My knees have been missing biking, it actually makes them feel better.

I bet you had drivers looking at you like you are barking mad.

...I think "that guy's crazy" but I think he's thinking that too.

It looked crazy expensive, but the mechanic said they were worth it if you had the money. I got the chance to ride one about 100 feet once, and they feel like they could go over anything without a problem. Add the carbon fiber weight savings, and that's a heck of a bike. I'd tour offroad with them any day.

Edit to add that the gear ratios were less than one on some of them!

It is getting close, I heard on Allegheny Mountain they have enough snow. In my experience you need at least five inches of snow for snow shoeing. Less then that regular boots will do for you will just sink to the frozen ground below the snow. I may try some snowshoeing, I have a pair of Army Surplus Snow Shoes that I have used in previous winters. Works nice on the mountain and in the trees.

As to fat tire bikes, my local bike shop has a couple, he told my he had sold a good many, Excellent in snow and mud. I may try them some day, but right now I have other plans for my money, such as paying off my debts and maybe getting an electric bicycle for the Spring.

My winter biking is significantly easier than yours, though. I've been out riding about an hour and a half a day for the past month, and it's been nice. Seattle's stayed fairly dry in the last week, which has been perfect.

I just got a new bike a few weeks ago after my old one was stolen (a 2009 Masi Gran Corsa, found in good condition for under $600 ) and that kinda made me want to get out and ride. So I've been forcing myself to get out at least 6 days a week, rain or shine. It's been refreshing, and I've been pretty happy I've done it.

The worst weather I've had was a two and a half hour ride in the drenching rain. It was probably around 40-50 degrees out, so not too cold, but very, very wet. I was riding in a skinsuit and wool underwear underneath all of that, so I was completely soaked the entire time, but decently warm. The only thing I've been having a hard time keeping warm is my feet. The tennis shoes/wool socks combo is just not warm enough for me, and my feet start slipping off the pedals after a bit (ah, to have the extra money for new pedals and riding shoes).

Took a ride up to Snoqualmie Falls this weekend from the University area, about 3 hours up, 3 hours down, and utterly gorgeous the whole way. I'd post pics, but I don't have them downloaded yet

Ah, just another half hour at work and then I can go bike more

But the last part of my trip is up 5% slope for about a 1/4 of mile. The road had about an inch of packed snow, that was chewed up by cars going over it i.e. both packed AND loose. Normally I bike the whole 1/4 mile but halfway up that slope, I had to dismount today, the snow was to loose.

Now, this morning when I went down the same road, no problem. I have studded snow tires so I had traction. It was the combination of slope, packed snow and loose snow that forced me to walk that last 1/4 mile. If the route was flat or downhill I could have done it. Had the snow be packed with no loose parts I could have done it (I did it last week on such packed snow), but the addition of the loose packed snow was what killed me going up the hill.

I hope this is over soon, I want to get the Studded tires off my bike, They help a lot in ice and packed snow, but at the cost of extra rolling resistance so it is a little harder to bike then when I am on non-studded tires.

There are also the toe warmers you can put in the uppers.

They need air to work, so it helps to move your foot around a bit. Also, unpackage them about 15 minutes before your ride. They last for hours and will keep in a ziplock bag if you haven't been out too long.

I put neoprene covers on my mtb shoes (I don't use road bike shoes, since I get off and walk around now and again) and found that the pedals are a major heat sink. So, I found a cheap online source of those adhesive foot warmers which I put under the insoles of the shoes. With rain pants over polyester sweat pants over a thermal base layer below, and a rain jacket over a long jersey over a thermal base above, and a pair of arm warmers, a balaclava and ski goggles, I was good down to the high 30s, as long as I remebered to unzip and zip going up and down hills. As noted in your treatise on cold weather, managing moisture is the important thing. Also, how you feel when you step outside is not a good gauge of how things will feel after the first mile.

Some of the retailers are discounting winter gear already and I got a pretty good deal on a thermal jacket that should arrive this weekend for temperatures in the 20s and 30s. The roads are dry here, so barring any problems with bad plowing or salt, I'm looking forward to getting in a few dozen miles. I ride 700x28 gatorskins which are relatively slick, but I'm about one bike expenditure away from being single again. The studded tires sound interesting, thought. Decisions, decisions... I'll keep to the dry roads with wide shoulders; although I have noticed that cold weather Sunday traffic is pretty light on the back roads.



In other news, a 2004ish Trek 3700 mountain bike in bad condition found its way to me some months back, and I've gotten it to be rideable. While not a fat tire bike, it's the first mountain bike I've ridden and, dang, I took it out for a spin through a snowy field two weeks back and had a blast wearing ski pants taped up to stay out of the crank, boots on platform pedals and a ski jacket. I took along a backpack and made a grocery run out of it.

I do occasionally have to walk in a snow bank that goes over my tennis shoes and I can fell the snow seep inside the shoe, but as a whole most of the area has low snow coverage mostly to to the snow being trampled down by pedestrians or automobiles. Thus I generally use my New Balance tennis show (more a walking shoe). They do NOT permit sweat out or water in except from the top so I wear them. I prefer leather but I draw the line on wearing my leather sandals in the snow (I do wear them in Cold Weather, my feet run hot). When I hit the trails I switch to my Gore Tex lines Army surplus boots. Technically they are summer boots, but I have used them down to 10 degrees and had no problem using them (as I said, my feet run hot).

So yes I am using tennis shoes, I would be using sandals but they do not keep the snow away from my feet. The cold is NOT a problem with my feet. If it was just Zero Degrees and no snow or ice I would be wearing sandals while biking, for my feet run that hot.

The local Temperature said 48 degrees, but snow is still on the ground. Took a ride up to the "Path of the Flood" Trail, it was open where cars can do, but the trail itself was still snow covered. I did walk along the trail for a little bit, but there was enough snow on the trail to enter my sandals so I had to turn around (I actually needed boots). I then took the trail to the other side of Johnstown and started on what had been my Favorite Trail before the Rails to Trail "Path of the Flood" trail came into being. Here are some photos of the trail from the from the spring of 2006:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=324x1154

Since I had done the Rails to Trail route first, I just covered the Johnstown Portion of the Trail and stayed out of the Conemaugh River Gap. Yes, in Sandals with Snow on the Ground but none on the actual road (through there is still solid ice on the side of the road). The road surface itself clear except the sides where Automobiles rarely go, those are covered with all types of crud. Given the Path of the Flood is snow covered, I will try the Conemaugh River Gap tonight after work. It is a two hour trip for me, through when the "Toon de Toona" was running, those racers did it under an hour when it was one of the legs of that bike race.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Tour_de_Toona

The Tour de Toona ran at about the same time as the Tour de France, but had a female division so most of the premier women cyclists showed up for the Tour de Toona while the men went to the Tour de France (and the Tour de Toona male section was clearly inferior to the female section of the race).

Being a Female dominated race, the Tour de Toona never obtain the support the Tour de France has and ended up closing down in 2011 do to a lack of sponsors. I mention it now for the Conemaugh River Gap was one of its premium sections and they did it in less then 1/2 to a 1/3 less time it takes me to ride that same distance.

The Path of the Flood follows the path the waters from the dam that broke in 1889 that destroyed Johnstown. It presently starts at South Fork, south of where the dam was located, through the narrow passes of the Little Conemaugh to Johnstown Itself, then down the Conemaugh river as it slowly dissipated.

http://www.indianacountyparks.org/links/pathofthefloodtrailbrochure.pdf

The Actual Trail uses the path of the old "Southern Cambria Railway" from South Fork to Mineral point, then goes under the main line of the old Pennsylvania Railroad (Now Norfolk and Southern). to the path of the old Portage Railway built in 1836. The path then goes through the oldest Railway tunnel in the US, the Staple bend tunnel, then down "Incline #1" then along a 36 inch in diameter water pipeline to Franklin Borough. The water was for use in the Steel Mills of Johnstown. This is the trail that is snow covered today, but in a week or so should be clear of snow.

Utube video of Mineral point to Franklin Borough, this was made BEFORE the Gap in the Trail was finished AND before someone sprayed the Knotweed so the path could become passable. The knotweed has been replaced by native vegetation along the path, through the Area is still heavy with knotweed, an invasive plant from China, Korea and Japan. The small wooden bridge has been removed and replaced by a large plastic tube covered with dirt. The riders also use a bypass that still exists but as part of improvement on the trail you can now go on a much improved trail. I did look for a more recent video but could not find any, and I just do not do videos:

Still have the Huffy dorky bike. Works great so far.

Now it's gotten so danged hot, and it's only gonna get worse. Can't wait for the chilly weather to return.