Finally another commute this week. Usually I go T/Th but this week went M/Fr due to weather. A cold 26F this morning, but should be in the 50's this afternoon with a light tail wind.

Had a couple of people ride behind me for a long time like they were afraid to pass or something, despite having plenty of room to pass. One guy decided to ride behind me for over half a mile at 12 mph, despite having plenty of chances to pass. As a result 2 other vehicles got backed up behind him also. I waved him by multiple times but he stayed behind. Finally I stopped dead in the road and sternly waved him by, which he finally did, and pointed at me as he rode by. Ass.

38F, gray, clammy

Good to see HardyWeinber posting in this thread again. Mine is usually similar, but 36 at my house and dark. It was clear at my house but I rapidly rode into so much fog that my protective eye glasses became useless, so I had to ride the rest of the way to town with them hanging around my neck. At least fog feels OK on my contact lenses.

It's supposed to stay pretty nice today until I get off work to ride home. Then rain. Edit: it poured on the 14 mile ride home. I'm getting better about it though, and didn't curse God or the universe in my wrath. In fact I didn't mind. That's a big improvement for me.

I rode in on Tuesday and left my bike at work. I expect to ride it home tonight. I might get wet or muddy, and the bike has no fenders.

[MENTION=301784]PatrickGSR94[/MENTION] i had a couple weird experiences liek that this week. A lady drove behind me forever. 2 cars honked at her and eventually passed her and other cars and me. I finally just pulled off and let her and the other 4-5 people she had held up. She could have passed many times but stayed behind. It made me nervous and I was glad to find a place to get off the road safely.

yesterday on the way home a woman had her moped laid down in a parking lot and was sitting on the curb. As I was riding by she was like "stop stop please help me!" I said "did you wreck?" she said "no, i am about to have a seizure. I feel a seizure coming on." I was like what i am going to do. she got real close to me and I was a little nervous as to what was going on.. She got so close that she almost knocked me off my bike. I helped her unhook her hat and stood with while she almost had a seizure. Hand and arm got stiff and started drooling a little. I was not sure what else to do.

It was sad that I had to think about stopping and attempting to help. (not the best neighborhood) but I am glad I did and was able to "help"

dry this AM but it looks like I'm gonna get SOAKED on the way home again! All good though. It's longweekend Friday.

I was in a meeting the other day with a co-worker from another department, and he says “I almost drove into you this morning.”

I guess he pulled out to his right to pass someone who was turning left. As he pulled around the stopped, left-turner--I was right there.

I had no idea.
I do recall a very close pass right after that, but from a car not matching his.

One of my favorite things about Fridays is that it's casual day at the office, and when it's cool I just ride in my jeans. On the way home I don't even bother changing. Yesterday was like that. It's nice to sometimes just walk out to the bike and ride without all the prep.

I would have said "why, were you not paying attention to what's in front of you?" People sometimes say things like "I 'almost' hit you!!" when really they weren't even close. They just want to express their disdain for cyclists legally and safely using the roadway.

I had the VP of Technology say something like that, my third or fourth day on the job as a contractor years ago. I just laughed and said "No don't do that, I like this job". My supervisor happened to be there and told him we're keeping this one so don't run over him. So it can turn out to be a positive encounter sometimes.

I rode home on Friday night. My winter clothes are worked so well I feel like I could be out all day in them. If it was a cold night, I was oblivious. The amazingest thing was that while I saw a handful of bike commuters go the opposite way, and while I of course to see more of them than of those going in my direction, I saw not a single bike commuter that night going my way. This is New York City, a very crowded city. Every winter I see more people on bikes than the previous winter, but Friday night, word got out somehow that you shouldn't be riding, though it was fine for me. The snow was mostly taken care of by then, and now it's pretty much all gone. Long Island got eight inches last night, and the city got two or three inches, but ours melted away quickly. Long Island is pretty well covered now, which I saw when I visited today.

36F/2C uneventful ride in. Need to get my rear wheel trued asap...perhaps that'll be something I try to do at home down the road.

Crazy situation Matt. Glad she was okay.

I only got to ride one day last week due to family scheduling and my wife not currently being able to drive (see concussion post from about a week ago). She still has some symptoms, but is slowly getting better.

I rode today, but am not sure how the rest of the week will go. It was about 27F, chilly but not horrible. It may not even get above 40 all week. I suppose it is still winter.

[MENTION=366933]mgw4jc[/MENTION] yeah i am glad i was able to "help" made me want to brush up on first aid incase I found myself in that situation again. Also made me want to rethink where I put my phone in case i needed to call for help.

the week is looking pretty cold and it makes me wish my recent order from Planet X would hurry I would like to have my gloves and other things that I ordered yesterday.

i hope to ride the rest of the week even if it is cold.

Packed everything last night before bed so I could ride. Spent 45 minutes out in the garage fixing my rear derailleur which last week started to cause the chain to skip and drop off the big cog jamming the chain between the cassette and spokes.

Woke up this morning and could hear the wind howling. 50+ mph with sub-zero wind chills. Also had to go to the company office this morning which was 8 miles each way. Decided I just wasn't motivated to fight the winter bike against that wind and for that long. Reset my alarm for 45 minutes later and went back to sleep. Got up and drove to work. While driving the wind was so intense it was pushing my truck around with ease and the snow on the ground was producing areas with no visibility. Saw the wind fold over a chain link fence around a construction site.

Yes, I'm a wimp for not riding. Today at least.

Good for you man, though I agree that I would have to think twice about stopping. A commuting friend of mine stopped a couple years ago and was mugged and beat up. Sad.

33F with rain/snow mix. More snow and colder temps predicted for this afternoon, tonight, tomorrow - guess winter's not gone yet

Saw nobody else riding this morning. This is pretty unusual. It was eerie. Weather is clear and unseasonably warm. I don't get it.

As [MENTION=124426]Jim from Boston[/MENTION] would say, you're hardcore but you're not stupid.

[MENTION=175954]Tundra_Man[/MENTION], that is strange. No theories?

heh I've done that also. Wake up at 5... nope. Turn on the 6 AM alarm and go back to sleep.

We're having a nice stretch of weather now here in Western Oregon, but unfortunately today is the only day I'm working in Salem and can bike commute. The bus from Stayton is always late now, and I can't make the connecting bus so I have to drive or ride my motorcycle. At least when I drive I can stop and go running on the way home. This morning was 40 degrees, dark and starry, and nice. I'm looking forward to the sunny ride home. I should get home about 6:00, exactly when it becomes dark.

I was lazy and took the bus this mornin. I know I road through winter storm kayla or what ever it was called, but it just wasn't worth it today. So I threw my bike on the front of the bus and did the ride thing. This evenin though, It was 100% petal power to get my back side home and the head/cross wind sucked.

I decided to go back to college to finish my degree (20! years after I started), so switched from work to school in January. It was seriously rainy and cold so I took the bus for that entire month. I rode to school once last week. Today, I decided enough was enough and started my commute with riding to the LBS to drop off my bike for a tune-up.

I took the hilly instead of flat route and was surprised at how OK I felt despite being off the bike for six+ weeks. I was super slow, but since it wasn't rush hour on Seattle's finest cat-6 route it wasn't a big deal.

Nice!

36F/2C cold persistent rain, some snow on the way.

Stopped at a LBS on the way home yesterday to deal with a rear tire out of true, the guy did a great job and noted that 50% of the spokes on the non-gear side were loose. I love it when you find a solid mechanic.

Today's my day to wimp and it's not even that bad - 20F, snow, only 25mph winds. Working from home... make you feel better?!

Snowy Day! Only about the second time this winter that there's been more than 1". 26°F, 9 MPH wind, light crunchy ice from yesterday's dusting, covered with 1-2" of powder. Great fun!