This is my third winter as a smart winter commuter -- rather: a prepared winter commuter. But there was a winter -- four winters ago -- when I worked from home. Although I did all my out-of-office errands and went to all my meetings by bike. I remember the first time I decided to go out on a bike in the snow. I think I was heading for the post office. I tried riding my mountain bike through snow that was a few inches deep. I expected my non-studded knobby tires to dig in and give me the traction I needed, which they did pretty well -- briefly. After about a dozen yards in this snow, those same knobs had carried snow up ...

Continued from "Learning to Ride In the Wind — Real Wind" Since this is the first year that we don't have a car, we have had to learn how to pack things home, and have had quite a few mishaps along the way. I knew that without studded tires, I had to walk over the flooded areas that spilled over onto the trail and froze. However, I had forgotten how far down the trail these areas went and ended up riding on the ice in the dark. I fell. The impact broke the zip ties on my crate which in turn went flying off as I landed on my knees. I got up, put the loose items in my backpack and strapped the ...

Writing this review has been very difficult for me. Ordinarily, I like to inject a bit of levity into my contributions to Commute by Bike, but this product from Two Wheel Gear has frustrated me at every turn. There's really just not much funny about panniers in general, let alone panniers designed to carry work clothes. And are these panniers, or is it a garment bag? How can I even begin to write a review if I don't know whether I'm writing about a single product or a pair? It seems imperative to at least establish the cardinality of the product before embarking on a qualitative review. And is the word panniers plural (like tires) or singular (like scissors (and is it ...

It snowed all night last night in Flagstaff. It's supposed to snow all day today, and tomorrow. And it got me thinking about some of the reactions to Shanna Ladd, our guest blogger who is learning to bike commute in Alaska -- 10 miles from her cabin in the boondocks into Wasilla. Some readers have commented that she makes them feel inferior -- like a wimp, a pussy, ashamed. "Why," asked mwmike, "would anyone tolerate such pain and suffering?" Not so deep down, perhaps I'm thinking, Mission accomplished! But really, I think it misses the point if you view Shanna as some kind of heroic extreme commuter -- or worse: a martyr. A couple of years ago, I wrote "Repeat After Me: Winter Commuters Aren’t ...

Commuting by bike through the winter has presented several challenges. One of the challenges has been adequate lighting. Without good lighting, I have lost the trail and ended up off my bike. I have had to stop many times by the highway until the bright lights of the oncoming cars passed, because the headlights completely blinded me. I have hit debris and rocks on the trail that sent me flying. I hear moose along the side of the trail but can't see what is happening. So, solving the lighting issue has been a top priority. I don’t care about packaging. A light doesn't need to be cute. It has to be reliable, rugged, and provide the required lighting for every kind of ...

Cuff straps and cuff clips are designed to do one thing, which is to keep your pants cuff away from your chainring where it can be exposed to sharp, gnawing, nasty, greasy teeth. They don't always do a good job. Like many -- perhaps most -- American bike commuters, I use a repurposed bike that was originally designed for sport or recreation. We have no chain guards. And I have a collection of cuff straps that I mostly don't ever use. That's right. Hiking boots and jeans -- at work. You got a problem with that? It's pretty inconsequential to me if I arrive to work with a little grease on my pants cuff. But what about you poor saps who don't have a casual ...