gecho

-11C and clear this morning, I took the MUP to enjoy the dark. I've been using the mountain bike almost every commute this winter. Since I only have class two days a week I figure I might as well use the bike that requires more effort to pedal.

It was disconcerting seeing the number of cars driving around where the drivers hadn't bothered to scrap the ice off their windows.

HardyWeinberg

39F, sprinkly

JPinWI

Finally pulled the trigger on a Winter commute...I haven't ridden since December 9th, 2011! I spent part of my off Monday transferring commuter stuff onto my Trek 820....It was a good long ride, in about 2 inches of fresh snow. 1 and 1/2 hours of pedaling bliss. Only 1 wipeout when I misjudged the edge of pavement on a rural road...That cost me my bar end mirror. Overall, it was a success and I now have no excuse to NOT ride my bike to work. By the way, last Fall I picked up some Neos overshoes in our work safety program and they worked great keeping my feet warm and dry. I wore my Shimano MT41 bike shoes inside the Neos. Highly Recommended! Enjoy!

Jim from Boston

Started out as a typical commute, 30° for my 14 miles. I listen to a local talk radio show, Tom and Todd, and the topic was predicted rising gas prices to $4.00. A caller described the progressive effects at $4.00. 4.50 and $5.00. The discussion also veered into rising fares on the Mass Transit system (the MBTA). I couldn't resist describing my alternative lifestyle that might be acceptable at $5.00 per gallon. So at 6 miles into the ride, with the risk of chilling off, I stopped to call in. I got on-air in about one minute. I've called the show before, when the weather is atrocious to tweak them that I am cycling, so they know me.

I had about 30 seconds to describe my reverse-commute bike ride to work, and the train ride home with my bike. Now my residence and workplace are well situated to allow this commute, and I inadvertently described it as "idyllic," but probably should have said conducive. But compared to many commutes I read about on this Forum, it is ideal.

After I got off the air, due to the 20 second delay, I got to hear their on-air comments. Todd was skeptical that going out on a ten-degree day was idyllic, but Tom, a former Marathoner, could relate, mentioning fresh air and exercise. When I got to work, someone had heard the show, and this morning I’ve been getting the business about my idyllic commute.

CommuteCommando

Great story Tom from Boston. I am fortunate that for me, 40F is "cold", and pretty much the rule early in the AM this time of year. I rode today despite it raining when I left the house. Dry pavement and clear sky by the time I got off the train at 6AM. Rode a longer commute this morning to avoid some major construction on my regular route that looks likely to last for weeks. (Burying storm drains)

Mark Stone

Still sick at home, still no commute this week . . .

Froghunter

Snow, Windy, and Winter Storm last Saturday and Sunday. Today warm high of 53 degrees and sunny....Windys from the SW 7 mph. Maded me want to contiune to ride the Freddie bike the 10 mile loop, but have school tonight........Maybe tomorrow.

Enjoy Life!

Froghunter

cehowardGS

About 35 degrees at 6am, pretty dark, ride was sweet.. I am getting faster!!

andboy

It was awesome! I fitted fenders the other day. I felt stoopid doing it, I'm pleased I did it now! When I set out it had just finished raining and the roads were wet, the second half of the journey on the MUPpet path was still coated in mud from when it flooded a while back.

I had mud all over the wheels and fenders. It was so thick in places it was slick, i had to slow down a bit!

This afternoon had warmed up to the mid 60's so I got to ditch my jacket and arm warmers and was able to show off my new jersey I picked up at a swap meet this weekend.



I had one guy on the way home who was really pleased to see me. He kept honking and honking. Thing was he wasn't even behind me! He was in the other lane. I don't think his driving skills were that great either as he jerked into my lane while continuing to honk. I waved and smiled and took a note of his plate. I fill in the online complaint forms for the cops.

dcb23

Brilliant! I listen to the traffic reports every morning with amazement that folks can deal with it.

Head wind but not cold at all coming in.

tarwheel 

I had an idyllic commute myself this morning. Perfect weather with temps in the 40s and very little wind, and the high is supposed to reach 60 this afternoon. The only downside was the curse of my commuting -- red lights. They were out to get me this morning and were especially cruel, the longest ones turning red just before I reached them.

wphamilton

This was my first commute with my new bike, which is also my first attempt at building one. It was an excellent ride but slower than I'm used to, partly because I've only ridden about 10 miles since Friday. I enjoyed going up a couple of inclines (you couldn't call them hills) pedaling a 20 lb bike instead of the usual 40+ pounds.

Without my fairing I put on several layers expecting a cold ride but it warmed up to the upper 30's and it was all unnecessary.

CptjohnC

A really nice ride today; low 40s starting out, and I didn't pick up much wind until I hit the Memorial Bridge. Thin tights, thin gloves, just a base layer under my Showers Pass jacket, and no beanie under the helmet was just right, I think. Passed a number of folks with balaclavas and masks, which seemed like a lot to me... as did the folks wearing full weight winter coats.

However, one fellow commuter set me straight; she doesn't wear the mask for the cold, but to protect her skin from the wind :-)

Weird sighting of the day: A guy commuting on a Segway on the Custis Trail. At first I thought it might be a cop or parking enforcement type, or some other municipal official, but it had no markings, he was not wearing a uniform or visible ID, and he was acting like any other commuter, rather than like someone doing a survey or other 'business' on the trail. I dropped him like a rock once I had room to pass.

wisaunders

Perfect, finally no rain, 55F. Looks like the wind is going to turn around too so two rides with a good tail wind today!

HardyWeinberg

35F and clammy

cehowardGS

About 38 to 40 degrees at 6am.. Felt like summertime.. Also, I pulled out my 85 Raleigh Prestige, it always draws attention and the ride is sweet.

BTW, 90% of the time I in the full tuck like a racer. .

No, I don't have a full deck!!

njschmidt

In the 40s*F, no rain and no wind to speak of. Overcast, though, and they say it's going to start pouring this afternoon (good chance for me to try out my new rain cape). Only complaint was with my SKS race blades that I fitted on this morning because of the later rain prediction... Easy to put them on, but sure does seem to take a lot of tweaking before they don't touch the front tire.

EKW in DC

The first mile and a half or so of my morning commute route is on city streets. This morning I took the route with sharrows on it instead of the one with the bike lane. No one did anything unsafe or threatening, but I felt like everyone was giving me a foot or two less clearance when passing, and people were following more closely than usual. Just one of those days I guess. Like I said no one did anything dangerous our threatening, so maybe it was just my perception. Oh well, no harm, no foul right?

Otherwise a great ride in except for the wind in my face, which I wish had been blowing a little less. Temps comfortable, brilliant sunshine, fair number of fellow commuters.

Leaving work early to go to a prenatal checkup with my wife. Looking forward to a nice midday ride home with a nice tailwind! :-)

dygituljunky

I took the long weekend off of the bike due to the cold weather and gusty wind. With the HUA drivers around here, I didn't want to risk being blown into the flow of motor-vehicle traffic.

Today the weather was t-shirt and shorts weather on the way in. Very nice ride.

Chalupa102

Excellent commutes today.

46F and sunny this afternoon on the commute in with mainly headwinds from the WNW @ 2-5mph. 34F and dark with winds from the WNW @ 6-9mph on the commute home this evening. The evening rides home are never dull. I normally have multiple people taking my picture while I'm stopped at a light. I'm sure one of these days I'll see my pic on a website somewhere. Some guy in a pretty nice car asked me if my velo was electric at one of the lights as he was taking my pic. He seemed pretty surprised when I told him that it was just pedal powered.

making

41F light wind and rain. Wonderful ride.

tarwheel 

Bonus commute for me today. I had planned to drive because forecasters had been calling for heavy rains today, but they started backing off on those predictions last night and this morning. It wasn't raining when I got up, and the latest projections suggest the rain will largely be over by my afternoon commute, so I decided to go for it. Nice ride in this morning with moderate temps (low 40s) and not even a drop of rain so far. The traffic signals were even kind to me for a change and I had mostly green lights, so I made great time.

dcb23

Reversed my commute route, interesting but lot more dark spaces on the way in. Otherwise a pleasant morning above 40.

Tractortom

I was off the bike for Mon-Tues of this week while I went up to West-central Florida for training for the Forest Service (where I work as a Comm Tech) and realized after I got there that I could have brought my bike and ridden in the afternoons. So Wednesday and today I was back on the Bacchetta for the ride to and from work. The weather is EXCELLENT, about 60 degrees in the morning and still, about 81 on the ride home yesterday with a breeze from the SSE, so I took the long way home (still only about 10 miles). Traffic has been light, and I still get thumbs up and friendly waves from the folks in the cages. Been really good lately!!!

Tractor Tom in Okeechobee, FL

Telly

Very nice morning commute with the temperature around 10 Celsius and a nice subtle tailwind; decided to take the long way to work so I can enjoy the seaside. Then on the return leg everything went belly up with a devilish headwind which totally drained me, along with some idiot drivers speeding on a section of road meant to be shared by cars and bikes and with a max speed of 40km/h (they were doing close to 100km/h).