Bicyclist prepare for winter riding season

By Lauren Coppola and Samantha Wulff
Bengal News West Reporters

Andrew Johnson, a mechanic at Rick Cycle Shop, grins ear to ear as he fawns over his bike of creation. It's nothing flashy; an old rusty steel frame with knobby tires and recycled cables. But it gets the job done, and it's function over form when it comes to combating Buffalo winters on two wheels.

Within the next few weeks, Johnson will be making the transition from his summer bike to his constructed winter one. And he is not the only one. As the weather turns brisk and the snow begins to fall, fellow year-round cyclists will decorate bike lanes with tread marks.

Johnson recommends using old bikes and old parts for winter bikes, because no matter how good one treats their bike, the snow and salt will wear the parts down. He said that it is not uncommon to see people own two bikes for the different seasons.

Henry Raess, West Side resident and event coordinator for GO Bike Buffalo, has been cycling through the snow since 2005. After having his car impounded, he was met by surmounting fees when he tried to reclaim it. The whole process seemed ridiculous to him, and he no longer had interest in dealing with a motor vehicle.

“I was like: 'This is extortion, I don't care for it. Keep the car,'” he said. “And I went out and bought a bike for 50 bucks.”

 Henry Raess, on Buffalo's winter biking season:

Raess has relied solely on his bike and public transportation since then. When it comes to prepping a summer bike for winter, Raess recommends getting fenders and thicker tires.

“Having thicker tires is good,” he said. “Sometimes people get giant tires and that can actually collect snow, so having thicker tires but not giant knobby tires is often good.”

Tom Rick, owner of Rick Cycle Shop,  said that the biggest thing for someone to look over would probably be the tires and brakes.

“Put better brake shoes on so you stop better,” he said. “Make sure everything’s working properly.”

Rick Cycle Shop also sells used, refurbished bikes that are winter ready.

Emma Feldman, member of GO Bike Buffalo, knows that gearing up goes beyond the bike. Wearing layers upon layers of clothes is necessary to protect oneself during the frigid winter months, but the problem arises once the layers have to come off.

“One of the most known things is when you go out and have like nine million layers on and when you get to your destination, you have to guard a mound of clothes,” she said.

 Feldman moved from Montrael to the West Side in February. A big difference she has found between her hometown and Buffalo is that Montreal had convenient coat checks for cyclists to keep their excess clothing in, while the Queen City does not.

According to the League of American Cyclists, Buffalo is ranked number 14 in the nation for the number of bicycle commuters. While the city has tried to make the lives of Buffalo cyclists easier with bike lanes, Johnson  feels that more encouraging steps should be taken. He said that the city should tell cyclists where they could ride, instead of telling them where they cannot, and use bright, positive colors like green to illustrate the point. 

Sharing the road with cars in the winter can be taxing at times, with the slick streets, high winds and occasional wipe out. However, it seems that Buffalo cyclists would not have it any other way. Raess said there are different cycling communities around bike hubs like GO Bike Buffalo and Rick Cycle Shop, but that they are all in it together. 

“There's definitely a sense of camaraderie,” he said. “Where you see another cyclist out there on a windy day and you just go... 'I'm with you man'. ”