Icebiking

We have ice, lots of it. The storm over the weekend was a real mess. On Saturday, we started with two inches of snow and sleet which had a very granular consistency. The precipitation then shifted to rain, which filled the pores in the sleet and snow mixture. Then the temperature dropped, bonding the entire mixture together. We now have a two inch layer of a strange, low-density ice covering on everything.

It is almost impossible to walk anywhere. The sidewalks are either not cleared yet, or partially cleared. The ice pack mixture cannot be shoveled. On campus, the snow has been cleared with equipment. Even the use of a Bobcat grubbing up the ice mixture only removes the rough stuff on top, not the base layer. The "cleared" sidewalks now have about half an inch of smooth ice on top.

The sidewalks and recreational trail near my apartment has something different. Everything is smooth, like nobody walked there, but then two long narrow indentations are evident where the sidewalk and trail should be. Yes, it was me. In the middle of the sleet right before it turned to rain, I had to go for a ride. With a new bike sitting in the apartment, I couldn't resist the opportunity to ride.

The big wheels on the new bike are a good thing. The extra contact area with the ground seemed to improve traction a lot compared to comparable experiences in the past with my old bike. I had no problem with moving forward, but maintaining a straight line required some effort. It turned out to be a lot of fun, and good practice for riding in mud.

Riding in the snow is a lot of work. I averaged about half of my normal speed and was sweating in very little time. What was neat about the snow is I could see the power loss. Rolling resistance took the form of snow being squished and lifted about a foot in the air and thrown about two feet to the side on either side of the wheels. Too bad all wasted energy isn't that easy to spot.

A day and a half later, my tracks still remain. My entire ride was documented and recorded in the snow. Besides acting as a form of film, the snow also was an incredibly powerful tire cleaning tool. My dirty, dust and mud covered tires are now polished to an awesome glossy dark black. Now I can say I have to ride to keep my bike clean!