[RANT] I thought the cold would kill my commute ...
but it turns out that was done by daylight savings time.
I started commuting at the beginning of September, mainly for the time savings for triathlon training. My commute is 25 mi round trip and I did this 2-3 times per week throughout Sept and Oct.
I live in a smaller town that has grown rapidly and only has 2 roads in/out. Neither of these roads have shoulders. I found a route where I only have to spend .7 mile on this road. It is a 4 lane blvd and is pretty busy. All I have to ride on is a 1 1/2' space to the right of the fogline. It took me alot to get the courage to ride this line, and I was being passed with cars in both lanes and have gotten used to it. All of the other 11.5 miles are low-traffic roads that I feel comfortable on. I found myself loving the commuting days and more frustrated when I drove.
I'm the biggest wuss when it comes to the cold and pretty much have stayed indoors when below 50, but I was determined to continue commuting in the over 39*F days (which is almost all here in TX).
After DST ended and the days are shorter, I got some "to be seen" lights, but I have completely lost confidence in that .7 mi stretch and haven't commuted much this month (although I did on a 42*F day and loved it). With my work schedule and the low # of daylight hours, I would currently have to spend time on that road during low-light hours, if not in darkness.
I did try it out one morning when the sun was just starting to come up and I felt like I was being buzzed unlike any other day previous. I also think that due to the 1 hour earlier, there was more traffic as well.
I really like to commute, but I kind of like living more.
On the flip side, I got a free set of rollers that I'll be riding on during these short days. I'm planing to get back into commuting in March when the days start to grow.