Little leak, Big problem.

I started the winter season with a slow leak on my rear tire, it was slow enough that I could top up before riding and have no problems.

This however did not last. This morning while inflating I heard the sound I feared most, a hiss as all my air exited my tire. I bought tubes in preparation for this moment but I was not ready to loose the tube this morning. My bike has been disabled due to my negligence.

Allow this to be a cautionary tale, address your leaks before it's 8am on a work day a month later.

Big Boy Pants.

Every morning I awaken, I feel a youthful spark in my eyes, I dream of a thick white powder covering the land as far as the eye can see.

Sadly the snow we receive is quickly dissolved in the mid afternoon sun. Still pockets of resistance remain, on shaded lawns or near the roads edge. But these do not satisfy the cravings. When my tires sink into the soft snow and grip tight the feeling is amazing.

I've begun to realize I now hope for blizzards, I want unimaginable levels of snow to really push my tires to their limits. Where the people around me wish for me to "put on big boy pants and learn to drive". In my twenty seven years I have found many situations that would be eased by the use of a car very few have actually required one.

The hippy in me fears the carbon emissions, if I know I can bike 100km why should I feel a need to drive there?

The part of me that wants to remain healthy fears a weight gain, if I learn to drive the convenience may out way my force of will. Resulting in lost muscles and an increase of weight.

This may be the first winter I ride my bike and that may be influenced by my work being outside of the range of the city buses. But it is also the first season I have learned you could enjoy riding through the white powder I used to dread. I cannot bend now, I cannot allow the little voice in my head to tell me the others are correct. For they are wrong.

I have too many plans that involve my bike to quit while I am behind. I want to bike to so far I have to camp over night. I want my steed and I to visit another province, hell maybe all the provinces one day.

All these reasons are why I cannot put on my "big boy pants" nor learn to drive yet. I am simply too far behind on what I want to do I cannot waste the time on what they think I need to do.

Stay Frosty friends.

Holy shift!

As the weather continues to pile snow, then melt it all I decided now was the opportunity to seek aide. Clearly my limited knowledge of bicycles had reached the limit. I took her to the closest bicycle shop to find the problem. It didn't take long to learn to scary truth, my gears and chain were toasted. Today is the day I learned that you should change your chain twice a year with heavy use, and your rear gears once every year or two. In the four years of riding this bike, I had done neither. It is something I will have to keep in mind going forward, and when I begin building a road bike in the spring. For now however I needed my bike functional and chose to instead pay for the maintenance, which only sets me back $90. A safer ride for a few bucks is an arguably good deal in my mind. With my new gears equipped I found my bike sparkling in all the right places. Her gears now bright as the day I first laid eyes upon her. And our daily battle against hills became more of a breeze. The moral of the story seems to be, change your cassette and chain more frequently than once in four years. Stay frosty friends.

Rain rain go away, come again as snow.

Above freezing temperatures have lead to rain, puddles, and a lack of snow. My morning commute bringing me less and less joy. My steed seems to scream out in distaste of the weather, by allowing her chain to slip from the gears. I tried adjusting her derailer, after the first few days but the problem persists, and her fifth gear is now skipped. Straight from four to six. I will be removing her old chain and installing a new one, my mind knows that the slush and salt of the road will wear into the chain, destroying it. But that is no ordinary bicycle, that is my noble steed! They have carried me far and been a constant companion over the last four years through thick and thin. Maybe while I have her chain off I can clear some of the built up dirt and grease, really clean up. Lately everyone has been telling me that biking to work in winter isn't viable and I need to learn to drive, a little spit and polish and maybe everyone will see her as I do. A beautiful steed, together there is nothing that can stand in our way. Unfortunately the weather did not agree with me, my maintenance day was met with rain instead of snow or even sun. Another day of chain slipping is in my forecast, however I have managed to minimize this. If I keep geared towards the larger gears. Which to me screams I chain is indeed too long, it must have stretched a little and the change in tires really brought the problem to the forefront. A forecast of snow for the morning is encouraging to my spirits, my chain may slip tomorrow but at least the ride will be fun.

The frost setting in.

As the seasons changed I noticed my once tranquil ride becoming more fridgid. As Jack Frost reared his head I was forced to layer, first a warm underlayer eventually giving way to a snowsuit. My trusty steed has never failed me until my first ride in the snow, a once casual ride to the bicycle store now involved sliding, drifting, and snow build up blocking my brakes. Clearly my hybrid tires were lacking for the weather, their smooth surface lending nothing to my battle. After reaching my destination I was told my tires would continue to fail me, their surface too smooth to grip. They've carried me far the last few years but I cannot allow sentiment to impede safety. I selected some cyclocross tires on a whim, they looked like they could handle the pavement alright, and if it works for mud it can probably handle the snow. A few zipties later and I was on my way home, my bounty strapped to my back. After the change over was completed I was ready for my daily commute, I road down the pavement gently gliding. So far so good, but the roads had mostly been plowed and the trail and country roads on my way to work were not. As I left the road my wheels collide with the snow but remain steady. Easily forcing their way through to the frozen earth bellow. As I effortlessly forced my way through the snow I felt a new love brewing within me, a once dreaded season now opening too me. No longer will the ice and snow prevent me from enjoying the pastime I love, now I will fight back and teach winter to fear me and my steed. FrostRider.