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For more than half my trips to work in the last year, I have bicycled to work. Given the region’s temperate climate, this requires planning.

For a snowy commute, You must be prepared:

1. Full fenders: The snow will melt. Melted snow mixes with dirt and sand, and becomes a nasty by-product.
2. Tires: In deep snow, a tire that will “plow” is the most useful.
3. Braking distance is significantly increased. Plan ahead.
4. Waterproof clothing: Snow melts quickly after landing on a warm surface (your body).
   Consider shoes, gaiters/chaps, and waterproof or water-shedding pants. I sometimes wear stretchy polyester soccer pants over my jeans. They absorb moisture and dry quickly.
5. Facemask + Ski Goggles: A balaclava-and-goggle combination is a strong defense against extremely cold conditions.
6. Gloves that afford control and warmth are the best. Sheepskin mittens, or choppers, are very warm, but limit articulated control for braking or shifting.

Today, I did not plan well. I had a soggy ride to work. I love riding fixed-gear in the snow, but the fully-fendered touring bike would have been a better choice.

There is a certain peace that comes with frequent bike commuting. Propelling yourself by your own energy and strength is both limiting and liberating; limiting because you cannot breach a certain speed or rate of acceleration; and liberating because a bicycle can go anywhere, and your “fuel” can cost as much or as little as you like. It is limiting still because you can carry only so much; and liberating in that when you ride, you don’t have much with you.

Finally, there is a peace that comes with appreciating a climate. It is inconsistent. It is sometimes physically uncomfortable. But it is always beautiful. From pouring rain to brilliant sun, the weather is an incomprehensibly strong force with which everyone must reckon.

Last winter, after a four-inch snowfall, my girlfriend Ashley and my friend Tavio and I biked to the mall for amusement. It took us two hours to travel the four or five miles to get there, amidst all the falls and snowball-throwing stops. On the way back, after eating more than 30 pieces of pizza at CiCi’s, we were discussing our weather preferences. Tavio, who commutes solely via bike and does not have a car, said it best, “I just love weather.”

By Tim Hrenchir. Republished from the Topeka Capital-Journal

In designing future street projects, the city staff should integrate and implement “Complete Streets” concepts targeted at making roadways safe and accessible for everyone, including bicyclists and pedestrians, the Topeka City Council decided Tuesday night.

The council voted 8-1 to approve a resolution sponsored by Councilman Larry Wolgast that changed city policy by directing the staff to make that move to the extent financially feasible. The measure also made it the city’s goal to adequately finance the policy’s implementation.

The outcome of Tuesday’s vote “shows we are progressive and moving forward,” Wolgast told the council.

“The important point is that our transportation plan will be designed not for moving vehicles as quickly as possible, but by taking into consideration all who use streets,” he said.

Councilman Jack Woelfel, the sole dissenter, said he wasn’t opposed to Complete Streets concepts but didn’t fully understand them. Woelfel also said he thought the proposal left too many unanswered questions and wasn’t specific enough, particularly about finances.

Wolgast told council members how a consultant brought to Topeka as part of the Heartland Visioning process earlier this year explained how cities nationwide were working to implement Complete Streets concepts.

“The Complete Streets policy will direct city planners and engineers to consistently design with all users in mind, including drivers, public transportation riders, pedestrians and bicyclists, as well as older people, children and people with disabilities,” he said.

The council heard support for Wolgast’s proposal expressed Tuesday by six speakers, including representatives of the Community Resources Council and the Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce.

Another advocate, Karl Fundenberger, told the council thousands die crossing roadways nationally each year due to poor design features.

He said: “Streets are not for moving cars. They’re for moving people.”

Joseph Ledbetter, who also addressed the council on the matter, asked members to make sure that money from a half-cent sales tax that took effect Oct. 1 doesn’t help pay for Complete Streets improvements.

City manager Norton Bonaparte said that won’t happen. He noted that the council earlier this month approved capital improvement plans calling for the city to borrow $100,000 through general obligation bonds in each of the next five years to pay to incorporate Complete Streets design elements into projects the city carries out using revenue from the half-cent tax.

The council also approved a 2010 legislative agenda consisting of eight provisions that include asking for the continued operation of the Kansas Neurological Institute, which a state commission has recommended closing, and supporting “continued development of the Capitol complex and state operations in downtown Topeka.”

Three other provisions of the approved agenda were targeted at helping the Topeka Metropolitan Transit Authority.

Council members voted 8-1 to approve that agenda. Councilman John Alcala dissented, saying he thought it had been “overloaded” with too many issues.

Also, Mayor Bill Bunten cast a vote as the city’s governing body:

• Voted 10-0 to approve Alcala’s motion to defer action on a proposed zoning change regarding property at 1236 S.W. Garfield Ave. Alcala said the deferral would give the city attorney’s office time to provide the council an opinion on the extent of participation in voting and discussion on the matter that should be permitted for Councilwoman Deborah Swank, who previously spoke about it before the Topeka Planning Commission.

• Voted 10-0 to amend the city’s zoning code to clarify that only fences within parks may exceed the city’s 4-foot height requirement in a front yard.

Here’s the plan:

Feel free to add to it if there’s something missing!

After throwing my chain and unintentionally flat-spotting my brand new tire on a high-speed, 50-foot skid the other day, I decided it was time to make another chain tensioner for the forward-facing dropouts on my newer fixed-gear bike.

Here was my first attempt.  I used two eye-bolts, a bracket, and two nuts on the first one.  But that involved a lot of work any time I needed to remove the rear wheel.  And the two eye-bolts took up lots of space on the axle.  So, why not go with just one?

And it totally works! The bracket was an L-shaped one with a single hole on each side.  The shorter side was sawed off so it would fit behind the axle.  And the bracket sits on the relatively flat part of the dropout (where the original derailleur tensioners stuck out).

…is actually a disc-brake mountain bike hub.  Check this out: http://www.londonfixiebike.co.uk/

So, you get a mountain bike hub that has a disc brake set up.  You flip it around, and you bolt on a special cog.  It uses six bolts (same as a brake rotor) instead of threads.  It’s brilliant!  It’s guaranteed for life!  I can’t wait to try it… there would definitely be no stripping of hubs or lockrings or cogs with this system.  Seriously, awesome.  This is good bike engineering.  From now on, I’ve decided that Track Hubs Are Officially Dumb.

Amended 2008-10-07: You can buy these cogs in the U.S., too! http://tomicog.blogspot.com/

Amended 2009-03-18: My 16t Tomicog works great, but I wish I had ordered a 17t or an 18t first.  Since I’m using it in a road application, and 16t is the smallest offered, I was running 42×16.  That’s pretty low when you’re used to 46×16.  So I have ordered a 17t cog, and I’ll run 50t on the front – but the ideal setup I’d probably recommend is 52×18.

Also, the cog didn’t fit perfectly over the disc holes – they were a little wider than the holes on the hub. That means it fits, but I get a tiny bit of fore/aft play in the chain.