Snowy here today, we got an unexpected snow day for the little man today. So he hung out with the grandparents and I went to the ER for an infection and the wife and daughter went to work/daycare.

It was nice to have the snow, and based on an email from school a lot of people didn't know it was a snow day.

Here a few pictures from the last few days.

https://goo.gl/photos/ipK9EuEYqnuynmqG9

Last Thursday we had about a 1/4 inch of ice in the bay, then snow Friday from school (which should have ben closed, I had 30/120 students for the day), then the evening lights on the way into town for my wife's Christmas Party, the girl getting herself ready to go out, and this morning's snow.

I saw a mink running about outside my desk window yesterday and a hummingbird in the courtyard at the ER this morning. This goes with the owl which swooped in front of me last week. I live in a great place.

Traffic was completely backed up on Hazel going up the bridge - it might have been one of those days it was actually faster to ride home. I encountered about a dozen salmon fishermen walking back from Nimbus dam, always fraught as they dress in muted colors and no reflections or lights on the dark MUP. But no one was down there fishing and someone seemed to be working on the dam itself. Fishing is allowed til one hour after sunset, so the time was about right, but it was such a sudden concentration I wonder if a ranger came along and told them to leave.

When I got home my wife was right behind me in the van. She said she'd come across me about a mile out coming back from a coffee run, and had sort of stalked me, for fun, passing by me at least five times. I never noticed. I was zoned out listening to an interview with Jamie Oliver about holiday food, and thinking of dinner.

Joeyduck buries the lede again

It was just below freezing today, but the air was calm. I enjoyed the ride in. The guard who checks ID asked me how long I had been riding. I answered "45 years, but only 15 minutes this morning..." He laughed.


My motivation hasn't been great lately, and I'm just dragging myself to get started each day.

24 this morning but 12ish wind chills but it was out of the north ie from behind so no issue's. I'm officially done with the riverfront trail between KCMO/KCK. Had a 18 gauge nail through the back tire last night, I think it was intentional. I've had more flats since I found that trail than ever on the street. And I'm not the only one, another guy was carrying his and he had 2. Back to the street don't care who I tick off.

Yesterday's ride home started out at 60F, but felt cooler as it got darker.

About 38F this morning felt okay with the right layers. I left about an hour early to hit the gym before work. This two-legged route ends up being about one mile shorter than my normal route.

32F this morning, with a partly cloudy sky and very obscured moon. Light winds out of the north made the ride to work a bit colder, although I think my top layer wasn't quite right. Hoping to correct that tonight. The weak point, however, continues to be shoes, with the cold wind cutting right through. Only the merino wool socks save me some, but they're almost just not enough. Came across a group of young female joggers, most likely from the university; they were a bit oblivious until I was actually passing within 2 feet of them. Uneventful ride otherwise.

I spent some time tuning up my fared winter bike and rode it today as a shake down test although mid-40's is typically too warm. The front end had been starting to sag a bit, since the coroplast and aluminum brace tends to bend over time, so I braced that up and I added some overlapping hinged panels on the sides where my handlebars swivel out which worked really well. I want to pull the front up about two inches though because it feels weird to have cold air from the eyes up and warm dead air everywhere else.

The commute today, taking the Greenway instead of major roads was uneventful. In this weather we don't see many bike commuters or even pedestrians, and my late start missed even the die-hard joggers so it was just me and the deer.

Consecutive commute number 199. Looks promising that I'll hit the 200 mark tomorrow.

-1°F this morning with a brisk head wind. Wind chill was somewhere around -20°F. The news was giving the typical "flesh will freeze within X minutes" messages we get most winter days in our area. I was completely covered except for my cheeks and my nose, but was generating enough internal heat that I didn't feel cold. Roads are still rutted ice from the unplowed weekend snow so I took the winter bike.

Encountered three idiot drivers in my 1st half mile from the house. The first close-passed me on a residential street at 40+ mph. The second passed me while there was an oncoming car, causing him to have to veer back into my lane directly in front of me. The third decided she couldn't wait 5 more seconds for me to get through an intersection and pulled into the oncoming lane before turning left. Thankfully after that I had no further encounters.

16F on the way home yesterday.

Nice and toasty except for right big toe, which seems to be a constant issue. I think I have circulation problems.

The one thing that is really annoying is it seems I need to make a decision between goggles and balaclava...both just makes the goggles un-usable due to fog. Moving slow enough with knobbies and snow on the ground I don't really even need the eye cover yet anyway.

Forecast was for snow beginning overnight but nothing on the ground when I got up. I took the studded tire bike anyway and probably a good thing - about 1/4 way into the ride to work it started snowing and still going strong. Studs don't do anything for snow but it's warm enough that we'll get ice patches. Tomorrow should be interesting with single digit temps... yay winter... almost

I rode to work for the first time in over three weeks. I was waiting for the spirit to move me, and it moved me today. Well, my legs did some of the work, too.

My tracks from this morning

Last night, the weather forecast for today called for cloud cover and a small chance of rain or snow. This morning, it improved, and the sky is clear. Rather than my usual headwind, I had a mild tailwind. The wind probably won't change much, so I'll have a mild headwind this evening.

I overdressed a little, so I was overall comfy but slightly hot.

I've been lifting weights lately, and it seems to be helping. Climbing my few hills is easier than before, and I'm using much higher gears to climb. Lifting weights really does build strength!

If you zoom in, you can see the George Washington Bridge which I often feature in my commuting route pictures.

Soggy commute this morning! I got it in my head I really wanted to ride in the rain though, so there ya go. It was mostly enjoyable, who knows what the cagers thought! Have a ride home from the Better Half tonight, as we have plans with friends after work. All contents stayed dry. The bottom of my panniers does not do a good job of keeping the water out, but the tops do. I wrapped everything in plastic bags and those were dry, but had little water puddles in the bottom.

Anyway, shoes are stuffed with newspaper, all bags are open and drying, and I'll have to make it a point to go down later and see how the drying effort goes.

37F, gray, clammy. Stuck w/ tights and full gloves, went back to one shirt, but the long sleeve one, under the coat. Also through fluke of laundry, super skinny socks. Just about right overall, top a bit warm even with (as always) pitzips etc... cranked all the way open.

it was a chilly one this morning, 17 degrees with a 15mph NW wind that i was riding into most of the way.

i was happy to see four other fellow bike commuters out there in the cold. it's fun to see other hardy souls.

My commute was uneventful until the very end, and then this happened. Still kinda rattled.

Hrmm. OK, I've decided I am trying the nuclear option to combat fogging. I've got a 3/4 motorcycle helmet that looks roughly like the image below, can't believe I never thought to try it before. Should solve the fogging issue, and be nice and toasty Expected to be about 10F for the morning commute tomorrow. I'm excited

I can't imagine that your bike helmet will fit over that!
Oh, nevermind.

I'll be curious how this works out for you. When I had a full-faced motorcycle helmet (on my motorcycle, not bicycle ) I would frequently have trouble with it fogging up in cold weather (sub 30°F.) However the 3/4 may have enough ventilation at the bottom to prevent it. If it doesn't work, it will be because the steam and moisture from your breath moves upward and has nowhere to go but the backside of the shield in front of your eyes.

I finally solved most of my fogging/icing problems by switching to ski goggles. Still happens, but only when the temp is well below zero and usually doesn't get bad enough to cause me issues before I get to work.

Well the nice thing is the visor flips up. I can just give it a shove at stop lights. I may have some old old ski goggles in the garage as well....either way I'm bumping up my fog fighting vigilance.

arsprod and heywood,
thank you for your replies and for the link. I'll look into it, even though I'm more a DIY type of person.


Abe Froman,
I concur with Tundra Man and I'm very curious about how the 3/4 motorcycle helmet works out for you. Keep us posted.

Anyway, no commute for me, today.

But yesterday, waiting for a traffic light, a car driver rolled his window down and yelled at me "Turn off your high beams!", referring to my two main headlights (nicknamed "Fire Balls" for a reason). Obviously he was joking, or so I thought.

Stats 2016
-------------------

Commute ratio (December): [13/31]

Near Misses: 0

Idiots met: 0

SCR score for yesterday's commute:
- AM: 16+0-0 = 16
- PM: 16+0-0 = 16

SCR total score for 2016:
13

Cold in KC. 20's this morning. Loving the Schwinn Letour with 32cc tires. Steel is mellow, the fatter tires (Vitoria Randonuer) have reflective side walls, which allows me to delude myself that I am being seen.

Cold, but I'm getting used to it again. A full moon in a slightly cloudy sky, it was pretty bright out there. The deer were on the move, I heard several crashing around in the woods, saw three running alongside me through the front yards of the houses I was passing.

Wasn't there supposed to be a meteor shower? I didn't see any. Too bright.

Below 20 this morning.. Not really a big deal now. Waiting for the sub-zero temps and see if I can handle it. Carried a couple textbooks this morning, quite the workout. Left a hour earlier so a very peaceful commute. Amazing the how the number of idiots quadruples in just a hour.

A little drizzle for the ride home last night, but nothing bad.

About 41F this morning and some light fog, until the last mile or so where it was really thick.

Other poster's recent photos have re-inspired me to keep an eye out for photo ops again. If you look close you can see some birds on a wire watching the sunrise.