I wil offer:
1. GO GET FENDERS AND USE THEM (even if its "sort of" dry) - Fedners arent for you thery are for the rest of us. Having fenders tells us that you like and respect us and dont want to give us Beaver Fever (liejk Dave last year). So PLEASE be considerate.
2. Winter is DAAAAARK. Go get lights. White for the front and red for the back. (Dont leave them blinking as it risks giving people seizures!). Lights arent just so cars see you they are so you can see the crap on the road and point it out so the rest of us don't crash while following you. Basically your lights are to keep the rest of us safe....... this is another way to show us that you love and care for us and dont want us to crash.
3. Because things are dark and scaaaaary try leaving a bit more room between the rider in front of you as well as the rider beside you. Personally I also expect to spend lots of oxygen trying to shame, cajole, force (etc) the group to ride closer to the center of the road. I feel tat is safer as it leaves me with 2 ways I can go (left or right) in case of a problem and where I can avoid the icy patches that often form closest to the curbs. One caution here though - car back means move over. If I end up riding 2 inches from a curb I think it means that the people I am following are deliberately trying to crash me. I *may* take exception to that.......
4. Winter rides are NOT good rides to see if you can ride with a group that is 2 levels above what you are used to. Dont get me wrong I LOVE that the groups get faster and that people want to move up (me too!
). What I am terrified of is riding in the wet & rain beside someone who is not only cold and wet but also so far into his/her red zone that they cant make good decisions ...... Again I feel that this is about respect & being considerate. There will be loads of great winter days to have a go at a faster ride. PLEASE dont choose the days wher there is ice on the road and its so cold we end up having to help people take their gloves off (Josh had that happen - honest!)5. Live to Sprint (and Ride) another Day. I am quoting Battlin Bill E here but he is really pretty darn smart. If the weather is sketchy dont let yourself also be sketchy. Maybe sit up, skip a pull, dont sprint, think about the rest of the group (and the fact that we are all puppies) before you "act"... please? The one thing I know is that the training benefit and the "glory" you might find sprinting down the left side of a car in sleet isnt worth the ambulance ride or the multi-week recovery period where you discover you cant even keep up for 3 months let along sprint.....
Ok, that's it from me (for now) if other want to chime in please do so. Again the key is that we want to keep it fun and safe and we would like to have the same number of members that start the winter rides finish the winter rides....
- Peter
when he penned this or he forgot to proof read aka spell check 