Commuting - December commuting challenge!

OK, for many of us, December is the first month that really means the start of full-time winter weather. November was pretty laid back this year, at least in many parts of the US. Heck, I live in Michigan and I rode home in shorts the last 3 days. But they're promising 7 inches of snow on Dec 1, and I for one mounted my Nokians last night.

The challenge is to set a goal to commute every day by bike. Some people allow a few emergency/sick days. You may have to exclude certain days of the week for errands or what-have-you. It's really up to you and what you feel is achievable, but don't sell yourself short. Aim high.

This is totally up to you. You can start any time. There is no prize apart from pride, and no consequences for failure other than your own disappointment. This is all about setting your own goals and reaching them. And a little public bragging when you do.


For reference,
October commuting challenge (http://bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=233108)
November commuting challenge (http://bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=241128)

I'll start a separate thread each month throughout the winter. Take one day, one week, one month at a time, and you'll rack up more days than you probably thought possible!

Enjoy!

I mounted my Nokians last night too, in response to the forecast for Friday and Saturday. It felt weird today to ride around wearing shorts in record high temps (68F, 20C) with snow tires on. Ah well. Best to get used to them in the dry.

Anyway, put me down for 18 work days this month. There's a possibility of more if I'm asked to sub or if a project scheduled for between the holidays goes for an extra day.

Well I made it through Oct/Nov with only 1 driving in to work day.

Since I made it in this morning, the first sub-freezeing day in Tucson this season, I should be good for every work day in December, since it's only going to get warmer.

I'm game. I do have a couple of short out of town business trips where I'll have to rent a car, but I'll be sure to make up for it in the hotel gym.

I'll try to make 15 work days in december. We have quite a bit of time off towards new years, and I often have to go out of town on Fridays.

I mounted my Nokians last Saturday (DOH!). What is the extreme commte goal? I am not clear....

Well, I post every month and I always miss by a day or two.
We had a big snow fall this week and it kept me off for two days.
I've done a whole winter before without missng a day so I will try again.

Pints up to all who just like to ride, go to work, and enjoy the weekends.

Do your best.

Winnipeg, Canada

PS. Winter picture rides and route descriptions would be cool.
Mine route got changed!

I come to work every day on two wheels. Two of my steeds are motorized. I fully intend to ride one of them at least once a week. Still count?

My third winter in Iowa and first year of serious commuting. I'm committed to not supporting the Middle East. First winter I stopped commuting in October and last winter I made it a few days in January and February. Supposed to be 8F tomorrow morning and I have an 11 mile commute one-way...any advice for me????

It's so mild at the moment over here in the South East of England that i don't really think it's fair to even label it a 'challenge' compared to some of the conditions described above!

Take care over there.

Count me in for December. That's three mon to fri weeks, since Christmas week is vacation week :)

My third winter in Iowa and first year of serious commuting. I'm committed to not supporting the Middle East. First winter I stopped commuting in October and last winter I made it a few days in January and February. Supposed to be 8F tomorrow morning and I have an 11 mile commute one-way...any advice for me????
Dress warmly.

I'm aiming for 15 out of a possible 16 commuting days in December. I couldn't ride today because I had to pick up a rental car so I can go out of town to visit my dad for his birthday this weekend (he's turning 60 and there's a surprise party that I have to go to). So I missed the first day of the month. But I'm good for all the days until the December Shutdown (last day of work is December 22... we have to make up the time, but we don't have to come back until after New Years). The sad thing about missing today is that it's the first day that's actually felt at all like winter - it's snowing right now. I'll have to install my studded tires on Sunday when I get back.

Well it's been raining on and off for two days here now, so I'm 1/1 so far, and wet! December is going to be a hard month to guesstimate due to time off and the extra commitments around this time of year.

I'm going to try for 15 to draw equal with November, assuming I'm working at least 15 days in Dec. I've still got the road treads on for now, knobbies are standing by for whenever the snow decides to show up (usually Jan/Feb moreso) and I'm bookmarking those nashbar studded tyres, just in case.

0 for 1. Ugly day here with lots of rain and flooding. Odd thing is that if I waited a half hour, I could have come in with only a light drizzle. I hear snows on its way tomorrow, so I'll look forward to riding in it for the first time this year. Hopefully, the roadways will be clear Monday.

So I failed on the very first day. Im in chicago, and the weather was fine yesterday.

I wake up this morning. Can barely open my door with the snow blocking it. There is a damn blizzard outside. The snow is piled up on the sidewalks and the street. Where there isnt snow it is completely flooded. No salt, and winds over 30 mph, and the snow is completely blinding. I go outside on my bike a strong wind hits and I completely fall over on my ass, soaking wet and freezing. I cant even make it to my bus stop just a few blocks away.

I took the train.


=(

33 degrees this morning with no wind... a rarity in the desert. Today was my first ride with clipless pedals (Shimano m324). I fully expected to get to work with some bruises at minimum but they felt very natural to me, as well as immediately improved my cadence and average speed. Great ride today, looking forward to the ride home.

Well, my fiancee already tried to ruin it for me this month. we were out ealier today and the wind was crazy. she was saying the wind was blowing her away and all I could think was, "I hope this ends up being behind me for my ride to work, it could be fun" she heard there was a wind advisory until sometime tomorrow and said "you should drive tonight" I told her the bike has less surface area so I woudn't be affected as much as I would be in the car. so, it's 10:18 pm, 33 degrees, windchill 22 and sleet coming down. I'm about to get suited up for my ride in to work. best of luck to all!

I want snow.
Al

In like Flynn. Missed the last 6 days of Nov. due to high winds (50-60mph gusts). I hope it dies down soon, I want to ride again.

2 for 2 so far (I worked Saturday) - I mounted Nokians on my bike in the beginning of November after a few late October snows. Had NO idea that things would get so much warmer, either way I left them on to do the recommended break in and then some.

Looking forward to my first snow-ride with a fixed gear and studs! Could it be tomorrow? (south of Cleveland, OH, west of Akron, OH)

I want snow.
Al
might actually have a dusting here tomorrow

I am more of a challenged commuter in August when it rarely gets below 100. However, I am in for December - rain, sleet or (not bloody likely) snow.

So far this month I have commuted by bike every day, except for home the other night when someone ran my bike over. But I am now on the other bike and riding every day. Of course I really don't have a choice. And I love it.

The low temperature today was 14.7 (F) degrees at 6:54 a.m., approximately the time I pulled into the parking lot at work. I even encountered a little snow and some ice patches, good times!

I got to try out my new smartwool balaclava ($12 on ebay), nice, but I always have issues with balaclavas drooping over my eyes or not evenly covering my face. Hopefully I won't be in such a hurry tomorrow and I can try and get everything adjusted right before taking off.

I'll join in, even though Shanghai winters aren't really winters. Also, my commute is now far too short. I've been planning to take pre-commute rides -- maybe this is the month to start.

4/4 so far (went in for a little bit both weekend days), and should be heading out in about 20-30 minutes today.
I may skip the day after a snow (salt. I don't like salt) but we'll see. Have driven 4 times this year, maybe 7 since a year ago. Not awful for Indiana, but it isn't a very long commute.
I have managed to get a ride in every Wednesday so far this year.

Friday was a pisser. 32 degrees and raining, absolutely IMHO the worst the weather can get. 20 MPH headwinds too. I always say I enjoy every ride no matter what, but I must say that was less enjoyable than most.

The last two days, the temp has been between 10*F and 15*F, and I was way more comfortable than I was on Friday. No problems at all, in fact.

This is not a good week for me. I biked in yesterday, took company car on 400 mile trip, got home late enough that I just drove home rather than go past home to work to exchange car for bike, drove in today, will drive home tonight and straight to another meeting tomorrow. Should bike home tomorrow, Thurs will bike in (unless I don't bike home tomorrow), get car again to drive up to Seattle and back, probably bike home (office is between Seattle and home) Thurs evening, but if I need to head to Seattle again Friday, may just drive home Thurs pm too and then drive straight up again. The trips Thurs (and Fri if necessary) will be carpools at least. I'm hoping to at least get on the bike to just take a lunchtime spin today so it doesn't get lonely.

And I did ride my wife's bike this am to K w/ Thing 1 on his bike so I could still count today as a commute day but a very low mileage one...


edit: I have to leave too early Thurs to bike in, so I will bring the car home tomorrow night. Maybe try to squeeze in a lunchtime ride then too. On the 'bright' side I may be out late enough Thurs that it won't matter if I am a little bit later and drop the company car and bike home that night after all, so could still wind up 4/5 this week on some amount of commuting each day. 3/5 is more likely though.

I'm three for three. And today was a commute plus workout. I got a nice 20 mile detour before work.

I haven't driven to work since April.

I'm in! :D

I am car free so every day is bike day but I just ordered a balaclava, new gloves and a beanie. Its been in the 30f range every morning for a while.

Four for four so far.

10+ C, windy like you wouldn't believe... One would think it's November and not close to Christmas. Work clothes with a gore tex ski jacket over is perfect, no sweating and definitely not freezing.

Okay, 1/1. I have been on FMLA leave since 11/15 and have done very little riding, so this morning it was tough to get going. I had a nice headwind all the way to work. The joyous thing is that today the temps will steadily drop, and the wind will shift to give me a nice mix of headwind/sidewind for the ride home.

I have to think about my goals for December, but I'll be riding as much as I can.

Anyway, here is the reason for my leave:

I have 16 work days in December. I drove yesterday for a 7am meeting (just can't seem to make it to a 7am meeting on bike in the winter). I'll aim for 14/16. Today, I had freezing fog. Ice on my socks and gloves. Good fun!

Ok, im planning to be at it tomorrow, as I have had to drive friday, thru today. with the holidays coming up, I will likely have a good number of days off, as I have about 3 weeks of time saved up, but ill shoot for 10 days in december. Now, I dont have the studded tires yet, so ill just hope we get very little moisture and cold at the same time.

2/2. Froze my face this morning...temp is like 10 F with nasty headwind. Last night I stoped by a store to pick up a few things and the people there were all like "isn't it cold...aren't you afraid you'll freeze?" Then teenager that I think may have been stoned walked up to me and said "woah...you got lights. Lots of lights." I was pretty amused.

5/5 and i turned down an offer (order?!) from my wife to take the car this morning as she wasn't going anywhere. Why would i want to take the car? It's only torrential rain and high winds, woman! :D

I saw 8*F this morning. Tailwinds most of the way, but I went 3 miles past work to exchange some stuff at Lowes, then had to ride back into it for 3 miles to get back to work. 16.5 miles total this morning, another 10.5 home tonight. 4/4 this month (telecommute yesterday).
You get really good service at Lowes at 6:30 in the morning. I don't think there were any other customers in the store.

Only 3/5 for me so far and it looks like I will be driving tomorrow since my boss has invited us all out to dinner. I have reached my goal of 2500 miles for the year this week :)

Only 3/5 for me so far and it looks like I will be driving tomorrow since my boss has invited us all out to dinner. I have reached my goal of 2500 miles for the year this week :)
:eek:
You've reached your annual target in ONE WEEK?
Much respect!


;)

Congrats DogBoy!

I didn't ride today, so I'm 4/5 so far. Hoping to keep it at that level (edit: or higher!) until our holiday shutdown.

I'm in. I've biked 8 months of the year since 2004, December-March being my "support public transit" months, but this year I want to push my own limits.

For the November challenge I made it every day but the last three. I volunteered to drive an airport-rented passenger van of out-of-towners for those three days. My best option would have been leaving my bike at the airport that got some attention here on BF for having cut up another guy's ride (no bike parking facilities) so instead I took public transportation to work in the morning and home again the last day after returning the van, getting a ride from work to the airport that first day. Anyhow, the days that I drove, the temperature took a nosedive, so Dec 1st was my first big challenge. I got some new gear this weekend, and am now 5/5 (or will be when my return trip is over today). This AM the temp was +1F with windchillls of -15F. The whole way in I was thinking about what adjustments I'll have to make to my clothes in the future, but I made it just fine!

So far not much in the way of snow, however. I did throw on the Nokkian W106s, though, so I should be ready.

On a bad-karma note: That first day I was driving the 12-passenger van, I was working my way through a vaguely familiar neighborhood in the dark, looking for an address, driving down the middle of a narrowish residential street (no yellow line, parking on both sides) when I suddenly realized that I was about 15 feet away from an oncoming commuter. Room to pass, but I can't swear it was comfortable for the biker. I only realized it because of the faintly reflective gear and the single headlight (more than some bikers around here use!) That gave me pause cause that's roughly what my own set up is like, and I didn't see this biker (being a distracted cager for once) until I was that close! The worst part of that karma? I then realized that I was within a few blocks of my sister's house, on her street, and she rides year round with reflective gear and a headlamp... Probably was her. :eek:

I was leading another driver (my ride to the airport car rental, following me) to the destination address a few blocks further on, and when we got there, I asked her "Did you see that biker?..." Her answer? "No." :(

OK, frakk, first week and I'm already a failer. Five outta six isn't bad, but not what I signed up for.

I won't bore you with my "excuses", I'll just say Next Week, dammit. Next week.

I had genuine reasons for yesterdays no-ride, but today I just plain pussied out - 4/6 so far. I feel really bad for doing it, too, damnit. Cold weather and the compounding issues of getting dressed up, not wanting to be too hot and then freeze when I'm stopped, blah blah blah I'm a whiney bugger today ;)

My December plan is to ride every day that it isn't raining when it was time to leave the house - of which I'm 5/5. I have at least one day off work every week though, so overall it's a light month.

Not sure what the problem was this morning, but I was struggling. Couldn't wake up, couldn't get out of bed, couldn't get motivated to leave... Ended up leaving about an hour and a half late and my 32 minute (riding time) commute turned into 37 minutes. At 21F, it was the coldest I've commuted in to date. The gear kept me warm, but I had to listen to my [performance brand] overshoes squeak against my crank all the way to work.

Speaking of that... any ideas for how to stop that? I wear 48 shoes so maybe it's unavoidable with the width of my feet. Anyone know of a different style that would fit big shoes? PM me directly so as to not hijack the thread if you can help. Listening to it all winter will drive me insane.

So far so good. I notice alot of southern states on this post. Is the weather favourable throughout the winter. (above or around -5C or 23F). This time of year in Winnipeg the normal high temp is -10C. The normal lows, or morning rides are -19C. Now the only reasons I mention this is, 1) I will ride in temps as low as -30C, that's my limit and 2) We are in the middle of a warm snap and it is supposed to be 0C or higher for the NEXT TWO WEEKS!! RIGHT FU*)&^&%f%$ ON! Warm weather and messy, 2 of my favourite things. I know I will make it through the month.

Stay upright

Winnipeg, Canada

I'm still on track here in Michigan. haven't missed a day yet, and even had an extra commute to work yesterday to get re-certified in CPR. I must say the commute home this morning was interesting. 7am was the 48 hour mark without sleep. My reaction time was a bit slow and thankfully the ride was uneventful. I was so happy when I was finally able to crawl into bed. oh well. in another 15 minutes I'll be back on the bike and nothing else will matter. stay warm out there, and stay rested.

3/3 This morning was a ho-hum commute. Last night I tried to switch to my crappy winter wheels, but found that my rear hub was shot. Now I'm riding a "winter" wheel with nashbar studs up front and a Mavic Enduro rear with trans-world city tires in back. Going to the shop tonight to get my hub serviced since I don't want to do it myself. This is the first time I've ever had a hub problem...oh well.

I hang my head in shame :cry: i accepted a lift on friday when i discovered at leaving time that i had a puncture.

I will not darken this thread again until January. :o