Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Like a wolf on a fold, again


Dang it got cold quickly. Dig my mailman. The high today will be about 13 F. He's wearing shorts. It's dudes like this that make me love Spokane.

The pond at Manito is frozen solid. And with no snow, it seems we would be missing an opportunity if we didn't do some studded tire testing.

I remember watching ancient instructional movies in highschool about how to drive on ice. (For the younger readers: there was a time when you singed up to take Drivers Ed like you sign up to take PE -- you learned to drive at school!). They showed a guy driving on a frozen lake somewhere. He was driving in a convertible and the camera man was behind him, so you watched the driver work the steering wheel as he discussed his form.

Anway, if you have studded tires mounted on your bike and you've not tried them out yet, go hit one of the local ponds to get the feel for fast cornering on ice.

It's official: South Perry Pizza Bike Nerd Hang. Tomorrow at 5:30.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

John, can you address why my gears on my bike don't work in these nice spokane temps we have been having? Any maybe some shady tree mechanic ideas of how to fix it. I am guessing that my freewheel is freezing, and thus not allowing my bike to change gears, but that is only a theory.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, what are some good cold weather maintenace ideas?

Andrew

Not said...

What happens to me (or used to happen to me) is that a little bit of water would get into the cable housing, then freeze and prevent me from shifting.

I put a little bit of motor oil on the cable and worked it back and forth inside the housing. It no longer freezes.

- Ventura