Cycling in Waterloo Region

[Canard]

I'd definitely enjoy a video or visual article on how to winter bike. I fear that I'll do one part but not another, regret it, and suffer for it. It always feels in my mind like I need tires I don't have, cleaning equipment I don't have, shoes, gloves, headgear I don't have, and getting it all together feels daunting. That said, I'm doing the foolish New Year's move into a Downtown house with a backyard basement entry, so it might be the best kind of place to winter cycle from.

Don't feel bad! I'm no pro at all. The only real thing I did is add fenders to my bike, which made a huge difference to the amount of muck and snow that gets sprayed everywhere. I wear my snowboard helmet instead of a bike helmet because it's warmer (they're essentially identical, except a snowboard helmet has extra fabric for warmth), and I wear good winter gloves and a face mask. The face mask thing is probably the number one thing I'd recommend - folks here on this forum twigged me to it last year. Without it, I can only ride for a few minutes before my lungs hurt so bad! With it, I could ride for hours.

Here's a little video I put together showing what I do after each ride:

My main motivation for cleaning it regularly is the noise - I can't stand it when I don't have a silent drivetrain. It drives me nuts.

Yes!! I feel so embarrassed that it wasn't until I regularly cleaned my chain (twice a week in the summer, or after every ride in the winter) that I realized that chains can actually be really, really quiet (silent). For the longest time I was determined to go out and buy a belt-driven bike because I didn't like the noise of my chain. Turns out I just needed to take care of it.