BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Ride in the winter. Problem solved.

Well, that would require me to not be a wuss, so no.

Install a saddle on a stool and give up the la-Z-boy.

In the short term, I don't know, stand on the pedals a lot and take some ibuprofen? Good luck, and don't let the "bad weather" discourage you. Rice rocket's answer is the right one. People avoid riding in winter thinking it's bad riding weather but it's really not. Just protect the extremities, head hands and feet and your body will produce the heat you need. More than you need, really. It takes a little practice to dress right for the weather because of how large a change it is from what you're used to. But once you get it right and learn how to dial in your effort level as part of your temperature control, it's great. The folks I pass waiting at bus stops think I'm doing something tough or crazy, but they're the ones that are letting the cold soak in. Even folks who drive, unless they've warmed up their car, they're getting a dose of cold at the start of their drive, waiting for their car's engine to warm them up. Which is what I'm doing too... the only difference is where the engine lies. And I find that my engine warms up much quicker than my car's did.

More power to those who can ride in the winter, but it's not for me. My routes are already challenging enough when the roads are ice- and salt-free.

But if you think about what winters have been like here in Pittsburgh recently, ice, snow and salt are not a major factor. We have had a few significant snowfalls. Roads have been snowcovered and wet for periods measured in days, not weeks. It's probably no more an issue than rain in the summer. The bulk of winter riding concern is merely with cold.

Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. For that matter, every time we've had snow this year it's been at its worst and slushiest during the morning rush.

You might look into getting a bike fitting, BTW. It's quite possible your pain in the butt could be addressed that way. After years of riding in the winter I rarely have had days when snow and slush were a real issue; it's mostly a question of having the right clothes. However, it does take time and money to work out what's right for you. But I don't think you're looking for advice on how to ride year long.

I like jonawebb's suggestion about a fitting. Also, maybe some padded cycling pants? If you change your mind about winter cycling and post your route you may find someone else in these boards going your way. Maybe there's some helpful info to be found. Even if not, a little companionship is a nice way to make the ride pass, and a good motivator to stick with it. I didn't think when I started that I'd be a four seasons rider, it was just a slippery slope thing for me. I started off in fall, and the mornings started being sporadically cold not long after my behind had toughed up, and my confidence and enjoyment level were rising. I thought about busing or parking uptown to walk downtown (paying the premium for parking really in downtown was never on the table for me) but after a little figuring realized that was almost as much time in the cold as biking down in and it would have been a shame to quit having just barely started. The fresh memory of a sore behind and not wanting to climb that ramp again was also a motivator. And if the return rides took longer, so what... it was warmer in the afternoons. It got colder still and I had a moment of doubt but some good gloves, and the practice of wearing more than one pair of socks carried me through most of it. A balaclava and much delayed purchase of rain pants rounded out the picture in January. Whatever you decide on rainy days, or as fall goes from crisp to cold, I wish you many miles of safe, pain free riding. And congratulations for having kept up on the conditioning... I'd gain about a pound a week if I weren't on the bike.

Mr. Destructicity wrote:More power to those who can ride in the winter, but it’s not for me. My routes are already challenging enough when the roads are ice- and salt-free.

A trainer? Very few people stands on pedal when they spin on a trainer. As a result butt gets ans excellent training also. :)

Rule 5. Sorry, it's the only way.

I find the rules list slightly annoying and not humorous enough to internally consistent (Rule #43). The point I was trying to make, which I think is entirely valid, is that you don't actually have to be a hard badass to ride in bad weather (sorry rules #5 and #9, I don't buy it). It's just a normal thing that people do that only seems tough or crazy if you haven't tried it and made a couple adjustments to gear. Trainers are ok I guess, but I'd rather be out there and would recommend the same to anyone else.

Maybe it helps that I can work from home, so what I found myself doing several times this winter was to start the day at home, esp on a snowy morning, then biked the couple miles to the bus stop a little later on in the morning when the rush cleared out. By this time, the salt had worked in, the streets were much clearer, I could take the lane easier, occasionally it was even dry. About half the time, the road I was riding to get that bus was McKnight Road. For me, it being dark is more an issue than it being snowy, and I long ago figured out the issue about riding in the cold. On a really rotten day, I'd just work the whole day from home.

I don't normally ride in the cold/wet/dark unless it's absolutely unavoidable. I've done it, no fun, don't enjoy it, & for me "don't enjoy" = "screw it". Any discomfort resulting from time out of the saddle fades super fast on a few beautiful spring days like today. But that's just me. Also, this winter I have mentally adapted and had some immensely enjoyable walks. Having a lovely walk on a beautiful crispy clear ice cold winter night is about a thousand times preferable to forcing a ride because I feel like I must. Doesn't help your situation though.

Wow, sorry, folks. Stumbled into the no-humor zone by accident. I guess my "serious" response is this: be patient, the soreness goes away after a few rides, but if it doesn't, maybe it's time for a new seat. (By the way, I find the rules completely hilarious, start to finish. You gotta present satire with a straight face. That's what makes it funny. Anyone who doesn't get that clearly has no sense of humor. However, I find myself citing Rule 10 all the time.)

I read the rules as a mixture of self mockery and mocking others, but concentrating on the latter... hence, tiresome. Maybe that's reading wrong, but in any case, I thought dismissing the rules list with one of the rules was at least a ~little~ humorous. YMMV.

Oh! ALMKLM, I hope it didn't seem like I was snapping! I totally appreciate Rule 5 and find "The Rules" in general quite hilarious. I've been there. Sometimes I just feel like I need to provide a voice for the more leisurely among us. Also I myself mock everyone and everything, others, myself, turtles...the world is entirely too serious for me.

No worries edmonds, Stu and byogman - didn't intend my post to come across as sharp as it did upon review. (By the way, any shot to the coccyx is likely going to be felt in the jejunum...)

In the jejunum? So I've got a couple months.

Yeah, everyone remembers the song: "duodenum's connected to the jejunum, the jejunum's connected to the ileum, the ileum's connected to the cecum, the cecum's connected to the colon, the colon's connected to the..." Well, we all know how that story ends. But beware, if the jejunum is impacted by blunt force, the emesis reflex will be initiated.

There are lots of good reasons to chose not to ride in the winter - but Mr Destructivity seems to imply that there might be some reason he can't ride in the winter. That seems unlikely to me. I usually like humor - but "The Rules" are so foreign to how I approach a bike that to me they aren't funny, just headscratching. I'm offended by some fool (who probably puts his bike on the back of cars) implying that I'm some kind of idiot "bad ass" just because I ride when the weather isn't perfect. WTF? It's bad enough when cagers insult me. Why doesn't the author of that crap just take up golf or something?

I'm not a golfer, but I have golfed. And the few times I hit the little white ball with blunt force, my emesis reflex was initiated.

Maybe you shouldn't be hitting that golf ball with your jejunum. Just sayin'.

Aw, c'mon, Mick. It's the only good party trick I know...

Mick, the reason I can't ride in the winter is pretty clear. I'm a wuss (see post #3). I'm not trying to imply anyone is an idiot.

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Sheldon addresses the topic of how saddles become uncomfortable every spring for seasonal riders… http://sheldonbrown.com/saddles.html "In many cases, working your way up over the course of a few short rides of gradually increasing length is all that is necessary, if you have a decent-quality saddle, properly adjusted. " "If you are coming off of a layoff of months or years, start with very short rides, maybe a mile or two, no more. Only gradually should you increase your ride distance. This may seem frustrating, but it does take a while to re-accustom your derrière to cycling. Anybody in decent shape can hop on a bike and ride 15-20 miles, but you’ll be a wreck afterwards if you haven’t accustomed your body to cycling first."

Being a wuss and riding in the winter seems to work OK for me. See "turducken"

As a fellow winter rider and wuss here, the fact that people assume I must be tough for riding in winter is hilarious to me. Part of the motivation to keep riding was to avoid the poster's pain come spring! I guess it's spring now, right? Benzo, how dare you stuff in on point, non joking information sans cajolery into the chorus of winter riding advocacy? Mick, I think the turducken is stuffed quite full enough already, there's no more room in there for metaphors (at least not ones I don't understand).

"turducken" A boneless turkey sutffed with aboneless duck, stuffed with a boneless chicken. Large mittens over gloves over silk glove liners. Or Rain pants over pants over long johns. Or two shirts a sweater and two cotas. Whatever. WussWear®.

If I said: "I wonder if they make a jejunum pad" how long will it take for someone to post the "right" answer???

a few hours, at most. though this may be the point at which the discussion begins to get a bit... jejune.