Cycling in the Winter

The weather we are having has been weird.  Just over a week ago, we had temperatures in the high of 12C, and now, this whole week, we are in the deep freeze with the mercury dropping down to as low as -17C, or -26C with wind chill factor, with snow thrown in for good measure. This, does not stop hardcore cyclists who ride their bikes to work.

If you live in warm climates, or even some who live here in Canada, you may think this is crazy. No, we Torontonians love to ride our bikes, and we ride them any time of the year, come sunshine or sleet. I have done this for more than 10 years. It's really not as bad as most people would think; you just need to be prepared, dress warm and use the right bike for the weather. I ride a road bike for dry days, and a mountain bike with good grip on tires for wet/snowy days. In fact, I am shameful to admit that I also collect bicycles, unintentionally, with about a dozen now and counting. Not the expensive bikes, but different ones. Many are old and fixed up by me as a pass time hobby. I was fed up having to rely on bike shops to fix minor stuff like truing a wheel, change the bottom bracket, or adjust the gears, so I spent the money on tools and learn to do this myself. It turned out not as hard as I thought and it's a great deal of fun. I can now re-spoke an entire wheel from scratch without breaking a sweat ;)

Pictures from today:

Crossing the street - NEX-6 & Wollensak Raptar 50mm f1.5. Click for larger.

Waiting to cross - NEX-6 & Wollensak Raptar 50mm f1.5. Click for larger.