really are. I know this and I still can’t wait for the end of the month.