mgw4jc

Ditto. I was glad the wind had stopped.

I had managed to get away without the long tights this week until today's 30F.

RidingMatthew

I drove today because my wife asked me to be home early because she is getting her hair cut. I don't understand it I think I am going to ride tomorrow. They are calling or snow. looks like a good chance to test my waterproof gloves

Tundra_Man 

Rode the studded tire winter bike today. Could have gotten away with the regular tire hybrid as only the last 1/2 mile of my 8 mile commute had any ice. Most of the pavement was bone dry and clear.

Which was kind of weird. On my ride home last night there was plenty of ice on the roads and trails. The temp hasn't been above 30F for several days so I fully expected that same ice to be waiting this morning. Not sure where it all went.

arsprod 

Is that your helmet?! At 31F it was much warmer than yesterday, but we had snow last night. Most of my path was clear and didn't ride the studs

rhm

Really cold again! But a nice ride, the moon and the row of planets still shining bright in a clear sky. No animals got in my way.

Unfortunately, my train broke down. We were cruising along at top speed, and suddenly everything became quiet and over the next mile or two the train slowly coasted to a stop. Emergency lights on, all else dark, and the only sound was the heat system cooling. After fifteen minutes they got us started again, but that only lasted a short while, and then we sat on the tracks for an hour while they got another train to pull up next to us. By that time it had got really cold on our train, and I was dressed for riding, not for sitting around in the cold. Brrr. Finally, everyone on the stalled train had to climb down the stairs to the space between the trains, and then up into the second one. They specifically told us, for safety reasons, not to touch both trains at the same time NJTransit ftw!

HardyWeinberg

Could not get out of the house in time, drove. Hated it.

amos77

This morning on my way to work I crashed...
I have a steep downhill and usually I ride on the sidewalk because the high speed of the cars (about 70-80 kph) is frightening me and the sidewalk is not crowded at all. So...this morning an elderly person came against me ,I was convinced he saw me and walked on the other side of the sidewalk but when I was very close to him he just turned into my route... I just rubbed his shoulder (he didn't hurt at all) but after it I crashed. I think my speed was about 20 kph (about 12 mph). I didn't wounded seriously ,just some scratches on the knees and torn pants.
I'm totally take the responsibility on me I shouldn't ride on the sidewalk but it's the safer way in this place.
Anyway I think from now and on I will try to avoid this road although it's the quickest way for me.
Sorry about my english... have a nice day !

HardyWeinberg

bells are handy for that sort of thing, even if, around here, most pedestrians have earphones blocking out external signals...

bfuser284953024

It probably would be worth it to find an alternate route, for your safety.

I didn't ride today, shame on me. It was 23F, with a wind chill of 12 this morning. And tomorrow will be the same. Im holding out for Monday. Its going to 50!

RidingMatthew

@arsprod that is my head haha not my helmet.

gaucho777 

Sounds like an adventure. Reminds me of a time I got stuck on the BART train. It happened midway through the tunnel under the SF bay between SF and Oakland. Very dark down there except for a few dim emergency lights. This was rush hour so it was a very crowded train. After about 20 minutes people started getting restless and a pregnant woman in the next car started freaking out. Eventually, after about 45 minutes, the train started to move again. When the train finally got out of the tunnel, it stopped at the next station, and the train operator told everyone to get off the train and wait at the platform for the next train. Of course, the next train was packed since it was rush hour. Yet all the people who had spent 45 minutes stuck in a dark train, and then forced to disembark, felt entitled to get back on the next train, no matter how crowded it was rather than get stranded on the platform. It got a little ugly, with a lot of pushing and pulling and yelling as the doors closed.

dougmon 

My commute was great! Cars stopped for me and sometimes waved me across at stop signs. I think one guy might have been trying to intimidate me with his car, but if so, he wasn't trying very hard.

dougmon 

Were you in the SF area when the Bay Bridge was shut down because of possible defective cabling? I actually got pushed off of a BART train. I took the ferry back to Oakland that day. I'm glad I no longer work in SF.

Tundra_Man 

Crashed on the way home tonight. Was coming down a big hill about 22 mph and went to make a left turn onto the MUP trailhead and took it way too aggressive. Was riding the studded tires but the pavement was dry, and the metal studs had absolutely no bite. The bike slid out from me just like non-studded tires would on ice.

I hit the ground and slid to a stop, then immediately thought of the three or four cars coming my way. I hopped up right away, grabbed my bike and drug it off the road. Cracked one of the gear shift indicators, knocked the rear wheel out of alignment and added some new scratches and scrapes to the bike. Thankfully this was my old winter beater so the new damage didn't really bother me much.

A driver of one of the oncoming cars stopped to make sure I was OK. I gave him a wave of thanks to let him know I was fine. I landed on my left side, so it took the brunt of the impact. I skinned my left knee and have some bruises up and down my body.

After I rested for a minute I rode 7 more miles to my son's school for parent teacher conferences. I'm getting a little more sore as the evening passes, but I'll live. I think my pride took the most damage.

Now that the ice is mostly gone I'm definitely going to ride my hybrid tomorrow and leave the studded tires at home.

dcb23

Nice ride in with what I hope is the last snow of 2016. Just at freezing.

mgw4jc

I feel lucky to have ridden this morning without any train or crash incidents. There seems to be a rash of them in the past 24 hours.

It was cool again this morning, but above freezing.

mr geeker

The ride into work was decent itself, 32 F and cloudy, but it would have been better if i wasn't nearly clipped by an inattentive driver. But as they say, that's the way the cookie crumbles.

tarwheel 

Ya'll be careful out there! Too many crashes.

I had my first 4-commute week since early January as I got very lucky with the weather. Two cold fronts came through the state during the week, bringing lots of rain, but all of the storms took place overnight and were finished raining by the time I left for work in the mornings. I might have ridden 5 days except I had an out-of-town meeting Thursday that required me to drive. On the down side, the winds have been very punishing for the second week in a row, which is to be expected this time of year.

bfuser284953024

Didn't ride again today. The weather wasn't too cold, but the forecast called for high winds and snow this afternoon, so I chickened out lol

At the bus station downtown, I did see this bike. It's been sitting for months, and it makes me sad. I'm a little tempted to ask the transit folks if I could take it. Its a Miyata 710. There's also a Trek 930 thats been sitting for a weeks.

wphamilton

It's starting to become awesome, for commuting weather. Yesterday wasn't that great, raining and low 30's, but since then it's warming, with the sun shining and looks to be increasingly so through next week at least. I haven't missed a day from the weather in recent memory, but I sure do like it when it turns nice.


One thing to be aware of, for those in their first or second year of commuting, when the days first turn nice like this it draws a mass of people out - on foot, bikes, skates - and most of them act like they've never been on a path before. Or a sidewalk or bike lane for that matter. So be ready; it's the time of year when we have the most danger from other users on the Greenways and paths.

wphamilton

You can't take it - even if the Transit people said ok, they'd only be helping you steal it.

Someone is either storing it there over the winter, forgot where it was or abandoned it. Either way it's between the bike owner and the bus station. Better to ask them what they do with abandoned bikes and maybe you could acquire one on the up-and-up that way.

bfuser284953024

Oh, no! I wasn't going to just take it or ask "hey, can I have it". I was going to go in and ask how they handle the abandoned bikes and how I could potentially acquire one of them. That Miyata has been catching my eye, but it looks like it needs loads of work and I'm not sure I have the wrenching skills for it. The fact that such a cute looking bike is adandoned makes me sad.

wphamilton

I'm glad you see it that way. That's how I'd do it.

Every once in awhile someone posts "I've seen this abandoned bike here for weeks, should I take it?" and it makes me a little crazy.

joeyduck

I did that once through my graduate university. I was living in the transient graduate residence and went through the proper channels and even posted my own sign and asked people and no one claimed it so I won a well worn Rossin. Which was a great bike and I loved and regretted selling.

Anywho, is it me or does that fork look wonky? The crown and headset seem not lined up like they should. But all in all it looks like a nice bike, and I wish you luck.

timvan_78

awesome this AM: sun rising, pink clouds, the smell of trees in blossom arching across the street.