Started out in the rain, waived my wife's offer to drive me. Worked out well, since the rain stopped a couple miles into the ride and my knee warmers were almost dry by the time I got to work!


Carolina wrens must be having a convention. I haven't heard many songbirds this month (blue jays and mockers excepted), but right as I back the bike out of the garage a wren sounded off almost overhead. A couple more (well, not a couple, two more that weren't a couple) were singing before I hit downtown, and another one on the far side. Good to hear near the shortest day of the year!

NE wind this morning.. always rough ride in. Last night sucked though. The light rail won again, I've fallen 4 times and 3 of those are do to the light rail. Whoever thought to put the preferred bike trail and the light rail in the same block.. I have some ideas for that person. They could of went a block over easily. 90 degree approach only!!

[MENTION=297562]dramiscram[/MENTION] Marc I am sorry to hear about the rough patch and I hope that it starts to smooth out and get better. I hope this holiday season brings some peace and relaxation.

Thanks a lot. It's already a lot better.

For my last ride this year I dusted off Dad’s Paramount and I’m glad I did. There’s just something about this bike that makes it feel like a direct connection from foot to tire tread, and make it a pleasure. I can’t figure out the secret ingredient because so much of it doesn’t suit me. Some magic interaction of 1976-premium frame and wheel set...

Back on the bike after wimping out yesterday. I would have been fine biking home as the rain stopped before 5. It did rain all day though.

Schools are out for the holiday and thus traffic was light this morning. I must have had a tailwind in some parts too as I had a couple of faster miles and averaged 16.5mph. I'm normally happy if I get 16mph. A comfortable 45F was warm enough that I just wore shorts.

Last commute of the year, so I'd better make it a memorable one. Tomorrow I'm taking my wife to see her family over Christmas and I won't be back to work until after the 1st.

Weather was 22F with a 30 mph north wind which drove the windchill down. Of course, that's the direction I was heading this morning. They are predicting up to 3" of snow by the end of the day, which was supposed to start coming down about 4 AM. When I left for work there was a dusting on the ground and you could see occasional flakes in the air. Unless things pick up significantly in the next few hours I think we'll be well short of the prediction.

Today's accomplishments:

• With today's commute I didn't drive to work a single time in 2017.
• Currently at 433 consecutive days ridden to work.
• 189 miles ridden in December, which is a new December record for me (previous was 179.5.) December mileage is lower than other months because we always travel the last week or two in December, and often weather causes me to take more direct routes and run fewer errands via bicycle.
• 3462 total commuting miles for 2017. Down a little bit from the last two years, but still 3.5k miles I didn't put on my truck.

Today's challenges:

• My wife was unusually chatty this morning, wanting to discuss details about our travel. As a result, I was late getting out the door.
• I had prepped and prepared the winter bike, expecting snow today. Slow, slow ride,
• Got three blocks from home and could sense something wasn't quite right. Then it occurred to me I'd forgotten to put my helmet on. Rode back home and grabbed it.
• While I was in the garage grabbing my helmet I heard a clatter. A gust of wind came strong enough to knock my bike off its kickstand. No damage, thankfully.
• Between getting out the door late, the vicious headwind and the studded tires, I was 15 minutes late to work. So my hopes of leaving a bit early tonight are probably dashed.

Weather report said "cloudy" but the out-the-window weather report was fog. Turns out the out-the-door weather report was something like "slowly falling mist" or "precipitating fog." Pretty aggravating because I kept needing to wipe the droplets off my glasses.


It's supposed to clear up later today -- I may take off a few hours early to celebrate, the long way home.



I've done that twice this year already. Once was the first day I wore a skull cap, the second was the day I needed the balaclava. Something about "there's already something on my head" let me out the door without the helmet. The strange thing is, the last couple of days have been warm but wet, so I put on a cycling cap for the bill to try to keep my glasses clear. With the cap it felt like I needed the helmet on top, so no problem remembering it.

Happy solstice! My last rides of the year too. I didn't think I'd make it to 4,000 this year but just checked, 4,029... woohoo...

24F, sunny. Usually I try to see what is the least amount of clothing I can get away with, today I just loaded up, a mid-weight shirt over a light weight one, and a fleece hat under my helmet instead of the usual baseball hat...

Same to you! I also just broke 4k miles this week (4025). Cheers! :beer: Makes me wonder how I managed to get past 5k miles last year... Maybe more riding from home, I guess.

I took yesterday off and helped the wife out by taking our son to school and worked from home. She's sick with an upper rep infection. Today was a nice commute. Was ~32F so not crazy cold like previously. I also got a Christmas card from a crossing guard that I see regularly. It was really nice. :love: I should buy her a coffee one morning...

Another cool day, -18C/0F, with a wind chill of -30C/-22F but my new cheap Walmart work-style mitts kept my hands nice and toasty but my toes, even with a bit of extra insulation, were getting a bit cold by the end of the ride after about 40 minutes.

Even though I have studded tires, I ride carefully, almost to the point of riding as if I didn't have studded tires. To date, I haven't fallen or really even slipped. However, today, I didn't see a patch of ice and as I turned hard, even though I was going at a walking pace, I temporarily lost some grip with my front tire and then my rear tire. In less than half a second, I had recovered and was able to keep going for the remaining 10 minutes of the ride. I learned a lesson that in winter, don't over estimate the grip of your studded tires.

My chain is complaining, it's probably really dirty with sand and salt so I had brought chain cleaner a few days ago and when my bike warms up (we have indoor bike area right now, changing to outdoor bike boxes next summer), I'll clean and oil it thoroughly.

Well that makes my 29 degree's seem alot better! arsprod and ptempel congrats.. excellent! Should pass the 3k mark next Wednesday. The goal for 2018 and beyond will be 2.5k only.

I've ended up removing my glasses in times like this. I mainly like glasses to prevent my eyes from drying out, but when it is that humid, that is not so much an issue.

I've figured out that 42 - 44F is right about where my legs are a little chilly without tights, but a little warm with them. I wore them for the first half of my ride this morning from home to the gym, and removed them for the second half. I guess I'll just have to decide which way I'm willing to go when we have that temp.

Very light traffic this morning. I'm closing in on my year goal of 6,000 commuting miles, but will need at least two days of next week to hit it. The office is closed Monday and Tuesday, and I may take off work on Friday, so that leaves Wed & Thur to make it happen.

^ Nice catch on the ice [MENTION=247277]jrickards[/MENTION] . The studs are proving to be useful, I see.

Should be a good day today. Warmer at ~37F going up to 46F or so. I heard some extra chatter by the rear derailleur with the chain. I checked after getting across the bridge and found that the cable and crimp end were rubbing on the chain. So just bent it back to a reasonable position. Disaster averted. :thumb: This will be my last ride for this year. I have next week off and will be spending Christmas with my parents.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of my fellow cyclecommuting geeks!

Good on ya for getting to the 3k mark. Keep on keeping on! :thumb:

Chapeau to you, sir. That's 2k more than I got to get in this year. :eek:

4°F with a south wind at my back dipping the windchill factor to -10°. Believe it or not, at the half way point (two miles) my goggles started fogging up, and I was getting a bit warm.

It's snowing lightly and the wind is supposed to shift from the North for my ride home - perfect! I was pushed to the office, and I'll be pushed back home.

Funny thing after I arrived to work. I was moving my bike to the bike rack and my lock slipped out of my hand and landed on cement/ice. I guess my combination lock wasn't made for these temps, as one of the plastic rings with the numbers shattered. I wonder if it's too late to ask for a bike lock for Christmas? :)

Fairly warm today -- no shorts or tights required. No jacket really needed either, but I wore the rain jacket in case the rain gets here before I leave. With that on, I tried to take it easy; the recovery ride worked well in conjunction with almost-nonexistent traffic. Are all the cagers on their best behavior because Santa's watching?


Merry Christmas, all!

35F, drizzlesleet

woohoo solstice means the days start getting longer again! :thumb:

Yesterday was my last commute of 2017, as I'm off all next week. I've ended this year by shattering my last year's commuting total - 3,398.8 miles as compared to last year's 2,395. That's all because of my e-bike which I started using late March. So I expect next year will be even higher.

Current YTD is 4,691.5 miles. Doubtful that I'll make it to 5,000 total. Maybe next year.

Just at freezing here in the DC area.

Back after a week+ out. Very quiet roads and trail on the way in this morning...I thought for a second that maybe work was closed today and I somehow forgot.

11 degree's, negative chill wind from the NE, spitting snow.. the only cold body part was my toes. One more day riding and I'll be done for the year.

Quiet on the roads, quiet in the office, two reasons that I like to work this last week before New Years day. I took last week off, never getting out at all except for a couple of trips to the corner store, and for running, so it was good to get back on the bike.

I'll finish up with all bike commutes this year, for the second year. Three years, other than a week off from injury.

I’ve moved from one Midwest city to another and today was my second commute by bike. First one was last week. 25 ish degrees F. Today it started at -13 F but warmed up to -10 F by the time I got to work. It hasn’t taken me 35 minutes to go 5 miles in a VERY long time. I’m out of shape. Next year I’ll get back into regular commutes! Excited about the move that makes commuting a year-round possibility again.

It is exactly 0 degrees right now, and getting ready to head out for work. This will be a record temperature wise for me. I’m slightly nervous lol :)

Edit: surprisingly toasty! I actually overdressed a bit, ended up a bit sweaty. But even hands and feet stayed warm. I think I’ve finally sorted my cold weather gear. Still had some fogging issues though.

4 degrees but dropped to 2 by the end, -3 to -10 feel like temps. Hit the 3k goal this morning so I'm done for the year. Only my feet was cold so need to figure that out, pretty sure just a change of shoes is needed.

Back to work after Monday and Tuesday off. We're looking at a cold week for these parts. Just under 30F this morning and some low 20s coming the next couple of days. I was dressed well enough, maybe slightly too warm this morning.

I ordered a pair of Gatorskins last night. They should be here Friday and I'll put them on this weekend to start off 2018 on fresh tires.

1°C and raining the whole way, yuck.

Eeeuuuww!


Not raining here, but 26-30F (depending on which weather channel you check, Goofy the Garmin settled on 26) and 15 mph N wind. Wish it would snow. (Anybody in Erie, can you spare an inch or two?)


Either my "25-35F" tights lost some of their insulation over the summer, or I'm not generating enough body heat this winter.