For 32 more days I'm living in Minneapolis. After that, it's Seattle soggy rather than Minneapolis "fucking cold as hell and makes me swear like a sailor when riding in the snowbanks". Ahem:
I've been active on the Minneapolis Bike Love forum since it started and I was super happy to hear there's a comperable board and way to find like minded riders in Seattle. I'm going to miss my city streets and tricks and drinks here in the twin cities, but I'm really looking forward to building up my resistence to hills and the like. Any suggestions of places to sublet for two months (Nov. 5th - whenever) while I get a feel for the layout and my preferred neighborhood?
I would much rather find someone on a bike forum who is willing to rent a room and go riding around than someone on craigslist who might not like me bringing my bike into the dining room each night or degreasing on the living room floor when I'm bored.
Anyway - you can read up on me on the Mpls forum, or check out my myspace if you're curious.
Joined: 02 Jul 2007Posts: 517Location: the only hill: Beacon
pinkzilla wrote:
For 32 more days I'm living in Minneapolis. After that, it's Seattle soggy rather than Minneapolis "fucking cold as hell and makes me swear like a sailor when riding in the snowbanks". Ahem:
Welcome, Zilla! Hope to meet you on a ride.
If you need a place to crash for a few days when you get into town, let me know. My living room is always open. I live in a co-op-ish house on Beacon Hill (South Seattle). We even have a bike room ;) but currently all our rooms are full-up as far as longer terms go.
Be well!
-Nova
pinkzilla
Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 11:18 am
Joined: 01 Oct 2007Posts: 68Location: Looking...
n_claw wrote:
pinkzilla wrote:
For 32 more days I'm living in Minneapolis. After that, it's Seattle soggy rather than Minneapolis "fucking cold as hell and makes me swear like a sailor when riding in the snowbanks". Ahem:
Welcome, Zilla! Hope to meet you on a ride.
If you need a place to crash for a few days when you get into town, let me know. My living room is always open. I live in a co-op-ish house on Beacon Hill (South Seattle). We even have a bike room ;) but currently all our rooms are full-up as far as longer terms go.
Be well!
-Nova
Thanks lady! I'm excited to see how I do on the hills in heels. Gotta change my gearing before I head over there.
Joined: 23 Jan 2006Posts: 457Location: Remington Country
pinkzilla wrote:
Damn I want to ride in the snow...
n_claw
Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 1:05 pm
Joined: 02 Jul 2007Posts: 517Location: the only hill: Beacon
Remington wrote:
pinkzilla wrote:
Damn I want to ride in the snow...
oh man riding in the snow is _fun_. it's the ice that kicks your ass--once upon a time in commute-age of yesteryear my old bike got frozen to the pavement out in Monroe and i had to come back every day or so to see if it had thawed enough to break it free!
pinkzilla
Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 1:15 pm
Joined: 01 Oct 2007Posts: 68Location: Looking...
It's fun as long as you can go fast. But I hate freaking fishtailing in the unplowed streets and having to put my foot down every five seconds when there's 10 inches of white stuff to go through. It slows down a commute by 3X as much somedays.
Of course, going faster than lots of cars and being able to stop way easier than the cars can in the snow makes me feel like a super star when it's winter outside. Plus falling in the winter doesn't hurt due to all the layers. Way less bruising.
And before it's old... it looks amazingly pretty and makes everything quiet.
Joined: 23 Jan 2006Posts: 457Location: Remington Country
We were lucky enough to have a little snow here last winter, which I thought was nice.
pinkzilla wrote:
Plus falling in the winter doesn't hurt due to all the layers. Way less bruising.
Falling on an icy road is like falling while ice skating; not too bad. Although, when I think about it, the real danger is the possibility of falling in front of a car...
MikeOD
Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 2:14 pm
Joined: 04 Feb 2006Posts: 545
This is bringing back fond memories of commuting along the Chicago lakefront: windy, icey, snowy, waves crashing on stormy days, it was a great way to start the day. I used to wimp out Dec-March though and take the train instead. Seattle is going to feel balmy! I'm looking forward to your reaction when you hear anyone complaining about it being "cold".
zuvembi
Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 2:14 pm
Joined: 24 Jul 2005Posts: 942Location: Little Addis Ababa
pinkzilla wrote:
Of course, going faster than lots of cars and being able to stop way easier than the cars can in the snow makes me feel like a super star when it's winter outside. Plus falling in the winter doesn't hurt due to all the layers. Way less bruising.
Amazingly we actually had some snow last year. I just rode my bike home like every day. A little slower, and a little more careful (especially on Eastgate way, which is a large downhill). Some of my coworkers took hours, some of them took hours and then had to abandon their cars and walk the rest of the way home. Some of them didn't make it home that night. I think it took me 15 minutes extra.
Of course, you have to realize that:
a) We have no salt trucks and damn few snowplows.
b) Most people have no clue how to drive in the snow
c) Most of them freak out "What's all this white shit on the ground!"
Also: Welcome to Seattle. I hope you have some raingear. 33 F and being soaked through is as bad as below freezing in a lot of ways.
_________________ When the revolution comes, we're going to need a longer wall
koos42
Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 2:24 pm
Joined: 10 Jul 2007Posts: 367Location: ON YOUR LEFT! your other left.
zuvembi wrote:
Also: Welcome to Seattle. I hope you have some raingear. 33 F and being soaked through is as bad as below freezing in a lot of ways.
I totally agree. Dry air below freezing is way better than slightly above freezing rain, or even very humid cold air. The moisture is just a way better conductor for heat... away from your body.
keyholefish
Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 3:04 pm
Joined: 25 Jul 2005Posts: 268Location: somerville, ma
zuvembi wrote:
pinkzilla wrote:
Of course, going faster than lots of cars and being able to stop way easier than the cars can in the snow makes me feel like a super star when it's winter outside. Plus falling in the winter doesn't hurt due to all the layers. Way less bruising.
Amazingly we actually had some snow last year. I just rode my bike home like every day. A little slower, and a little more careful (especially on Eastgate way, which is a large downhill). Some of my coworkers took hours, some of them took hours and then had to abandon their cars and walk the rest of the way home. Some of them didn't make it home that night. I think it took me 15 minutes extra.
Of course, you have to realize that:
a) We have no salt trucks and damn few snowplows.
b) Most people have no clue how to drive in the snow
c) Most of them freak out "What's all this white shit on the ground!"
Also: Welcome to Seattle. I hope you have some raingear. 33 F and being soaked through is as bad as below freezing in a lot of ways.
Yeah, invest in the raingear. The only thing worse than 33 and soaked is 29 and soaked, but we don't much get that here.
d) We have hills so steep that the 3 snowplows just get added to a wrecked pile of bendy-busses at the bottom.
joeball
Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 3:09 pm
Joined: 24 Jul 2005Posts: 6037Location: Ether
I am stoked to try my daily deal snow tires this year.
TrikerTrev
Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 3:13 pm
Joined: 23 Oct 2006Posts: 2303Location: FOCO, MOFO!!!
oh your SOOO gonna love it here, and it looks like youre a shoe in!
Im from Colorado, and i still giggle out loud when it snows cause folks are just fucking clueless here...from the top on down.
i remember last year when we got a dusting of snow. my director from jersey was here and i tole him; "watch this! give folks 15 minutes or less and they'll be mass panic."
he didnt really believe me.
10 minutes later the 2 lane road in front of our office was PACKED SOLID with cars going nowhere...cause the whole damn business complex ran for their cars hoping to get home early...turns out all they did was stuff themselves on the freeways for hours (like 6+ for a 15 mile commute)
i rode home, and drank a cold beer to boot! took like an hour.
suckers!
_________________ Insufferable ass, est. 1969
pinkzilla
Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 3:19 pm
Joined: 01 Oct 2007Posts: 68Location: Looking...
joeball wrote:
I am stoked to try my daily deal snow tires this year.
Totally! I can't wait to answer back "Cold!! Cold!!! Stuporbowl weekend was -30 with the windshill. Uphill!! Both ways!!!"
Yeah, were I staying here this winter, I would have gotten the Nokian studded tires. Definitely worth the money. Fun noise too.
Also - I'm glad there's no salt trucks there. I can't ride my Torpado in the winter here because it has the typical flakey vintage Italian paint job and too much rust would ensue until i can get it powdercoated. I had a beater Raleigh last year that was a tank but I was never worried about dinging her up over the winter months and she wouldn't go fast to save her life.
The fact that Seattle drivers can't drive in the snow isn't *too* suprising, what boggles my mind is that they can't even figure out how to drive in the rain.
dennyt
Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 3:59 pm
rocket mechanicJoined: 02 Aug 2005Posts: 2708
MikeOD wrote:
I'm looking forward to your reaction when you hear anyone complaining about it being "cold".
Like Ben. Who is from Minnesota, and who is a Tough Guy, and who was apparently very cold at Critical Mass last week... it was 50 degrees.
Seven
Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 5:06 pm
suddenly quite whiny!Joined: 24 Aug 2007Posts: 345Location: Cap Hill
i live in Cap Hill which is hands down the coolest area in Seattle. I'm currently looking for a new place, because much like Arthur dent, I stood outside, staring at a bulldozer and back ho that had been placed in my backyard on Saturday morning. A bike riding coworker and myself have been looking for two bedrooms, but if you're interested, we could widen the search to 3 bedrooms, but you have to be super super rad, otherwise you're straight up not invited.
gsbarnes
Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 5:19 pm
Joined: 15 Aug 2006Posts: 2666Location: No Fun Town, USA
TrikerTrev wrote:
10 minutes later the 2 lane road in front of our office was PACKED SOLID with cars going nowhere...cause the whole damn business complex ran for their cars hoping to get home early...turns out all they did was stuff themselves on the freeways for hours (like 6+ for a 15 mile commute)
Rule of thumb: have two ways to get home every day. Because even if you or your bus driver know how to get around the snow/ice/closed bridge, 80% of the people around here don't.
I particularly like it when people abandon their cars on the freeways.
Anyway, when were looking for a house, I had this map I gave my realtor: Anything within 2 miles of my job (walkable and bikeable) and anything within 5 miles that was also 5 blocks from a bus line (bikeable and bus-able). Looked like a big octopus.
_________________ I have always thought in the back of my mind: Cheese and Onions
surlykat
Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 7:06 am
Joined: 05 Jul 2007Posts: 658Location: in the CD
Foo wrote:
The fact that Seattle drivers can't drive in the snow isn't *too* suprising, what boggles my mind is that they can't even figure out how to drive in the rain.
Yes, this baffled me for a long time. Then I realized that it's because they just can't drive. In the sun or the rain.
I mean seriously, where else will you find freeways where the right lane is traveling at exactly the same speed as the far left lane? Don't people get the concept of a "speed gradient"?
n_claw
Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 7:10 am
Joined: 02 Jul 2007Posts: 517Location: the only hill: Beacon
surlykat wrote:
Foo wrote:
The fact that Seattle drivers can't drive in the snow isn't *too* suprising, what boggles my mind is that they can't even figure out how to drive in the rain.
Yes, this baffled me for a long time. Then I realized that it's because they just can't drive. In the sun or the rain.
I mean seriously, where else will you find freeways where the right lane is traveling at exactly the same speed as the far left lane? Don't people get the concept of a "speed gradient"?
Speed what? We don't drive here, we ride bikes.
SeditiousCanary
Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 7:30 am
sorry, can't make it!Joined: 26 Jan 2006Posts: 2315Location: Fremont Troll
dennyt wrote:
MikeOD wrote:
I'm looking forward to your reaction when you hear anyone complaining about it being "cold".
Like Ben. Who is from Minnesota, and who is a Tough Guy, and who was apparently very cold at Critical Mass last week... it was 50 degrees.
Yeah, he was bundled up and I was only wearing a t-shirt with jeans. I gave him some shit about it too.
Eric_s
Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 7:38 am
Joined: 07 Mar 2007Posts: 1691Location: the dirty south
surlykat wrote:
I mean seriously, where else will you find freeways where the right lane is traveling at exactly the same speed as the far left lane? Don't people get the concept of a "speed gradient"?
"I pay for the whole goddamn road, I'll drive wherever I want!"
- Heard from the mouths of older Seattle natives.
Also, there's all these people from other parts of the country who think the left lane is the fast lane, and they try to drive in it and clog everything up when they get stuck behind my dad.
_________________ That's Lemmy, Not Jesus.
pinkzilla
Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 7:58 am
Joined: 01 Oct 2007Posts: 68Location: Looking...
Seven wrote:
...but you have to be super super rad, otherwise you're straight up not invited.
Also - I'm glad there's no salt trucks there. I can't ride my Torpado in the winter here because it has the typical flakey vintage Italian paint job and too much rust would ensue until i can get it powdercoated. I had a beater Raleigh last year that was a tank but I was never worried about dinging her up over the winter months and she wouldn't go fast to save her life.
My family is originally from New York-en-frontier-du-Quebec, and we'd get awesome snow from lake effect off Lake Ontario and Nor'easters clearing the Adirondacks and Taconics coming off the Atlantic Ocean. I rode year round and I agree- a 'cross bike with snow tires in six or so newfallen powder inches on top of more packed snow is about as fun as cold riding gets.
Heads up though, although we don't use salt, we do use a fine gravelly cinder-like product (especially over here on the West Sound). It doesn't corrode too bad, but underneath you cables and in your drivetrain, it works like sandblasting grit. Not so good without frequent washing and extra drivetrain care. A good pair of fenders is crucial since the stuff sticks to clothes and metal extra well when it's wet.
joeball
Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 5:46 pm
Joined: 24 Jul 2005Posts: 6037Location: Ether
Matthew wrote:
Heads up though, although we don't use salt, we do use a fine gravelly cinder-like product (especially over here on the West Sound). It doesn't corrode too bad, but underneath you cables and in your drivetrain, it works like sandblasting grit. Not so good without frequent washing and extra drivetrain care. A good pair of fenders is crucial since the stuff sticks to clothes and metal extra well when it's wet.
The real pain in the ass is that the sand doesn't melt or wash away. Last year we had two events where it snowed in the evening and the driving commutes were chaos then the slush froze for a few days creating an ice rink, the city finally catches up and contracts sand tricks and spray that everywhere then the ice melts and the sand is still here. For bikes the sand may as well be ice or marbles.
I'm sure cold weather commuting can be a drag but I imagine as a change of pace for 33 deg rain it may seem idyllic for a while.
eärendil
Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 6:46 pm
Joined: 23 Jan 2007Posts: 88Location: Beautiful Bellingham, Washington
When Seattle got a little snow at the end of november, Bellingham got 14 inches.
I like the way 700x23's slice through the new fallen snow:
keyholefish
Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 5:42 am
Joined: 25 Jul 2005Posts: 268Location: somerville, ma
I recall being amazed how good the traction is on fresh snow. The ruts are a bummer though.
pinkzilla
Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 6:38 am
Joined: 01 Oct 2007Posts: 68Location: Looking...
keyholefish wrote:
I recall being amazed how good the traction is on fresh snow. The ruts are a bummer though.
+1 The fresh stuff wasn't my issue. It was the tire treads threatening my front wheel to flip that made my wrists hurt from gripping the handle bars like a vice.
My Minneapolis friends stuck around for a few days and are going back tomorrow so I get to go out on a virginal ride of the hills. I'll have to be sure to commemorate how freaking scared I'll be since I'm guessing it won't last very long after my legs get used to it.
Anyone currently living in West Seattle where I'm subletting for the next few weeks? I'll buy a couple beers for those who want to ride around with me and my new gear ratio tomorrow or later on this week to show me the drawbridge/Spokane commute route.
In other news.... I need roommates too. PM me fools*!
In other other news...I want a black 42T chainring for a 1/8 chain with Bulletproof crank mindmeld capability. I ended up buying a silver Surly (ironic) here but I would prefer a black to go w/ my color scheme.
*I don't think you're really a fool...not yet anyway. :)
Joined: 25 Jun 2007Posts: 554Location: Wallingford
pinkzilla wrote:
Holy hell. Look how 32 days went by!
Anyone currently living in West Seattle where I'm subletting for the next few weeks? I'll buy a couple beers for those who want to ride around with me and my new gear ratio tomorrow or later on this week to show me the drawbridge/Spokane commute route.
Tomorrows Thursday ride will be awesome, no doubt. See 'Thursday, I ride' thread. We are riding from Westlake to the airport to pick up Badhill; Old school pointythree. I assume a prefunk near westlake. To the airport, more riding. Drinking. More drinking.
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