Last night was surprising. I checked the weather just before I left, supposedly 50F. How about below 40? Had to do some hard pedaling to generate enough body heat.


This morning was colder, of course, but I was expecting it.


Fun part was hearing a train coming just a few blocks from the house, then racing it. (No, I have enough sense not to cross the tracks in front of an oncoming train!) Depending on my route, I can parallel the tracks for about a half a mile. I expected it to block the first intersection (making it easy to cross). Nope, crossed on left turn green, light traffic but no train, although I'm hearing it again. Maybe the next one? Nope, I'm still in front. Two blocks on? The lights are flashing and gates are coming down as I cross that street, but no train yet. Last chance before I turn away from the tracks, and the train beat me to it. Mixed consist, running a bit slow, perhaps, but I got a half mile of fun in.


Yes, I'm easily amused sometimes. :)

Sometimes you can catch a subway car running parallel to the 59th street bridge. Queens-bound the bike path is downhill, so you can match the speed for a bit depending on how fast it's going. Pretty fun.

Yup, I've done that :thumb:

I've matched the speed of the cable car, too... or am I remembering that right? I remember looking up at the cable car and seeing people looking down at me... odd feeling.

____________________

Yesterday I had a dentist appointment after work. The way the train schedule plays out, I had 30 minutes to do a 40 minute ride, but the dentist's office receptionist had told me no problem if I got there ten minutes late. Cool.

But when I got off my train, it was seriously snowing, already an inch of new snow on the ground, and by the time I was halfway to the dentist's, the snow was building up fast even on the streets with traffic. It was kinda fun riding, except for all the cars, and some of the drivers were behaving erratically... seemed they were freaked out by seeing a guy wearing sunglasses and riding a bike through a snowstorm. I didn't mind the snow, but the cars started worrying me.

So at the halfway point I called the dentist's on my cell phone and they were happy to reschedule, it meant they could leave early. So that's what we did, I just rode home.

I took off work Friday to take my son to see Star Wars. Good flick as usual.

40F this morning with a high of 62. I wore tights from home to the gym, but then left them in my locker there as it felt warm enough to not need them. Then when I got to work the guy who unlocks the door was a bit late so some folks were waiting in their cars and others were grouped around the front door. I walk up in my shorts and tell a co-worker, "It's too cold to wait outside, I'm going to go back to my bike where it's warmer." He laughed and said, "Good luck with that." We got inside about 2 minutes later.

Downright balmy 42F this morning, wet and foggy with a bit of a headwind. I'll take it!

44 degrees, damp & misty with a HEAVY overcast.

not too bad for the week before Xmas.

Should have been a very nice commute...but due to personal stupidity/lack of forsight...it went south a bit.

Last week I took the fenders off my 700c main commuter to try and fit them on my 26" MTB with studded tires...thinking if there was anymore precipitation, it would be snow/freezing rain, and I'd be on the MTB anyway. They fit the MTB fine...but wrong hardware. Never bothered to put them back on the 700c commuter because again..didn't think I would need them till spring.

Well....I was wrong. Mid 40s this morning, so I took the fast 700c bike without fenders. Road was very wet though minimal rain....got the rooster tail from hell. We've got a dryer at work so I threw my pants in there while standing next to the machine for 15 minutes in my boxers. Pants are now dry (though not my boxers...), and I've got the worst rooster tail on my pants I've ever seen.

I look like I crapped myself :(

December 18th and I took my road bike to work. Crazy weather this year in South Dakota.

We've only had one snow which happened 2 weeks ago. Temps were normal that week (teens and lower) but outside of that week we've had temps about 10 degrees above average. Last night as I was preparing my gear I thought, "why shouldn't I ride my road bike if the roads are clear enough?" So I did.

Had to ride around a few icy patches but it was well worth it to cruise along at 16-17 mph without even trying.

Very mild, for a change. Feels like December again.

I always enjoy [MENTION=297562]dramiscram[/MENTION] and his tagline of "Tabarnac de vent!!!" My French is crummy but I know what this means.

Ice Racing, that sounds fun! If I could get my wife on board would be the other question.

I really wish fat bikes were around when I was a kid growing up in the Upstate NY snowbelt. (Near home: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...est/957924001/).

Good day to be off the freeway today

https://static.seattletimes.com/wp-c...-1560x1040.jpg

I actually saw one of those in person a couple years ago, looks like the exact same bike

41F again this morning, but man I hit a couple of cold miles at the low point of the ride. My face and thumbs got cold. It had to be almost 10 degrees colder for a bit. But we may get up to 70F this afternoon. Warm!

:lol: That's good too.

I haven't heard from [MENTION=297562]dramiscram[/MENTION] lately, is he still around?

Nice warm temps, 0C/32F but that does havoc to the bit of snow on the ground, it has gotten soft and my legs feel like I was pushing 300Watts for the whole ride as my wheels had to plow through the remaining snow.

Similar temps on the way home but it is dropping overnight to a low of -13C/9F so back to "normal" tomorrow.

I guys!

Still alive! the last 18 mo were very rough. Bad professionals decisions ( 6 different jobs in 18 months) and a divorce.
My new jobs ( since mid august ) is very nice, I stopped looking for salary and I found peace of mind at work (with a big salary drop!!!). I stopped commuting by bike for 10 of those 18 months. The new job is 38kms away from my home ( which will eventually change location since I'm divorcing) It's too far for me in my present physical and psychological condition but I can park the car in the church's parking lot of a an in between village and that give me a 25.1 kms trip (one way).
I did it 3-4 times a week before the snow started (no more winter bike for me for a while).

So anyway I'm starting feel a lot better.

Just want to say that I was very very touched (sincerely) that you guys remembered me.

I still follow my favorite threads once or twice a week and I'll post more often when the spring comes

Happy holidays to you all

Marc Simard

Hey Marc: Glad to know you're still around and sorry to hear of your troubles, I hope things turn around for you. Looking forward to hearing more in the spring (meh, 38km each way is no big deal!! :lol: ).

I took yesterday off and also saw Star Wars The Last Jedi with the wife. It was ok but was pretty long. My rear end starts to hurt in the seat if I don't move in the chair a bit. :( I think some scenes could have been deleted like Luke filling up his water bottle on the island. :rolleyes: Not the best but also not the worst.

Rode in today. Was pleasantly surprised with a warm and balmy ~49F this morning. Saw a tiny bit a rain on the drive but felt none on the bike. I felt a little over dressed but thought it would be cooler. Oh well...

:lol:

[MENTION=297562]dramiscram[/MENTION], that's rough. I divorced my first wife long ago. I knew it was the beginning of things getting better, but the transition was the worst hell in my life. My life has improved in huge ways since then. Good luck to you.

Thank goodness for google translate! Today was mirror of yesterday - 42F, wet, foggy, 10mph headwind. I had a flat last night (in the back of course) and pulled out what looked like a chunk of glass. Turns out it was a piece of road salt - big sucker! Yay winter...

Patchy dense fog this morning was just dense fog, the whole way in. I spent half the ride trying to wipe my glasses clear. Had all the lights going like it was night time, and had to navigate traffic by sound as much as by sight. Do you know how hard it is to see a gray car without lights in a dense fog?!?


All that fog made me wonder, how are we going to get 2-3" of rain the next few days if there's no wind to bring a front through? Sure, it was dripping, but it's hard to get a good accumulation from fog falling out of the sky.


Interesting part was the single chokepoint on my ride. It's never a problem, since all the traffic means everybody goes slowly, so I can easily make a left turn and merge. Except this morning; traffic was so light all the cagers were flying, and I had to wait to hit a good gap!

Same for me, except she divorced me. It does get better, lots better with time.

It may not have been 2 weeks since my last commute, but with the better weather today I decided to ride and was reminded how quickly atrophy can set in. Again.

The rule of thumb I used to use was double the days off to get back in shape. So a week off might take two weeks to tune yourself back up. Not sure how true that is. Also wouldn't apply for overtraining (or overreaching). I've been a little inconsistent with my cyclecommuting as of late and have felt a little out of it. Its all good and you will get back into that "great feeling" soon. ;)

As long as the weather holds up!

I left early and did an extra loop and I'm at 999 miles for the year. @#$%!!!!

Edit: wife has told me I must ride tomorrow to beat 1000. This will ruin the symmetry of the final accounting but it will put me over the target level. Accountant vs poet

I wimped out on a today's rain. It isn't raining heavily, but is supposed to continue all day long. My wife was awake and offered to bring me in and pick me up after (one car family). I agreed and had time for a stop at Dunkin Donuts for an egg croissant and dessert.

In my defense, I did go for a run in the drizzle before deciding to bail on the bike ride.

Well normal temps are back (sigh), 31F. Only one more day of commuting for 2017