vtjim

We'll make you pay for that in, um, 6 months! You wait!

High teens F this morning (~ -8C). The airport weather claims calm wind but that's not what I felt hitting me in the face next to Lake Champlain. The lake weather station is reading 10-15MPH winds.

Not too bad though. Light dusting of powder on the trail. I had first tracks for over half the ride, and then another set of tracks (knobbies) came onto the trail. I've met the guy before. He's another winter regular. Didn't see him this morning though. Just assumed it's the same guy.

Oh and I saw a skunk! I said to myself, "Uh oh", and slowed down and let it get a few yards away before I passed it.

knucklesandwich

Yup- I had to hike-a-bike a few times in Falls Church on Monday, skipped riding yesterday, and today had to walk a few times again, though less so than Monday. Hoping for warm temps today so I can stay on my bike the whole way home tonight. (Monday was fun, as my light battery was dead by the time I got home due to the extra care and time it took.)

jyossarian

Actually had a few peds look and STOP crossing the street when they saw me barreling towards the intersection. Even more amazing was there were no cars around me to help scare them off and I had the yellow light!

jterribili

nice relaxing ride in this morning - low 30's a little wet from last nights rain. traffic was a little lighter than normal for some reason.

caloso

The rain held off for the 20 minutes it took me to reach the office this morning. I consider myself lucky. That might be the only break in the weather this week. NOAA was showing a low over Monterey Bay moving east, followed by a low over Oregon moving south. It'll be wet, wet, wet for the week.

As for the ride itself, no problems. And I was gratified to greet another hardcore commuter coming into the cage when I arrived. We neon-green-clad Freds need to stick together.

pinkrobe

My quads were sore from yesterday's gym excursion. My wife tried to beat me to the top of Hill 1 by riding away from the house before I could even get the door locked, but I made up the 2-block deficit and caught her wheel at the crest. Ha! After crushing her spirit, I wheelsucked for a while. I know, I'm a bad husband.

kraemer

It was a little rough -2 F when I left the house today but a very minimal wind.. Alot better then the ride yesterday. (-5 and a 20mph headwind) After i got to work my balaklava was totally white with frost and I had a ring of frost around the hood of my snowboarding jacket.. I thought it was halarious!!

JoeyBike

Rain predicted...I took the road bike anyway. Beaten up by a headwind all the way in (5 miles).

Going home...LOADS of moronic peds and wrong-way cyclists that I bullied as usual. Screams of "Heads-up A.H.!" and "Wake-Up!" are much more colorful and satisfying than any silly bell or horn (except an Air-Zound). Mardi Gras is gearing up in the Crescent City. Gad.

Turned onto the 4 mile home stretch (Canal Street) and had a KILLER tail wind. Also it seems someone tweaked the signal timing so the auto traffic and I had one nice looooooong run where I had to draft a pick-up truck in the center lane much of the way at speeds in the low 30 mphs. Awesome feeling flying along with traffic flow at that speed. Then I blew through the last downtown traffic light on a lingering amber to leave the pack of cars/trucks behind with nothing but open road ahead.

The pickup that I drafted finally overtook me two miles down Canal but got stopped at the next red light immediately. He stopped, then squealed across the intersection while the light was coal-red to avoid being passed by me again. Ya gotta love a worthy opponent.

And....no rain! Temps in the high 50s. It's a great day to be alive and playing in traffic.

joshandlauri

40 degrees, 7.5 miles, avg 15.3mph, 29 minutes. took a few minutes longer than normal due to various headaches, one of my bike rack screws fell out and fell into my spokes so i used my quick release to hold it outside the frame, this caused the rack to rub the tire, of course i didn't realize this till I got home, also the nut holding my taillight to the rack came look and the taillight was rubbing the tire, I used a strap from the trunk to hold it up till i got home, so I will be going to depot to get a screw and loctite. also i got to use my horn today. I was riding in the emergency lane (going the wrong way on merrit blvd, i know i should cross the street, this is the only part I ride oppisite traffic) usually safe, but a moron pulls out making a right, making no attempt to get in a real lane, so I blow my horn so they look, I then went further to the left to hug the curb. Probally the most BS I have ever had during a ride. other than that it was fun.

Also one thing took me by suprise, I went to go left around a MTA, usually they pull out while I'm next to them, and this guy start to go, saw me and stopped til I got around him, very nice



also I had some daylight about the entire ride very nice, i leave at 5pm.

jyossarian

Actually felt a cramp on my way home. Weird. Also got passed by a messenger (I guess) on a FG who then did a bunch of skips and skids and made me realize how un-smooth I am on my FG. I needs to practice more.

d-klumpp

It finally happened: I got doored on my trip into work today.

It took 8 yrs of commuting year-round on the streets of downtown Chicago (ave 6 days/wk), and I'm lucky to have only a large bruise forming. In fact, for my first car-bike encounter, it was almost fun -- and certainly exhilarating.

A cabbie let a fare out of the car from the center of the lane at the intersection. So I was passing next to the curb and was somehow unable to see into the car (I'm usually looking into vehicles to avoid getting doored).

At least the crappy weather, 10°F with threat of snow, had me riding my mtb with the rusty chain. I would've cried if anything happened to the new Ti Seven!!!

Keep ridin'

Dave

MIKEnDC

Howdy. I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that my first post here should be about commuting. : )

I'm in the the DC area too (College Park). This morning I was out early poking at puddles to see whether ice was forming. I'm running 50mm Big Apples on my Hybrid right now, but I think that just gives the bike more surface to get out from under me--I ordered some Nokian Hakkapelliittas the other day for these sunny days and freezing nights. My commute is 5 miles betwen 5:30 and 6:00 AM, so the ice is sometimes hard to see.

I like the UA stuff OK, but I'm absolutley sold on a light silk base layer topped with SmartWool and a Goretex pullover. I add a light wool sweater or microfleece vest in the lower 20s and below.

Still and all, my morning commute is the highlight of my day. More than once I've rolled into work feeling sorry for all the people who "have" to drive...

zephyr

Today was a 22 mile RT commute, a pleasant 15 miles in the am and 7 miles on the way home in the pm. It started raining pretty good an hour before I left for home, so I unrolled the rain jacket and took the shorter 7 mile route home instead of my usual 10 mile route. Here in southern cal, rain is pretty rare and the problem is when it finally does rain hard enough, there is so much accumulated crud on the streets that is lays down a pretty thick layer of goop onto the rims. Of course, I ride with full fenders and flaps so it doesn't splash onto me or most of the bike, but it takes a while to clean the rims off when I get home.

SDBluefish

I got caught in the same rain here in San Diego an hour or two later. A slippery 12 mi home, and COLD (well for here, anyway).

BengeBoy 

Seattle has been about 10 degrees (F) colder than normal this week -- meaning morning commutes start out in the mid- to high- 20's -- but wonderfully dry and clear for a change.

With the sun coming up just a little bit later each morning, I've been able to catch the sunrise hitting Mt. Rainier on my way into work each morning this week (I have a 20 mile RT commute), with the big full moon up in the West. From the top of the Mt. Baker tunnel, you can see the Cascade range to the East...the Olympic Mountains to the West, and of course Mt. Rainier off to the South. It's been so pretty that I've seen other bikers stop just to admire the view.

Some pretty hard-core commuters out there in the cold riding away -- most of them blow by me like I'm standing still. Gotta work on that...

KLW2

Sub Zero and windy...oh well, keep on going.

lapher22

63 and foggy with1/4 mile visibility but good ride no incidents and low wind. Always good here since there are no hills so if you stop pedaling you stop moving.

tarwheel 

Breezed into work today without getting caught by a single red light, the first time that's happened, so my ride was about 5 minutes shorter than usual. Ironically, I got caught by just about every red light yesterday. I hope this is a good omen for the day ahead.

tarwheel 

That sounds incredible. You're lucky to have such scenery on your route. The views on my route consist of suburban neighborhoods, a few gas stations and shopping centers. Although sometimes I get a nice sunrise, sunset or view of the moon.

vtjim

Crisp! Bike computer said no degrees F / -18C. Fleece on the legs. Fleece on top. Nylon cycling jacket. Beanie under helmet, ski goggles, gloves, neck gaiter. Nice and warm.

I stopped in the woods and listened. No sound at all. It was weird, but nice. No skunks today, but a squirrel ran in front of me.

I saw bike tracks (in snow) that were made after my evening commute yesterday. The tracks went off the edge of the MUP pavement, then back on, veered left at about a 45-degree angle, and then turned into an obvious front-wheel washout. Didn't look like a fall though.

jyossarian

FTW - Here's a man who knows how to dress. Not to mention wool and silk doesn't stink as much after one wearing.

My commute was uneventful, just the way I like it.

bbunk

After way to long off the bike, I got back on. Commuted to work for the first time in months today. Rained a little last night but it was dry and warmer than usual this morning. It was a great day to start up again.

And thanks to all who post here. Reading about your rides helped get me out of my no riding funk.

Intheloonybin

Good job klw2!

I was really tired this morning, so I drove.

During the sit in (minor) traffic, I wished I had biked in. Even though it was -13F.

My feet were cold on the way home last night at 10 pm with the wind. Would have had to switch to boots this morning on platforms.

Oh yeah... My ski goggles started to fog up for the first time towards the end of the ride. It was about -10F when I got home.

pinkrobe

Only -12C this morning, so not too bad. My legs were tired from being on the trainer last night, so I had to use agility to get to work instead of the usual raw power. I was 2 minutes later than usual, which isn't bad.

jterribili

uneventful commute this morning - one of those mornings my glasses kept fogging up though.