A gusty, unseasonably warm day in November was the perfect backdrop for our 14th Annual Winter Skill Share this year.
The purpose of the winter skill share is to support and encourage FTW winter riders, especially first-timers. We don’t promote brands or try to sell you merchandise. We do try to give away knowledge, share experience, and create a safer space for FTWs. For free. Instead of a “classroom,” where one person talks all about everything they know, we try to structure skill shares as “conversations,” where we can value everyone’s experiences and contributions to our collective knowledge. I have been to all of the Winter Skill Shares, and I am still learning new things!
What was your experience?
A huge THANK YOU to the planners and hosts of Grease Rag’s Annual Winter Skill Share & Gear Swap. I learned so much, met a lot of great folks and have so much gratitude for the safe and welcoming space
Especially for me as someone who is really just getting into bike commuting, it was so nice to be in such a calm, friendly space where it felt safe to ask questions. Winter biking definitely feels a little daunting to jump into, so I was incredibly appreciative of the variety of expertise being shared! I walked out feeling so much more empowered to tackle both cold weather cycling and full on winter cycling!!
-Max H.
Sessions
This year we had three sessions. You can access presentation notes by clicking the links, below. More information from previous years can be found by searching our site for Winter Biking.
Winter Bike Maintenance and Cleaning with Ari and Helena, and Emily and Angela
Handout from 2015 by Tina Cho
Safety, Handling, and Routing with Low
Handout from 2012 by Kat McCarthy, Zine from 2022 by Kat McCarthy and Low
How to Dress in Any Weather with Catherine and Annie
What to Wear notes by Annie and Catherine, Bike Temperature Tracking template
Self Care Tips with Patrick
Collection of tips from over the years by Patrick Schwinn
Gear Swap
In addition to the Skill Share, we also hosted a gear swap. We asked our community to bring things that are useful to winter riding, and then gave first-time riders first pick. There were studded tires, base layers, bike parts, tools, and the hats, buffs, and headbands we created at our Grease Rag Craft Day. Everyone left with something they can use to keep them riding through the colder months.
Thank You
Thank you to the Hub and BikeMN for hosting us, Three Rivers Park and Express Bikes for contributing, Patrick for lead organizing, and all of our many volunteers and participants who made this a really fun and encouraging event for over 40 riders!
Missed the event?
There’s a follow-up “Winter Skill Share Recap” event coming up.
Monday the 14th from 2p-4p at the Walker Library. We will have the gear swap leftovers for you to look through!
More info here: https://facebook.com/events/s/winter-skill-share-recap/870491884320346/