Welcome and congrats [MENTION=456888]tlester[/MENTION].
Funny story about the crazy driver [MENTION=175954]Tundra_Man[/MENTION].

Warm ride home yesterday at 84F! Pleasant ride this morning at 53F, but only supposed to get up to 62 somehow. There was a lot of debris on the roads and MUP from thunderstorms and rain last night. Mostly small twigs, sticks and pinecones. Had to watch closely though.

Welcome to the insanity! Add your location to your profile - nice to know where folks are from.

Apparently winter's not quite finished yet - 27F. But the sun is shining and the promise of Spring is enough for me!

I got the impatient honking at this morning, the first time in, I don't know, six months perhaps. Maybe longer. I am in the bike lane, approaching a green light, she gets behind me and honks! Stays behind and makes the right turn, maybe a little too close but otherwise I'm fine with it, but why honking? She turned quickly into the drug store parking lot, and I thought "Ah, she must be in a BIG hurry to get her medicine ... off her meds ... I'm glad I didn't provoke her with any histrionics"

Yesterday (Tuesday), the weather looked promising, and I needed to break the Monday Blues™ that kept me off the bike on Monday. Even my wife encouraged me to ride to work. The problem was, I had a rehearsal in the evening that would add lots of miles. Our concerts are this weekend, so this was the dress rehearsal. My workplace is 13 miles north of home, and the rehearsal church is 5 miles south of home. I thought maybe I'll leave my bike at work and pick it up today. But I left work early enough and rode all the way from the Bronx to Brooklyn for rehearsal. I even got there early. The morning ride into work was spectacularly gorgeous because the sunlight from spring was so noticeably brighter than a bright winter day. The wind was uncommonly calm, so I made good time into work, pushing myself along the way. The evening ride to Brooklyn was challenging, because a wind from the south had whipped up, and I had to fight that the whole way. I got to ride over the Brooklyn Bridge, which is a treat. We got out of rehearsal after 10pm, and the ride home wasn't hard. Normally I go from Brooklyn to Manhattan over the Manhattan Bridge, but I decided to treat myself again to the Brooklyn Bridge. I feel lucky. 38 miles in total, and my body is tired because I rode all those miles pretty hard, but it's a good kind of tired. I didn't ride into work today, but I did some lifting and pushups.

At least she merged into the bike lane before turning, instead of turning across the lane. Or worse, trying to gun it past you and then turning and right hooking you.

Done! (Jacksonville, FL)

Yep, I was fine with her driving except for the honking, which is why it mystified me at first. The only reason I felt that she was too close was that she was already turning behind me before I'd gotten fully across the cross-lane, and I wouldn't normally have even known that except for looking back after her honking. A

It goes to show, if someone is acting like she's "off her meds", maybe she really IS out of them and not fully rational. Or I usually say, "Don't engage the crazies"

It's really cold. According to my phone, 21F when I rode to the station this morning, but I suspect it was colder. Isn't it supposed to be spring?

There was a wind from the northeast yesterday afternoon. I know this because my route home goes northeast.

About 20 degrees colder today than yesterday morning. Only 33F. I'm chilled here sitting at my desk. The MUPS I took this morning are still quite covered in twig and pinecone debris from Tuesday night's storm. A lot of crunching sounds as I ride.

Another day, wind out of another direction. At least it's the SE normal spring wind today. Started incorporating jogging around the track when I get to work Tue/Thurs. The other days work on the weights.

38°F with a steady cross wind. Should be mostly at my back for my ride across town over lunch. Then I'll have to head straight into it at 5 PM on my way home.

They're predicting rain and lots of it starting this evening and continuing through a good chunk of the weekend. Tomorrow's commute might be a bit soggy. However looking at the clouds right now it almost appears that it may start a bit sooner than they forcasted.

We're in a cold snap, and it's likely the last of the year. I skipped it yesterday but I braved it today. The wind was still, but it felt like I had a headwind. I stopped a few times to see if it was an illusion, and it was. It was just so cold on my face.

Do cold temperatures make the effort harder? I felt like I was pedaling hard, but my readouts told me otherwise.

I took the hard route with a tiny bit more distance but a ton more climbing. I see one of my grades is 12.9%, though not for long. Man, the Bronx is a hilly place. I did manage to keep moving and not stop on any of the climbs, so that's something. Steep climbs are at least as much a balancing challenge as they are a power challenge.

My tracks and pictures this morning

The bike commuters I saw were wearing clothes that showed they put a lot of thought into them, as I had with mine.

Two days of winter-like weather here as well, both yesterday (-12*C) and today (-9*C). I don't mind the cold, but if I don't keep my nasal area covered I drop like mad. Riding while your mouth and nose are covered isn't very nice either. Not sure if here's a solution other than stopping and expelling periodically.

38F, clammy, sunny, in a PNW washed out kind of way. But! Not supposed to rain (no forecast % greater than ~25% any hour of the work day) so I busted out the roadbike and left the raincoat at home. Such an awesome ride!

Bungled morning...

Babies started fussing about 2:30 am but didn't actually wake til 5. It seemed like whenever I got up to get them they'd go back to sleep. So they slept all night but I didn't! No fair.

I don't have the back seat installed on my commuter to take the toddler to daycare yet, and it was pretty cold. So I was going to drive him. Wife suggested, park near the daycare and ride from there to work. Set this plan into action about ten minutes late... and that didn't matter because I discovered I'd left my badge at home and had to backtrack. So, I rode from home after all. I was late enough to roll past the drop-off traffic at the two grade schools along the way. I'm usually past before it starts. But it didn't really impede me.

When I got here, I was late to the staff meeting, then burnt my bagel in an untried toaster.

At least it was a nice ride.

Chilly, but warmer than yesterday. And it's Friday! I left a few minutes later than I like which means a little more traffic than usual in the early miles. Had a pretty sunrise this morning.

Pretty pleasant 52F, stiff headwind which will be a nice tailwind going home. I got stuck behind a garbage truck in a narrow downtown street - can't seem to get the smell outta my nose

Consecutive commute day 261: 38°F this morning, but the wind was really blowing hard out of the north (of course, the direction I'm heading.) Was supposed to be raining all day, but it looks like the system just pushed to our south. It did rain during the night, but by this morning the pavement was a little wet but no precipitation was falling. The humidity was high and it just seemed to be quite a bit colder than it really was.

Well I thought I was going to have a record week of 4 days commuting this week, but I was too sluggish yesterday morning and drove the car. Took the e-bike this morning, which I was thankful for because of nasty headwinds this morning. The tailwind this afternoon should be fun. About 65° this AM, and will be in the 70's this afternoon, but cloudy. Storms moving through late tonight, probably going to wash out my weekly Saturday morning group ride.

So this will make for about ~94 miles bike commuting, and ~50 miles car driving this work week. Not too shabby! I'm hoping soon I can make it up to ~125 miles bike commuting and only 25 miles car driving during the work week.

2nd commute ride. Great ride this morning. It was 53 degrees when I left the house. Shorts and a t-shirt with a tech type long sleeve pull over. It was a touch cool, but once my body heat kicked up, it was perfect. I usually don't eat breakfast, but I had a granola bar this morning, which gave me a little more "gusto" on my ride. Got to my destination 9.1 miles easily and still felt energized. Had bible study and coffee with some men at a cafe, then hit the gym to shower, then to work. Great way to start my morning. Beautiful day!

Oh.... and I bought a Topeak trunk bag with the fold down panniers. That's what I originally planned on for my commute. I can fit everything for work in the panniers and then every day bike essentials and safety stuff in the trunk bag part. However... it was a pain in the butt to fit in my gym locker. It was tight once I had a change of clothes, shoes, laptop, etc. Today... I just took one orlieb back roller pannier. Everything fit in the one bag with plenty of room to spare. The bag fits in my locker just fine. Easier to carry, etc. So... the trunk bag will be getting returned. I may get a saddle bag for the day to day bike essentials.

I also need a different lock. I have a good lock, it's just a pain. I have one of the krytonite cable combo locks (the kind that twist up). It works... but that twisty bit is such a pain. And to get the frame and both wheels is a pain. I think I'm going to get a ulock and a straight cable instead. Seems like that would be so much easier to get everything secure! I'm not in a high crime area, but still... I want to be safe.

Here's a shot of the ortlieb on my bike (helmet is just resting on my rack).

My commute set up with an ortlieb back roller by Thomas Lester, on Flickr

Man! What a view!

I'm impressed! I did it twice this week. I wanted to do four days (Wednesday I had an appointment that was just too far away to do efficiently). But didn't end up making it. 261... well done! I'm hoping todo a "car-less" week soon. Maybe next week. Not just commuting, but not driving at all for a whole week. That'll be a big step for me.

[MENTION=175954]Tundra_Man[/MENTION], you are an inspiration.

And [MENTION=456888]tlester[/MENTION], keep going. You're doing great. I like how you structure your day.

Yesterday was so hard. I felt as if my effort was high, but I moved slowly. I felt like I was riding through soup. Why is that? I even checked to see if my brakes were dragging my wheels.

I'm wearing concert attire to work, as I'm performing tonight. So I took the subway to work. Plus my body probably needs a rest from yesterday's efforts.

It is awesome when we get it. No such luck today, nothing but clouds. On the bright side my commute hit a sweet spot between rainsqualls.

46F, lots of water everywhere. Shortsleeves under the raincoat as per the last few weeks, but the full-finger gloves might be going away for a while, fingerless was great today.

What a nice ride this morning! I thought I was going to need more warm clothes this morning, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it wasn't that cold out. I had the usually elusive tailwind plus I made the 2 lights I usually get stuck at.