Friday, November 30, 2007

i haven't brought my bike in for the winter yet. optimistically, i was hoping that there might be one last warm spell before winter really set it. actually, mostly its just i've been too lazy to carry it up the 3 flights of stairs to the storage room. so, this afternoon i i was running a bit late for class, and it was sunny, so i figured, why not use my bike one last time before december?
well as a descended from the plateau towards the mcgill getto, the sky started looking less sunny and the wind was ripping at my ears. i peddled as fast as a could, wishing i was walking and generating more heat rather than losing it. anyways, i made it to class on time.
however, when i got out of class an hour an later there was about a half inch of snow on the ground. and when i went to unlock my bike, my sturdy U-lock was frozen solid, i could hardly get the key in. to make a long story short, i walked home, and my bike is still sitting on campus.
any suggestions of how to unfreeze a u-lock would be ever so appreciated.

bon weekend!

4 comments:

Floyd Saner said...

Leena, here is one suggestion. Go to the store and buy some of the chemically activated hand warmers - like the ones we use at Boyne. They cost about $1. Wrap it around your lock and in 15-30 minutes your lock will be nice and warm.

Unknown said...

a thermos of very hot water??

Lidia said...

Hey Leena!

Great blog! Pooring boiling water over the U-lock usually unfreazes everything, but I don't know how you're going to get that on campus...

Good luck and see you soon!

Lidia

Mark Saner said...

There are also chemical deicers out there that you could probably find at a general store. Auto parts stores should have them as well. The down side is the are pretty nasty so make sure you have your gloves on when use it. I like the hot water idea too.