I began commuting using the SkyTrain and bike. But then I found riding was faster, cheaper, and more pleasant.

But it was cold this morning and wet. My most disliked conditions, props to you Tim.

I did my good deed the other morning. I was on my way to an appointment and I was getting into the van when I noticed a woman with really soft tires ride past. I asked her if she wanted some air and then kindly pumped them up for her. They were at less than 20 psi! I should do it more frequently since I always see people with almost flat tires.

I also have noticed a large number of commuters with studded tires this winter. Yay for them.

Not eventful, but strenuous. I ride in in the dark, subdivision has the streets covered in rutted ice, with some snow on top. Main drags were salty and slushy, with no shoulder clear to bail off if needed. Rode home for lunch, shoveled walk and driveway. Very blustery. For the ride home, it had dropped about 20 degrees F over the course of the day, and still windy!
There is a lightly used parking lot that I use to cut out a corner intersection- it was full of slushy snow. The 37 mm studded Nokian tires I use are excellent on ice or hard glazed surfaces, but sink right in to slush and make a lot of effort needed. Still like it better than driving. But- glad my commute is only 1.5 miles!

The cold arrived: 21F/-6C with a headwind in some sections of the ride.

Overall though I have to say I was not as cold as I thought I would be. Toes and fingers were pretty much of (I doubled up on gloves using a thin pair of running gloves as liners).

Same here. I felt a tingling in the fingers, even with wool Army liners and windproof ski mittens.

I did "poach" heat from cars as we stopped for lights, downwind of their engine blocks. Toasty...

All in all, not as bad as I had expected.

Had to drive today due to some lunch back and forth to take dear daughter to her art class. It was kind of nice not having to garb up for the cold. However, I was a couple of minutes late. Just enough stop and go traffic that I should have left a little earlier. I don't drive often enough to know how much time to allow.

Hopefully back on the bike tomorrow.

In the dark ran thru a bunch of glass shards. Tires still holding pressure. Maybe I lucked out.

Upper teens for the ride in, a bit of ice from last evenings snow squall. Think I will put the studded tires on this weekend. Noticeably more daylight on the ride home now.

Another 20F start with a headwind. I felt slow today... and I'm sure the wind was partially to blame, but my legs just felt tired. Hopefully the wind remains constant and becomes a tailwind for the ride home.

5F this morning, but very little wind so it was a pretty easy commute. Been fighting a mild cold since Sunday, and woke up feeling kind of bad. Wife tried to convince me to drive but I insisted that driving would actually make me feel worse because I would be sitting at work stewing about taking the car. I made it on the bicycle just fine, but in retrospect the way I'm feeling I should have just stayed home. We'll see if I perk up once I get some coffee in me, otherwise I may go home early today.

As I walked into the building a woman looked at me in my bike gear and said, "You're a beast!"
I responded with, "Thanks! Deciding to ride your bike on days like today is harder than actually doing it."

Another clear but chilly morning with temps in the upper 20s, which seems to be the pattern this week. I finally left for work on time and traffic was lighter, reminding me that I need to quit hitting the snooze button on my alarm clock. Got behind a ninja cyclist dressed in black with absolutely no lights on his bike while it was still dark outside. It absolutely baffles me every time I see ninjas riding in the dark. The streets had a lot of limbs on them from the high winds we had yesterday, which made for a tough commute home in the afternoon.

Pretty uneventful commutes both morning and evening yesterday, except for the "SMIDGAF" woman pulling out right in front of me as I was about to make a left turn. I was going slow, no panic stops or braking or anything. But she just casually pulled right on out as I was about to make my left.

Had to wait quite a while on traffic at a couple of spots on the way home. Total time was 80 minutes but moving time was only 74 minutes. That's a little unusual for me considering I only go through 4 traffic lights in 15 miles.

I'm glad I did it! Did a harder workout at the gym last night (left my car at work and got a ride home from the wife). Pace was slow, but it felt good to spin the legs up and work out some of the lactic acid. Uneventful, otherwise. A bit chilly (near froze my face off on my first big downhill! Tears were just starting to form.)

Was a very windy ride this morning from Leonia, NJ to NYC. 21F (feels like 5F). Surprised that my toes did not go numb, though. So was more pleasant than I had anticipated. Just did my usual dress for 20's (four layers on chest, two on legs, two socks and shoe covers for feet, balaklava and winter cap for head, heavy gloves with liner). Maybe my thermal leg covers worked better than the thermal bib I used last time when it was 11F?

1 (degree Fahrenheit) is the loneliest number

We got some snow last night, so the road was a little icy in spots. I was able to avoid it by riding farther from the edge of the road. Of course, this resulted in some close passes by people who couldn't be bothered to change lanes, but I'll take that over wiping out on the ice. My rear brake cable froze again. Anyone have any tips?

Effing Cold
 

2°F, "Feels Like" -10. They plowed the roads and most of the MUP yesterday, things got slushy, then it froze overnight.
It was more fun putting the first tracks on the MUP yesterday than sliding around on the frozen footprints today.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=498147

Last night was a drencher but I didn't mind. Had to go to the inlaws and hang around in wet biking gear for a while. (ugh) Then ride home (not far).

Warm, 7degC (45degF) dark and wet this AM. Even a bit of tailwind. Felt great and arrived early!


lol @ smidgaf, had to look that up. [MENTION=301784]PatrickGSR94[/MENTION]

Ditto

Didn't ride today, late enough even with driving.

However, I did watch my 5th grader ride off down the street to school this morning and was happy to see her left turn signal when leaving our block (facing oncoming traffic).

thanks for the kind words. I have ridden 2 days this week.. I hope to get one more before the rain comes on Friday and possible snow Saturday over Sunday!

Didn't plan on riding today, but the warm and sunny weather changed my mind. Hope it holds up until the evening.

Getting warmer and wasn't bad overall. Did get passed up one of my long hills and that's okay.. kind of took me by surprise. Chatted with the guy a few moments. I'm in the middle on hills.. at least I can climb them I'm just not the fastest!

Hat's off to those commuting in the colder climes. In Phoenix, this week I'm grumbling to myself at 36-39F in the mornings.

The black and white shih-tzu darted around behind the man who held the leash. The quick acceleration of the 8 to 10 pound dog produced enough power to break the man's grip. The leash went to the ground and the dog was free.

"Jack! Jack!" the man yelled. But Jack did not respond to the man and could not contain his excitement to see a bicyclist coming up the road. The bicyclist was cruising up the incline at around 12 miles an hour. A collision of dog and bicycle tire seemed inevitable.

But at the last second, Jack seemed to realize the bicycle tire could do him some harm and screeched to a halt. The bicyclist had the presence of mind and agility to swerve and lean away to prevent running over Jack's leg with the front tire or from possibly hitting the dog's head with a rotating pedal.

And just like that, the close call was over. The bicyclist continued on his way and Jack's leash was back in the man's hand.

Or maybe I could have just said, "I came close to whacking a pup this morning."

Also, I stopped to pick up a set of keys. No identification or grocery store loyalty card attached. Not sure what to do with them. Maybe one of them is a PO box key or something.

Below freezing at 28F, but high may be 57! That's spring like.