Winter is here

Well, I feel like I'm in the thick of winter. There's been snow and slush and frozen ice on the ground for about a week and a half, now. That hasn't stopped me biking, but I am certainly moving slower, being more careful, and not going as far. This also means that I'm riding mostly on my Brodie these last two weeks. It has 2" tires, and that makes a huge difference with more treacherous conditions. Before that, I was riding on my Fairdale Express, which was supposed to be my winter bike, primarily because it's a single speed bike. Low maintenance and cheap—nothing to worry about.

While I love the Fairdale for its simplicity (and it's basket which holds all my stuff), I've had to move over to the Brodie, sans basket, for safety. I'm pretty proud to have found a set of Schwalbe 365 tires on Facebook Marketplace. Two for $100! The extra width and reliability of these tires makes me feel perfectly at home on wintery streets. Having gears helps too. Switching to an easy gear means less torque, and that seems to result in less slipping.

I think the most dangerous riding is on roads that don't have bike lanes where slush has frozen into the parking lanes, which is where I usually ride. This requires me to ride in the lanes of traffic. But if I decide to try to ride in the parking lane, there's a chance I'll run over a nasty patch or even just traverse one on the way into the main lane and then slip.

I'm not sure how much studded tires would help with this, but I imagine they're better than what I have.

Still, I'm enjoying riding and at times I sometimes think that I like riding in the winter more than the summer. I'm sure that opinion will change as soon as summer rolls around. One highlight recently was borrowing the Brompton G-line from Pedal and taking it to the Leslieville Spit. I'm currently in the midst of making a video about that experience.

If you're out there riding, and I've seen you probably, I hope you're feeling safe and warm. Each cyclists I see is another bit of solidarity to keep in my pocket while I ride.

See you out there!