tarwheel 

First 4-day commute week in a while due to all of the rain we've had during fall and winter, but I won't make it five. The forecast for Friday is calling for lots of cold rain in the afternoon, and my legs need a rest anyway. Temps have been in the 20s for every morning commute this week but my gear is doing a great job keeping me warm but not sweaty. Rode my fastest commuter bike today, the Waterford, and it felt sweet. My next commute will be on my birthday, Jan. 19, assuming the weather allows.

RidingMatthew

@mgw4jc I Hope we see 57F today that would be a nice break from the cold dark ride in and the cold sun setting rides home this week. I think like @tarwheel I will drive tomorrow plus cold rain called for in the evening. My legs felt tired this morning although my wife said I was faster than yesterday. So who knows. I know I have ridden three times this week and I have hit my all time low. Today seemed colder than the all time low for some reason.

arsprod 

25F this morning which is 24 degrees warmer than yesterday! Supposed to get over freezing this afternoon and I'm hoping for rain to wash away the rest of the snow and ice. It's great to have a studded tire bike but I'm already sick of riding it!

PatrickGSR94

Warmer today, super nice outside. This morning was 40F thanks to a south wind, which means a nice tail wind going home this afternoon, and almost 60. I'll be wearing shorts and jersey probably with just arm warmers (no jacket). Should be nice!

The SMIDGAF from Tuesday:

HardyWeinberg

One of those days... clear sky at home and then in the middle of one of the north-south streets I cross while commuting to the east, pea-soup fog the rest of the way.

timvan_78

the other morning, dark and early, I was thinking about nothing, and skunks crossed my mind while riding along towards a hill, and who should come waddling towards me along the curb about 30 ft away, but a skunk! I made a hard left into the driveway of a multi-family residential complex, and out the other side, well away from him. That'll wake you up.

HardyWeinberg

spooky absence of traffic riding home today.

BikingZombie

Luckily there was a building nearby that allowed me a safe place to work. I pulled the tube out, found a rip, but on a brief inspection of the tire in poor lighting found no foreign objects, so was dumbfounded. I put in a new tube, pumped it up, dressed up and went on my way. When I got home I brought my bike to the basement to pump the tire up properly.

The next morning the tire was flat again. I pulled the tire off, inspected it and found the rip. I wasn't able to say if the tire failed and a stud punctured the tube or something else ripped the tire at the time since I had to run to work, so off I went. When I got home and inspected more and took it to my local shop, hoping they'd give me some deal since it was a pretty new tire. It was evident something ripped through the threads & no deal was to be given. Another gravdal purchase later (boo!) and I was riding again.

Outnumbered

After the winds and cold of the last few days never knew 22 degrees could feel so warm on the bike with a calm wind. Clear skies, bright stars, even a couple of coyotes running through the fields I go by. Other than the patches of ice I have to miss it was great.

I have noticed the cars that pass me in the morning are so much more considerate than the ones on the way home. Maybe because at 5:15 in the morning they aren't texting and or talking on their phones (sorry pet peeve of mine either on bike, walking or in the vehicle).

noglider 

Yesterday, I had one of the amazingest commutes in a long time. It was cold and windy. I put on all my new winter clothing which I was so inspired to buy before the season set in. I had my new bike which is so light and sprightly. I changed the saddle on it from the ass hatchet to a Brooks B17 I borrowed from my Bianchi. I was super comfortable, and I had a slight tail wind rather than the usual headwind. I was in danger of being late for the meeting scheduled between me, my boss, and my boss's boss, and I really didn't want to be late. I poured on the speed and made it in my fastest time in the 13th month I've been working here. Average speed was 14.7 mph over a 14 mile commute, so damn, I'm good. I think I really am a lot faster on some bikes than others, and a lot of that is because of the comfort of the fit. The weird thing is that this bike has upright bars, so they should slow me down, but I don't think they did. I was quite warm the whole way, even though I bet anyone else outside who wasn't well dressed was pretty uncomfortable. So the whole day felt like a triumph for me. I was hoping to push my limits in speed and in tolerance of wintery weather, and I succeeded at both in a single day.

The ride back in the evening was dark, of course, and I discovered I really really hate battery powered lights. I don't usually use them, but that's what I had. I had used the headlight on a previous evening commute, and I now know that the battery can provide enough light for only one evening commute. The light didn't go dark but it went very dim. I'm going to put dynamo lights on the bike. Their peak brightness is a bit less, though it's still good enough, but I always know exactly how bright they are going to be, and that's worth a lot to me. I got really hot and sweaty, because the temperature was higher, and I didn't wear fewer layers. When I got to my evening meeting, I got that clammy feeling you get from sweating into a cotton t-shirt. Those "anything but cotton" admonishments never meant much to me, as I don't normally get this problem, but yeah, it was unpleasant. If I'm going to be riding hard, I think I better wear synthetics or wool on my chest and back.

I'm not riding today, unfortunately, because we're going to a dinner party after work tonight, and I'm getting there by commuter train.

noglider 

I definitely noticed that phenomenon in suburban New Jersey! Nerves are on end because we are transitioning from a stressful day at work to home life, and the commute is brutal, and we are tired, and we have to use our eyes strenuously. Rush hour after dark in the dark months is the worst, whether I'm in a car or on a bike. Lucky for me that most of my commute is on a bike route with no MVs, and the small fraction that is on streets is on well lit mild-mannered streets for the most part.

wphamilton

Good excuse today to take my foul weather bike, which has a faring enclosure. It's been a couple of months since I've been on it, and it needs some maintenance which I've neglected but otherwise dealt with the cold rain to make a nice ride.

snow_echo_NY

it was awesome.

rode the yuba cargo bike with my daughter in the back to work today.

it's a gorgeous 36 degrees out. we had a fab time.

can't wait for the ride home!

Tundra_Man 

14F this morning, which I think was the warmest temperature it's been for my ride to work this whole week. Unfortunately, there was a very strong headwind that also made it the coldest ride I've had all week. Was pretty glad I was only going 4 miles this morning. Hopefully the wind won't change directions (fat chance ) and I'll have an easy ride home.

HardyWeinberg

38F and drizzling. No ice though.

PatrickGSR94

Fastest ride home in a while yesterday. 14 MPH average over 15.5 miles. It was about 55 degrees with a south tail wind at 5 PM, which is almost unheard of in January. I was able to wear shorts, but I did put on my wind jacket over my jersey and arm warmers.

I left the office at 4:30 on the dot so I had at least some bit of daylight for nearly the whole ride home. Can't wait for those longer days!

Also I'm 4 for 4 days commuting so far this year. At this time last year I only had 2 commutes in so I'm doing pretty good! I haven't missed a commuting day since first week of September.

noglider 

Damn, @PatrickGSR94, you're a bike commuting machine.

noglider 

@snow_echo_NY, that's fun. Did you ride yesterday when it was colder?

snow_echo_NY

yes i did! i rode this entire week. Mon and Wed mornings were absolutely brutal. the winds were high and bitterly cold. Tue was less brutal. Thu was the best day so far for the week.

but today - today is just spring time. it's really amazing.

noglider 

Did you see my update above? The ski helmet and new extra hot pants over my regular pants did a great trick. Now I'm ready to ride in colder temperatures than ever. I could probably go down to 10ºF without trouble, maybe lower, not that I expect it to go under 10ºF much, if at all.

PatrickGSR94

lol I don't know about that. I only commute 2 days a week regularly (usually Tues/Thurs) and drive the car the other days. I haven't missed a week of 2 commutes since September, other than the week of Thanksgiving and Christmas where I only did one day.

Compare that to late 2014 where I was commuting 3 days a week Mon/Tues/Thurs, which is why I didn't quite exceed my 2014 miles in 2015. Oh well, now it's another year so we'll see how long I can keep up the streak!

Sir Coastalot

Was called into the office today (Saturday) to monitor a regional election. Felt a little sore after three straight days of commuting the whole way on the Tikit, so I decided to ride the 'bent instead. I think it's the first time I've ridden it the whole way to work in traffic, so that's one achievement unlocked. Felt a little twitchy at first, but by the end of the 20 miles I was back in the groove. I think I'll start riding it more often. Need to get panniers for it though.

PatrickGSR94

lol that's funny. I rode a bent trike once out behind the LBS, and it was cool but the short steering arms on each of the 20" front wheels did make it feel a bit twitchy. Is that something you get past after riding it awhile?

Sir Coastalot

Trikes sure look like a lot of fun. Mine is a two wheeler with 20-inch wheels and tiller steering. Only picked it up last year and haven't ridden it all that much so the twitchiness is still there at first, but I feel like its getting less and less.

Full disclosure: I don't have a beard or beer gut, but I'm on the wrong side of 40.

mr geeker

Today is the coldest commute I've had this year, -5 and feels like -24. This is right near my limit... if this were a week day, I would definitely opt to take the bus, but it's not so I can't. Eh, guess it will make me look like more of a bad ass than I really am .