First Snow! But No Bicycling.

We got our first snow today! Not much, just about and inch, but snow just the same! I was all excited and ready to get out and tae the long way to work this morning, but sadly it was not to be.

First thing I discovered was that my U-lock had frozen shut! Also, my break levers and shifter as well. My front wheel was also frozen to the porch! In a panic I went to the kitchen and put a cup of water in the microwave thinking that I could melt the frozen parts. But, then I learned that the temperature was not expected to get above 30, so everything would just re-freeze while I was at work, leaving me with the same problem. Hairdryer! I rushed to the bathroom and got the hairdryer, and was able to free up the front wheel, rear break and u-lock, but by then I had about 10 minutes before I needed to be at work. So I brought the Pashley in to thaw and started my walk to work.

I'm not sure I would have been able to ride up and out of my parking lot. There might have been only about a half an inch of snow covering it, but there was a sheet of ice underneath! Later I learned that a neighbor had made several attempts in their car and kept sliding back down before finally giving up and going home.

The street was fine once out of the parking lot, and I had a lovely walk down the hill to work (I work just at the end of the street, only about a half mile from home). But once at work I got to thinking. Like a lot of you, I would LOVE to be able to replace my car with my bikes. And I do get to use my bikes as my primary form of transportation. But here's my thought: If I leave the car out in the rain all day, and at night that rain turns to snow and everything freezes, the brakes and transmission don't freeze. I don't want to have to bring my bike in for fear of it not functioning in the morning. Is there a way to prevent frozen brakes and shifters? I suppose I can try towel drying those parts and drying out the u-lock before locking up for the night. I had thought for sure that if this bike could function fully incased in ice then the Pashley would with just a little moisture. Ah, well, lessons learned then. :)