Getting tire-d

With hints of snow and ice sneaking into the Massachusetts weather forecasts, many cycluters are about to put their bikes in hibernation for the next four or five months. They’ll try to compute the amount of money they saved by not driving to work, ponder the amount of pollutants not released into the air and, of course, the consider the health benefits accrued. They should be congratulated for their dedication to warm-weather cycluting, and have the right to make their cold-weather commutes more comfortably.

Some other cycluters, blessed with more obsessive tendencies or less sanity, are bracing themselves for biking straight through the winter. Tires are likely to be a cycluter’s primary concern when Old Man Winter fixes his icy stare on New England. I don’t claim to have all the answers on what tires to use, but I can assure you that road bike tires are worthless.

I use a mountain bike with wide tires that have “aggressive” treads, but a new cycluter friend of mine pointed me to a Web site that explains how to put studs in your own tires (http://www.silentsports.net/stud_your_own_bike_tires.html). If that seems like too much work, you can always plunk down $150-200 for a pair of Nokian studded tires.

In any event, newly recruited winter warriors should beware the following: 1) Thick ribbons of snow left by plows that have come out of side streets. Usually I can just accelerate through them and keep my balance, but they're a challenge; 2) Deep slush, which is like pedaling in a mixture of sand and Crisco; 3) Thin coatings of snow concealing patches of ice; 4) Black ice.

And don’t forget to keep an ear and eye out for plows coming up behind you when the snow falls. When one's coming, I quickly dismount and launch my bike and myself into a snow bank until it passes. Reality check: Don't mess with plows. Most drivers just don't care.

Getting horn-y?

That headline isn’t entirely misleading, nor was it used as a tawdry way of grabbing your attention. (Well, maybe it was a little tawdry.) In any event, in Massachusetts, the law governing bicycle use includes a lines that require us cycluters to get horny, in a manner of speaking. It reads thusly:

Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 85, Section 11B.2
"The operator of a bicycle shall give an audible warning, whenever necessary, to insure safe operation of the bicycle; however, the use of a siren or whistle is prohibited."

When I was a kid, I used to have one of those clown horns mounted on my handlebars. Squeeze the rubber bulb and you got the sound of a pre-adolescent goose. I stopped using it, though, about the same time I stopped hanging plastic streamers from my handlebar grips and clothespinning playing cards to my rear wheel frame to make fake engine noises as they slapped against my spokes. (With all due respect to Harpo Marx, of course.)

Anyway, I’d love to hook up a siren or hang a whistle between my lips but those are, apparently, illegal in the Bay State. Without some kind of other device to make noise, we’re on our own to “get horny” by making whatever “audible warning” we need to “insure safe operation.”

I suppose that includes “HEY, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?” which is my audible warning of choice to inattentive motorists, lately. According to the law, it appears there’s no restriction on language, so feel free to insert your favorite epithet (at your own risk) in the blank after “HEY, _____.”

OK, OK ... I suppose I shouldn't be using valuable blog space to encourage rudeness. We cycluters, after all, shouldn't stoop to the level of motorists who are emboldened to engage in roadrageous behavior by wrapping themselves in a ton or two of metallic armor.

But if a motorist yells something back at you after you've yelled the pleasantry of your choice to insure your safety, just explain that you’re required by law to make an audible warning and pedal merrily on your way.

Or you could get a clown horn.

Hey buddy, got a light?

In another month, Daylight Saving Time goes bye-bye, a departure I find more difficult to deal with every fall. Fortunately, our esteemed legislators in Congress in their infinite wisdom (yes, I’m being facetious) saw fit to delay autumn’s turning back of clocks until November 2 this year. I’ll take it. That gives me a little longer before I have to start keeping my headlight battery charging every night. In this part of the world, it won’t be long before it starts getting dark right after lunch. Or so it seems. OK, that’s an exaggeration, but there are weeks upon weeks during the winter when we’re all leaving work in the dark. Some cycluters I know use the end of DST to mark the end of their cycluting days for the year. I’m more stubborn than that, of course, so I’ll be firing up the headlight, putting new batteries in the taillight and making my way through the dark. So, I’m open to suggestion about lights. I’ve had very good luck with the Turbocat line of headlights. I have a battery pack that tucks right into my water bottle holder and connects to a halogen lamp strapped on my handlebars with Velcro. There’s no way an oncoming car won’t see me. I’ve thought about adding a light to my helmet, just for added visibility, but I’m not sure I want to go with the coal-miner look. Your turn. Have any suggestions or recommendations for seeing and being seen once we have to pedal hope in the pitch-black?