Bicycle in snow

Part of my preparation for whatever awaits us after the age of cheap oil is to develop the capability of transporting myself to anywhere within ten miles of home in some way other than personal motorized transportation appliance. With current technology, that would mean bus or bicycle. The winter of 2007-2008 is the first winter when I have been able to go in snow. I tried last year, but it was too hard to plow my heavy commuter bike through deep snow. This year I have a lighter winter bike with studded tires, and have not been challenged yet with any deep snow. To show off a bit, here is my winter bike upon my arrival at home one day when the streets were not cleared down to the pavement.

I am going ahead with my claim to "full winter certification" (a concept I made up for myself to give myself a little motivation), but I have to admit I have not tested myself in the two remaining potential conditions of winter in Minnesota, deep snow and glare ice. I am hoping we get one bad storm this year, but things are not looking good at this time.

The bicycle seems to be OK in snowy conditions if I just park it in the unheated garage. I have had the experience of parking a wet bike in an unheated garage before the temperature dropped below freezing, and the brakes and shifters froze up. But if the temperature starts below freezing, the bike gets covered with snow, and the temperature stays below freezing, things continue to work. I would not take the approach of just leaving the bike covered with snow from day to day if I could figure out a way to clean it, but I don't want to bring it in the house and I have no other ideas.

They said at the bike shop that leaving the bike covered with salty snow will wear it out sooner. I can see that, because I can see rust on various parts already. My Brother The Biker has shown me parts of his bikes that have worn out over the winter, so I know it happens. I might be in for some maintenance expenses in the spring.