On monday, on my train ride home, I watched the western sky thinking I might get a glimpse of the sun; but the sky was too overcast. I figured the sun had set when I finally got on the bike, and went up the overpass over the railroad tracks; but there, from the top of the overpass, I could see the sun, just touching the horizon. First time this year! :)

And yesterday, it was even better. As I was going up the overpass, the sun rose over the road in front of me. It was still twilight when I got home. Ah....

It was a little rainy which made a good excuse to take my Coroplast-body bike. It's starting to look like we're not going to see any actual cold weather this winter, not even any ice to speak of.

Pretty nice this morning. I managed to dodge the rain again -- got home last night before it hit, and it finished up before I got on the road this morning. Roads were still damp, but well above freezing. That north wind was tough on the west-bound leg, going south was pleasant! It hasn't been "normal" (in the statistical sense) much this year, so I'm still grasping with proper clothing for 40s -- it's been either much warmer or colder much of the winter.


The rain was good for the grass seed I sowed last weekend. Maybe the yard won't be a muddy mess by March. I took a few different streets this morning, and saw some purple flowers on a tree. Still too early for redbud, so I guess it was some magnolia just coming out. Just like the redbud, 6-8 weeks too early, but ornamental trees don't have the smarts bred into them like the native trees.

Humid, wet, but not cold.
Ice is prettymuch gone... a few patches still hanging on.

Was a good ride in today at around 38F or so. Am looking forward to 45F this afternoon. I spent some time chatting with the crossing guard on Ft Lee Rd hill. Nice lady there. Wasn't too surprised that the GWB sidewalk was not shovelled. The melting snow streams going across the walkway from yesterday was icing up a bit this morning. So had to take it easy since I felt a slight wheel slide when slowing down for the four turns around the bridge supports. If the sidewalk was shoveled two days ago, then this wouldn't have been an issue. The Port Authority folks are getting a bit lazy on the cleanup there...

Warming up but going to get windy. May not ride tomorrow if it's windy, get more tired fighting it everyday.

I ended up not riding yesterday. It felt wierd.

35F this morning. High of upper 50s today, and then a weekend full of upper 70s.
I guess that's why I'm starting to see these popping up.
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A-freakin-men! Ride home yesterday was brutal. I'd rather have single digit temps with no wind. This morning it was 31F with pretty much same winds as yesterday so at my back. The forecast actually shows winds shifting 180 degrees this afternoon which would be brilliant, but usually the only time it shift like that is to make headwinds both ways!

Pretty strong headwind this morning, but temp was nice at 45F. Forecast calls for pretty much identical wind speed/direction for tomorrow, so I may ride the bus (with the bike) to work in the morning, and then just commute home with a tailwind.

Well since you fessed up I will too - took the bus part way home last week because I had a doc's appointment and didn't want to be a total sweat ball from fighting the wind.

Same story of the week: ice.

25°F this morning but no wind (yet) which is really weird for South Dakota. 98% humidity though, so that made the chill go right through me and it felt colder than it actually was.

It unexpectedly turned into an interesting commute. I am working at a different location this morning so I took a less used route for me. One portion was on a MUP that was covered with a lot more ice than I expected, and I was expecting quite a bit. Not riding studded tires today due to the distances I'll be riding and the fact that it's supposed to be 50 degrees by noon.

At one point I was riding over a fairly large expanse of ice when suddenly it gave way and I discovered the puddle was about 4" deep. One foot got wet, which then proceeded to turn into a frozen sock puppet a couple miles down the road.

However a more interesting event was that about a mile later I came to a downhill section and went to shift into a higher gear and... nothing. The puddle had splashed water on my derailleur which then proceeded to freeze in place. I broke it loose with my hands and got the bike into the right gear. Must have still been moisture in the drivetrain though because every time I wanted to shift the rest of the way to work I had to stop and break the frozen derailleur free again. I finally got tired of it and just picked one gear and didn't shift.

Then, the next surprise came when I was getting ready to leave the MUP and get back on the streets. I hit the brakes to make the curve and... nothing. Surprise! The water from the puddle had frozen on my rims which meant I had no brakes. I aborted the turn and went straight on the MUP until I was able to slow myself down. Took about 1/2 mile of pedaling while engaging the brakes until I heated everything up enough to melt the ice and let the brakes start working again.

I rode to work Tuesday, took the subway home, and rode my bike home last night. It was about 38°F and misty. The path was pretty empty. People don't know how tolerable this weather is. But my glasses got listed over, and I had to wipe them off a couple of times.

I'd have never thought, when I started bike commuting, that I'd think a freezing day was a great day to be riding a bike. But this morning it was. Didn't have to scrape the windshield, clear, cool, and still.


Only surprise today was a pair of motorized jerks. Most of the time I don't encounter any, and on the rare day I do, it's one. Today was two, several miles apart. Hopefully my karma is stocked up for the next couple of months!

48F, gap in the pineapple express but no gap in the clouds

Maybe just arrive a little early to wash your hair and face in the sink? Then a wipe down with one or two baby wipes. That's my usual routine every morning when I arrive at work. I'm usually not too bad if I take a shower in the morning before I leave. If I have a shower the night before, then I'll have to supplement with some extra deoderant at work. It is what it is and try not to be too stinky for the co-workers. :D

That's my daily procedure going in - doesn't work so well going the other way!

It was colder today ~32F. But enjoyed the ride in and on the bridge since the snow melted almost all the way. Ran into a guy going down St Nicolas. He was surprised that I ride across the bridge for my commute. It was windy this morning. However, I didn't feel the brunt of it until I saw him. So its usually not as windy on the bridge as most folks think.

Ah, so doc appt at end of day, then. Well, that's tougher. Can you telecommute (or work from home)? Maybe do that and get a short ride in the morning or at lunch if you're lucky. Then go to the doc later on.

I happily have not encountered any puddles below the ice yet. But I mostly ride on the streets and not the MUP (Hudson Greenway). Good on you for perservering through iced up sock, derailleur and rim.

Little chilly this morning with no wind at all, but will be nice and warm with a tail wind this afternoon going home. Should be nice! Tomorrow is going to be even warmer, so I may try for a rare 3-day bike commute week.

I've worn a jacket everyday this month because it feels too cold at the start of my ride. By the time I'm in class I'm soaked in sweat. Today was the day I decided it was warm enough to forgo the jacket, the wind was biting but I did not have the usual embarrassing sweat stains! A new rear tire had me feeling confident rolling over gravel and glass on our dirty bike lanes around town. All in all can't complain. Traffic was bad enough this morning that it was way faster to bike than ride the bus or drive, such a good feeling.

It was colder at 27F but not windy like yesterday. Traffic was light like it usually is most Fridays. The schools have all of next week off, I heard from the crossing guard. Lucky them. I at least have Monday (President's Day) off. Will be shopping for a new car. Two that I at least hope to look at are the Subaru Outback and the Hyundai Santa Fe. It will be my wife's new car and need to have a seat in the back for out 4 year old. I saw TV ads about some low Hyundau lease deals. Will see how good of a price I can get for them. I have seen the Subaru Outback for $26,520 and the Hyundai Santa Fe for $24,885 from a dealer on cars.com. So will try to see if the local dealers can match or beat those prices. Below is my shortlist so far:

Mfr | Model | Dealer | Price | Notes
Subaru | Outback | Open Road Subaru | 26,520 | Best AWD next to Audi. More cargo space than Forester or Golf Alltrack.
Volkswagen | Golf Alltrack TSI S | Three County Volkswagen | 24,695 | Has decent 4cyl engine. Haldex 5 for AWD.
Kia | Sorento LX | Route 23 Kia | 26,932 | Surprised price isn't lower.
Ford | Edge SE AWD | Liccardi Ford Lincoln | 26,158 | Decent 4cyl engine. AWD is an upgrade and shown here.
Hyundai | Santa Fe AWD Sport | Circle Auto Group | 24,885 | With 4cyl. 6cyl is an upgrade. Also little smaller and no 3rd row seat which doesn't matter.
Jeep | Cherokee 4WD Sport | Kelly Chrysler Dodge Jeep | 22,870 |

I got out of the house five minutes early, which is a rare feat, and one that should, in theory, allow me a leisurely ride to the station. And it was a beautiful morning, deep blue cloudless sky, bright half moon, bright stars. But effin' cold. So I rode like a bat out of hell in my usual manner; not because I meant to, but because I just can't help myself. Leave house, get on bike, pedal as fast as I can, that's what I do. So I got to the station five minutes early. I immediately took off my windbreaker, put on my extra fleece, and put the windbreaker back on; but even so, I stood on the platform, freezing, until the train got there.

Had a shorter commute last night as I met my wife at the train station. She was headed to St. Louis for a couple of days. So... I met her at the station, threw my bike in the back of her car and drove home.

This morning, I already had it in my head I didn't want to deal with 21-miles of headwind, so I just rode the 2-miles to the bus stop and rode in. It's supposed to hit 72F today, and the tailwind home should be awesome!

Also, I took advantage of the coffee shop's proximity to the bus stop! :-)

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Consider the Mazda CX-5 also! We just got a 2014 Touring back in August to replace my wife's clunker 1996 Corolla, and we've been loving it so far. The 2.5L engine has 185+ lb-ft torque which give it plenty of go.

Also I heard that dealers usually offer better deals towards the end of the month, if you can wait a little longer.

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