Deep Freeze Continues

The temperature in the Toronto area continues to drop. The forecast for tomorrow morning is -21 Celsius, or around -35c with wind chill. If you are crazy like me, who still bikes in this temperature, please take precaution and dress very warm, with a face mask and warm gloves. If you ride on bike paths, please do not ride if it's icy. I fell twice on my way home today and am still aching. It might be better to take the main roads as they are plowed and salted much quicker than bike paths. Be safe.

Snow, snow everywhere - Canon FD 35mm f2 S.S.C & NEX-6. 

Biking in Extreme Weather in Toronto

Sunset - NEX-6 & Canon FD 35mm f2 S.S.C. Click for larger.

We have had very extreme weather this winter. After the severe ice storm that put hundreds of thousands of households in the dark, the temperature has been very cold. On Friday, when the picture above was taken, temperature was around -30 degrees Celsius when factored in the wind chill, but it was actually colder than that when biking.  The cold is not the big issue for biking; the biggest challenge is the slippery, icy road. The City is doing a good job at salting the bike paths, but during the snow, it's quite dangerous if the ground is frozen. I fell a few weeks ago on my road bike; the small, thin tires are just not very good at gripping the road. I have now switched to a mountain bike/dirt jumper with much better tires. The main streets are actually safer to bike, as they are the first to be cleared of snow, but then you will have the traffic/cars to worry about.

The other annoying thing is the wetness on the boot/shoe/pants from the splash. Fenders are a must in this kind of weather, but unfortunately my dirt jumper does not have provision for fenders, front or back. I can attach a mud guard to the seat post for the rear, but can't do much about the front. My solution is to wear a pair of rain pants, which covers most of boots.

Yes, I know. It would be much easier to drive, or take public transit, but once you get used to getting to work in 20 minutes on bike, versus more twice the time driving (including parking, and walking to the building), and no traffic to fight, you wouldn't want to get to work any other way!

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.

Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 5.8cm f2 Sample

I wrote about this "castrated" Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 5.8cm f2 lens some time ago, before mirrorless cameras were on the market.  I thought the lens was history, but it is rescued by the mirrorless cameras, especially the NEX-6. I have it remounted on the Yeenon helicoid and the focusing feels a lot better. There is a benefit for mounting the lens on the helicoid: the lens could be used almost like a macro lens.

Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 5.8cm f2 on Yeenon Helicoid. Click for larger.

Winter in the city - NEX-6 & Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 5.8cm f2 @ f8. Click for larger.