Damn. That was cold!

December 30, 2007 10:27 AM

Icycle - MetaFilter's January Cycling Challenge: The colder it gets, the higher your score, so break out the long underwear.

As usual, the challenge will be tracked at Weendure.

Scoring rules are as follows: only rides below freezing count, and the score is temperature in C multiplied by distance in km.

To enter, put ride time temperature at the beginning of each cycling activity comment section. Remember to include units, and no spaces please. For example:
-10C

or:
20F

If that isn't clear, check out the beta version, and the profile of the beta-champion, mikepop.



For the weather impaired, I will also track times in January, so, you won't be completely ignored.
(err.. Once I get the script for that written, that is..)

posted by Chuckles to MetaFilter Gatherings at 10:27 AM (28 comments total)

Guess I picked the wrong month to move to Hollywood...
posted by mykescipark at 10:34 AM on December 30, 2007

hmm, guess I should start logging again. we've had lots of snow in Boulder so far this season.

tho I'll likely be skiing on NYE/NYD. I suppose sliding miles don't count, as it's forecast to be 6°F out at Copper tomorrow.
posted by lonefrontranger at 10:45 AM on December 30, 2007

If your wheel is sliding, the magnet won't trip the odometer, so no :)
posted by Chuckles at 11:00 AM on December 30, 2007

If only biking on the highway (i.e. the only road longer than a few kms) weren't totally suicidal in the winter here...
posted by ssg at 12:04 PM on December 30, 2007

I just want to say I am WAY too much of a wimp to ride in winter. See you all in March. Or maybe April.
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 1:33 PM on December 30, 2007

So if I do 1km the next time it hits -40C then I get 40 points?
posted by blue_beetle at 2:10 PM on December 30, 2007

I've never done this before, but I will certainly be cycling almost daily throughout January (on the trust winter bike.)

So what do I need to get started?
posted by wfrgms at 2:18 PM on December 30, 2007

er... trust = trusty
posted by wfrgms at 2:19 PM on December 30, 2007

Huh. I never noticed this before. How long have there been cycling challenges going on here? Do I need an odometer or something, how does this work?
posted by PercussivePaul at 5:26 PM on December 30, 2007

blue_beetle, you got it, except I'm calling -40. You know, for the added Brrrrrr!!!

PercussivePaul, there was an August Challenge, and a few users have been staying up to date since then. Strictly honour system, so if you have the will to map out your distances with something like google pedometer, you're welcome to. Trip computers at MEC are cheap and easy to install though.
posted by Chuckles at 6:27 PM on December 30, 2007

For the non-temperature logs, will cycling trainer sessions count, too?
posted by bonobo at 8:51 PM on December 30, 2007

OK then. Google pedometer says my daily commute is 14.69 miles. It is the rainy season in Vancouver and I will often be tempted to take the bus... but perhaps this challenge will motivate me. Though I doubt it will get below freezing.
posted by PercussivePaul at 9:25 PM on December 30, 2007

Yep, I'm combining results for the two types of cycling activities. So, trainer sessions will even count on the temperature side - you could set up on the driveway, and go until you start to lose feeling in appendages :)
Should be safer than getting caught 10km from home in -40C..
posted by Chuckles at 10:24 AM on December 31, 2007

I have ordered some studded tires! Black ice be damned. The temps vary from <> 32 in the PM here throughout the winter, so logging may be weird.
posted by everichon at 12:25 PM on December 31, 2007

Huh, that was meant to be "less than 32 in the AM to greater than 32 in the PM".
posted by everichon at 12:26 PM on December 31, 2007

The coldest I've ever ridden was -20F, with a wind chill factor of -60. It was finals week in Madison, Wisconsin and I had a morning to kill before my last exam, so I decided to do some last minute Christmas shopping. My best friend Mike lived across the hall. He had nothing to but hang around the dorm until his ride home the next day, so he decided to come along. We suited up with everything we had. He had and advantage over me with all his snowboarding gear, but I wasn't worried since I'd been riding through the winter so far. I had two pairs of long johns, ski gloves and glove liners, two pairs of sock liners under wool socks, a thick wool sweater over a turtleneck, my heavy army jacket, a biking headband thingy under a wool hat, and a scarf wrapped twice around my face. It was a shock when we stepped outside but we thought we'd be okay. We were wrong. Within half a mile my scarf had come untucked and my hat decided it didn't like my hunched over posture and repeatedly tried to abandon ship. My glasses fogged up and then frosted over. The wind found it's way through my gloves and shoes. The cold was sharp and painful, like nothing I'd experienced. My hands curled and stiffened, and I had to alternate holding them behind my back as I rode, so at least one would be out of the wind. I thought about giving up but of course there was no way I was going to wimp out in front of Mike. There was absolutely no one about, so we took the opportunity to scream at the top of our lungs for the remaining mile.

Luckily when we made it to State Street there were some stores open and I found a vase for my sister-in-law at the first place we tried. The wind was in our backs going home so it wasn't as bad, and I tied my hat down with my scarf for the return trip. We got back to the dorm with an hour to go before my exam, which I spent not studying but crying on the floor with my hands in my armpits, hoping they'd warm up and unclench in time.

They did. I walked to the exam with my arms inside my coat and aced it. Over half of my classmates didn't show up.
posted by hydrophonic at 1:31 PM on December 31, 2007

There is no f-ing way that I will score enough points to be competitive, but maybe it'll get me out on the bike for a commute a few times before the weather is consistently bearable (ie, April).

And this reminded me that I have an account at weendure!
posted by epersonae at 3:35 PM on December 31, 2007

Done and done. The wicked wind precluded our ski trip to Copper yesterday/today since I-70 was shut down from Evergreen to Vail. So I went and did a road ride instead.

Chuckles, I think I did this right? (stuck the temp in the comment on my WeEndure log). That was the daily high, mind you. Mean temp for the ride was prolly more like 25 or 26F.

Happy New Year from lovely Boulder!
posted by lonefrontranger at 4:06 PM on January 1, 2008

Thanks for including folks on trainers! Hopefully, that won't always be the case for me. NOT TRAINER-IST.
posted by bonobo at 8:31 PM on January 1, 2008

Woot! I didn't think I'd get to play along, living in Georgia, but apparently it was -6 C on my ride to work this morning. Probably the only time that'll happen but I'm logging it anyways though.
posted by GalaxieFiveHundred at 6:21 AM on January 2, 2008

It's going to go as high as +13C in Toronto in the next few days.. ARGH!!!

Formatting looks good, lonefrontranger. Not a big deal, regardless, because we have plenty of time to get it right.
posted by Chuckles at 12:54 AM on January 3, 2008

I ran the script, just to see how much participation we've seen so far. Not too bad, but we need some more frozen toes!

1) hydrophonic -296.55
2) lonefrontranger -286.00
3) Chuckles -266.72
4) mikepop -98.92
5) GalaxieFiveHundred -92.05
6) everichon -20.83

If anyone has an issue, let me know, and we'll work out what the problem is.

And I'm in my traditional 3rd place. Comfy :)
posted by Chuckles at 1:28 PM on January 3, 2008

If it gets below freezing here, it's really, really cold.

You win.
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 2:11 PM on January 3, 2008

Eh, well I did the best I could with the limited time I had. I think this morning was my last chance to score points. It's supposed to warm up significantly over the weekend and it probably won't drop below freezing again until next January.

Oh, and that's a hell of story hydrophonic. Sounds like Brrrrr! doesn't even begin to cut it...and my friends are calling me fucked in the head.
posted by GalaxieFiveHundred at 8:13 AM on January 4, 2008

WeEndure is back up, just in time for a little real weather.
posted by Chuckles at 11:30 PM on January 11, 2008

thanks, Chuckles. it's been mild here, but I've been riding the fixte like a fiend.

combo of WeEndure downage and lack of intertubes at chez lfr has been hammering my update capabilities. go check my account and prepare to be underwhelmed... I finally logged the last, oh, week and a half or so.
posted by lonefrontranger at 11:42 AM on January 14, 2008

I haven't pedaled a significant amout or logged a damned thing. My knees and I are apparently back to (cue Beverly Hillbillies theme) concrete ponds. Bah!

[Bad knees/arthritis=cycle-happy exercise, no? At least, it was always that way for me before.]

Bah!
posted by bonobo at 12:23 AM on January 15, 2008

Final results available here.
posted by Chuckles at 2:40 PM on February 1, 2008