jeff-o

Gross. Lots of near-melting snow, all of which was uncleared by plows when I had to set out. It'll be gone by the time I have to ride home, I think...

CliftonGK1

Today rocked. I took the full weekend off after a painful week last week. (Monday I went hiking and did 3600' in 4 miles. Rest of the week riding in was a big ol' OUCH!)
Put some Nashbar foam-tape on my bar ends, and installed my PB Protege 9.0 this weekend. The new tape made the ride in this morning so much nicer. Who knew that $4.00 could make that big a comfort difference? The Protege 9.0 is a nice addition. Turns out that I've been pretty accurate in gauging the distance on my commute. One of the online route mappers checked in at 7.48 miles each way. This morning's total distance: 7.48 miles! Average speed 12.9, which makes me happy because that includes a 3/4 mile climb over 8% grade.

caloso

Today was wet and cool, not raining but the streets were saturated and I was so glad to have full fenders.

noisebeam

The usual: enjoyable, brisk, uneventful.

hobbsc

Fast. I was in an all out sprint because I was late to work today.

HardyWeinberg

Nice and sunny. Cold-ish though. Supposed to be snowy the next few days. Blech.

fordfasterr

I had a good ride this AM. On the way in, a guy buzzed me and then got way ahead even after a turn... lucky for me it was the same turn I had to make and I caught up to him 5 blocks up ... I was making a left toward work and guess who is at the front of the line ? Mr. Buzzer !!!

I rode past his window ( it was down !!) and gave him a nice toot with my 130 db highway blaster horn to which he replied with a nice yell !!! .

It felt good. Very good.

=)

buzzman

my normal 40 minute commute took an hour and 15 minutes this morning. I probably should have just taken to the streets it would have been no worse than riding in a light rain. I chose the bike path, which had a light 1 1/2"'s of snow over the slushy frozen mess that has been on it for the past week or so. At times it was actually plowed a bit but other sections were like riding a stationary bike with the tension all the way up. My heart was pounding as if I were doing it at top speed and I was just managing about 9 mph for most of it.

The ride home was much better since more of the path was plowed but it was still a big challenge. Rode part of it with another rider. He was also riding studded tires (the Nashbar ones) they looked to be either 1.5" or 32c's and he was sliding a bit but was handling it well. I have the 1.9 Nokians and was able to handle most of it but occasionally got some good slides in there, too. Disc brakes would have been a little better choice today my v-brakes were getting pretty clogged up- though they were working pretty well.
No real complaint it was like a challenging mountain bike ride- if I'd done the ride for recreational purposes only I'd have loved this ride. It was nice to ride part of it with another rider.

Hoppy

Hi there,

This morning I got blown off the road by a bus!
Luckily I am OK!

I managed to catch myself on the grass,
so I didn't fall off the bike, but I was totally forced off the road by the turbulence, as the
bus passed very close to me.

It is quite a windy day anyway, so it wasn't my best commute to work! I ride everyday usually,
and it is 7 miles each way from a village called Eynsham to Oxford, UK.

The roads here are awful. We have enormous holes that your bike would disappear in! At night
it is treacherous as you can't see the holes!

Hoppy

This daily commute may not be your usual cycling fun and excitement, but it sure
does keep me fit and strong! Last year I wasn't commuting, as I lived in Oxford. My
fitness levels this year are really amazing compared to last year!

I commute 7 miles each way and it takes me about 30 minutes.

We have a cycle track here along the very busy A40 to Oxford, but the traffic noise is horrendous!
At least it's safe though.

substructure

Man, it's so nice to have the sun up earlier. It seems to motivate me to ride faster. But alas, my legs were hurting from the race I did on Saturday. That was the only real problem I had today.

This little sausage of a dog ran after me from his carport - like every morning. I taunt him and call him names for fun: "C'mon you sausage with legs." "Pick it up fatty!" Stuff like that. I always have fun with him. Hopefully, his owner ain't standing there listening to me. Oh well.

Then like some mornings, I waited for this bus in Shelby that stops for an young, autistic girl. It brings a tear to my eye sometimes watching her mother struggle to get her on the bus. God bless that mother and child.

luckysnafu

Had a fast ride home last night with a tailwind and added an extra mile to my ride since it was so nice out, upper 50s riding into the sunset. Cool this morning for the ride in, got a wave from a girl waiting for the bus, which must have been late since I usually don't see the kids by the time I go by. Can't wait for the mid 60s this afternoon.

jeff-o

The ride home yesterday resulted in a few curse words uttered under my breath. And some, not so under my breath! It had nothing to do with the cars though, and everything to do with equipment failure.

The road I ride has been getting worse all winter. Potholes the size of cantaloupes, I kid you not. They seem to grow every week! And the worst part is, the city can't fix them until the snow is gone. My rack bag is attached with four strips of velcro, which due to "velcro fatigue" and all those potholes causes the velcro strips to loosen over the length of my ride. Often I arrive finding that at least two straps have come off. Well yesterday, I finally found out what happens when all four come off: bad things.

While navigating a particularily bone-rattling section, three of the straps (I assume) came apart, swinging the bag to ose side of my rear wheel. The bag was then sucked into the space between my rear wheel and the rack supports, tearing free the last velcro strap and permanently lodging the bag against the spokes.

Now, this is one time when I'm really glad I ride a trike. If I'd been on two wheels, I would have been flat on my butt in the middle of the road with a bus bearing down on me like a tiger on a rabbit. On three wheels, it just felt like I'd thrown an anchor out the back, though I'm sure there's one spot on my rear tire that's a little more bald than the rest! After realizing I was stuck in the street and not going anywhere, I quickly hoised the trike onto the sidewalk and proceeded to dislodge the rather crumpled-looking rack bag. It took some effort, too. Fortunately, nothing seemed to be bent or damaged.

Needless to say, I am now in search of a new bag, or at least a way to repair the one I have.



Oh, and the city still hasn't cleared the side streets of snow, lazy asses..... grrr.....

Wulfheir

Around 3cm of fresh snow. Took it pretty easy, there were some sketchy spots. Had a hockey stock strapped to the bike and skates on my back, which added a bit to the adventure.

CVB

Beautiful ride. 40 deg F and sunny. Spring peepers were peeping in the swamp. Passed three fellow riders and found one other bike at the rack at work.

One of the three riders I passed looks to be a homeless guy, looked like he slept under the bridge where I passed him. With his limited means, he had engineered some clever cargo carriers on his bike.

High this afternoon will be in the low 60s, so soon it'll be time to start bringing riding clothes.

JohnnyOTS

Yesterday's ride home was gorgeous weather. At the 15 mile mark or so I saw Charlie the recumbent rider headed the opposite way, so I waved him down and we chatted for a while. (I had a light-up belt to give him.) While we were talking another cyclist came by who had passed me earlier in my commute (we were on the return leg of his training loop I guess) and so we all hung out for a while, talking bikes.

Nicest commute home so far. ^_^

This morning's commute was uneventful, except for another clipped in fall. *Cough* We won't talk about that one.

WhiteRabbit

It was the second commute of the year for me. The weather was great: a nice clear sky, a bit chilly but not too bad, and no wind. I took an alternate route that goes by where my office is moving in a few months. It will shorten my commute by a mile or two and one big hill. Getting rid of the hill is nice, but I would be happy to keep the extra miles.

pinkrobe

More snow today! It was enough to make cagers sketch[ier than usual], but not enough for me to worry about traction. My wife is pretty cranky with all the snow. She wants to switch back to her road bike in the worst way. With temperatures in the -10C range for the rest of the week, it won't happen until we're back from vacation.

walterk46

Right around the freezing mark, with damp, salty streets with slushy patches all the way in. Yay for CX tires! But the wind was light, so it was a good ride.
Walter.

bdinger

Talk about cold! My first day commuting from my new home and it was cooold. Took the MTB as there is still a bit of snow/ice/slush on the ground and was glad I chose it.

2 miles in 19 degree weather. Do-able but I sure hope it warms up soon...

caloso

Gorgeous morning during this gap between two Pacific storms. Yesterday's closed down all the trans-Sierra highways and tonight's is supposed to be even heavier. But this morning was beautifully clear and crisp (37F when I left the house).

Lots of birds on the American River Bike Trail this morning: Canada geese, valley quail, doves, ducks, herons, redtail and Harris hawks.

K4LK

Today was my first commute. Dense fog. Pleasant temperature. Round trip is 18-1/4 miles.

M_S

rain, rain, rain, rain, snow(!) rain, hail.

Yuck.

HardyWeinberg

Miserable spitting sleetsnow stuff.

Pulled 5 yr old to dentist in trailer, that went a lot better than I'd feared, it's been a while since I've trailered up any amount of hill. Only 1 kid, not both, that might have helped.

jeffremer

I caught a break in the rain yesterday doing an hour and a half commute/training ride to school yesterday. It just started to rain very lightly as I pulled up to class. However, on the ride back it was raining considerably harder. Taking the shortest route back from City College to the Panhandle it started pouring right after I passed Haight. As soon as I pulled onto the Panhandle it was hailing in sheets. Dark, hailing, soaked, cold, with a load of books on my back in a heavy crosswind: the only way to train.