one less car news

i love a good snow storm... although the one that just passed us here in chicago wasn't as big as all the weather guys predicted (they never are)- it still left about 6 inches of heavy snow mixed with sleet... i was reading the bikeportland blog the other day, and they mentioned that you could use zip-ties like chains on the rear of you bike for traction in snow. now i'm not new to winter riding- i have a good amount of west-michigan winters under my belt. i'm not afraid of deep snow, but this idea seemed pretty solid.
so today i gave it a shot. i put a zip tie around my wheel and spaced them every other spoke. make sure the tie part is facing in, and you should clip off the extra piece of each tie, but i was cold so i left them on. as soon as i stepped on the pedals i could feel the difference- no slipping, just traction! it was a blast!!! i was flying through deep, loose snow- even through car tracks, and by not clipping the excess of the ties it sounded like it did when you were kid and put baseball cards in your wheels. anyway, it totally works and makes snow riding more fun than it already is! try it out next time it snows!!!