We finally got a little bit of winter. I had a blast riding around in all that snow, but it was so deep that I seriously considered skiing to work. It was the first time I encountered conditions where I actually would have been more efficient on skis than a bike.
The problem with all that snow is that the bike gets all caked up with snow and frozen slush. I bring the bike into the garage at night but on nights like this, it doesn't get above freezing in there so I need to find some way to melt off the snow.
I used to use a hair dryer, but that was awkward and inefficient. I needed something that would melt down the whole bike and not require me to be there to reposition it and turn it off. I got a cheap little space heater with a fan for about $20 and found a timer switch for it (pictured below).
Now I just throw the bike up on the stand and set up the heater blowing warm air onto the bike for 2 or 4 hours (I left it for 4 in this case). In the morning all the snow is gone. All that remains is a little sandy residue from the salt and dirt in the slush. I just wash that off with a little cleaner and a rag and the bike is happy as a clam!
here's another way you could probably do this*,
ReplyDeletewhich would allow you to go to bed and not worry about the timer issue
it would take some experimenting with times and temps, however:
ingredients:
an old/ok-to-get-dirty blanket
a rock or stone about the size of a cantaloupe
some oven mitts
heat the stone in the oven for a half hour or so. i'd go with 300 degrees.
drape the blanket over the bike.
use the oven mitts to carry the stone and position it underneath the blanket.
use the blanket to seal up the whole mess as much as possible, so that the heat stored in the rock will radiate out into the space the bike is in.
*i have no idea if this will work. it's left over from cub scout days of putting a rock in the fire, then bringing it into the tent (wrapped in a towel, so as not to burn a hole in the tent) to heat up the tent for the night.
this comment nor the heuristic handyman cannot be held responsible for exploding rocks in your oven, melted tires if a hot rock shifts into them, or any other bad things that may happen should you try this.