[Bent] Riding when it's cold

[JOHN TETZ]

Pokey wrote;

>I think that 90 percent of my car rides are less than 10 miles each way, so you hit a nerve.
....Hey great. I am trying to promote local 2 to 5 miles shopping running errands. We simply don’t have the road infrastructure for commuting yet. 

I was a bit disappointed in your previous reply.

>2-More importantly, I did not enjoy the biking experience.  Sure I was going faster downhill, but I am sure I was going slower uphill because of the extra weight.  But what really made me  ebay my sock was that I missed the outdoor feeling.  Somehow even though my head was out of the sock, I felt like I was in a car and not on a bike.  

These are all complaints one would use when your using a bikes as recreation not as alternate transportation. I don’t miss the outdoor feeling of freezing at all in the winter. And I love the feeling I am doing my bit to help the environment. A VM feels like a vehicle, I use it more like a vehicle, and the cars treat it like a vehicle. 

>>1-Cross winds can cause lift off.  Your bike becomes an airplane wing.  Even if average winds are low, you can get a gust anywhere, anytime that will make staying upright and safe impossible.
......It takes quite a bit of wind to actually make the bike unsafe. I have been blown off the road twice in 20 years but it was more like a hurricane. No I didn't get hurt. 

Experience helps. If you try to keep the bike from wandering from wind gusts generally the bike wanders even further. In most cases only finger tip micro steering inputs are enough. Here is where direct steering is best - not tiller. 

>You mention your VM being more stable on ice because 3 wheels.  Would the three wheels also prevent lift off during a cross wind?
....A VM on ice means you wont got down so you can relax. In really high winds a VM will get pushed around so there is a need for micro inputs too. It doesn't feel to be wandering as much. 

John  
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