I really wanted to ride today but decided it wasn't worth the risk. A winter storm is brewing in the Southeast and it's supposed to start reaching NC this afternoon. Yesterday forecasters were saying the rain/sleet/snow wouldn't start until 7-8 pm, allowing me just enough time to make it home this afternoon. However, this morning the forecasters are saying precipitation might start soon as noon today. My afternoon commute takes about 1:15 hours this time of year, so that's just too long to be riding in sketchy conditions at best. Unfortunately, if the storm materializes as predicted, I might be off the road for as long as a week.

Welcome to the insanity, and where in Indiana are you? I did something today I rarely do - drove because of the weather. I don't have a problem with single digit temps (it's 4F) but combined with ice and wind for an hour's ride was just too much. I admit it, I'm a wimp!:50:

Not bad at about 35F this morning. I stopped to pick up a pair of gloves that were on the side of the road. I'd seen them there all week, but left them until today. Nothing fancy, just knit or something. Probably not big enough for me, but one of my kids might like them.

Forecast is for 4-7" of snow tonight. I won't have to commute in it, but it is threatening to cripple the area. We got the kids some sleds for Christmas, so they're hoping they can use them.

Lafayette

:thumb:

Don't blame you it was brutal yesterday with the similar conditions. Everyone said I was insane to ride yesterday with the cold and snow.. figured there had be others on here that rode also. I guess I'm insane after all :twitchy:

-3°F with a -13°F windchill. I must be getting acclimated to the winter because when I saw the temp this morning I caught myself thinking, "Oh, that's not too bad."

One interesting thing I've noted: my winter bike has a mirror mounted on the handlebar end. There are set screws to adjust how much pressure it takes to adjust the mirror. I have it set to give a fair amount of resistance so that it will stay in the correct position while riding.

However once I've been riding for a while in sub-zero temps the mirror starts flopping around and won't hold a position. Then when I'm back in the garage and the temps are warmer it's back to normal. Zero seems to be the point at which the material contracts enough to not let the set screws hold things in place. Above that temp and I have no trouble. Below that and it's like I have a mirror mounted on a noodle.

Would you look at all of these posts?! We are a tough bunch this month!

relatively balmy 22F. Again still air, and no hint of humidity. Apparently somewhere between 22F and 12F is where I should close the pitzips on my coat, I didn't feel that breeze at all today like I did yesterday.

In other meteorological news, cool lenticular cloud on the mountain this morning but did not stick around to see it lift off, flying-saucer style.

I had a great ride home last night - I got a rare feeling where my heart bug wasn't bothering me and I pushed hard as the blood pressure meds would let me.

Welcome!

I went to Purdue back in 1995-01 and I don't recall it being very bike friendly outside of campus. I particularly remember some long stretches where there was a square curb, no bike lane, no sidewalk. Have they gotten any more enlightened? Google Maps shows few bike lanes.

I wish I could live up to your expectations, but wait no I don't

That looks like a fair bit of rain, [MENTION=339610]Darth Lefty[/MENTION].

It was so sunny today, I had to break out the sunglasses!

https://c7.staticflickr.com/1/564/31...aa6d9189_b.jpg

On the other hand, 20F is a new low for me for a commute. I did a mountain bike race a couple of years ago that was a couple of degrees colder. I was much better dressed for today's commute and it was actually really pleasant. It's not often you get to ride your bike on a sunny day in January in the PNW!

I don't own a balaclava and I've found that my beard just doesn't provide adequate warmth at temps this low. What I do have is a Half Buff that I got at the 2015 Ride Around Clark County. It's been sitting in my glove and hat pile for the last year and a half during which time I never quite understood its purpose. I've been wearing it this week to keep my neck warm and today I resorted to pulling it up over my nose. This particular Buff is designed for UV protection, not warmth, but I've been shocked at how much warmth, or at least wind protection, it provides at these temperatures. Add to that a knit cap and thermal head band and I was a happy biker!

It's been a cold week of commuting for this area, huh. I must be going in the opposite direction in the morning, Mt Rainier is at my back in the morning (I wouldn't see it anyway... it's dark at 6 am)

Maybe we will pass going in opposite directions in the next half hour or so...

That part of town? No. I'm on the very south edge and along 350S (now veterans Memorial) and Concord there are some very nice bike lanes/sidewalk combos as well as a few trails that head downtown etc. I try to steer clear from the Walmart/Catepillar/all that mess.

It has been a nice few days. It finally warmed up, so the ice locking most boats in has thawed.

There have been some nice views from the clear skies.

I also got a new fish tank and I have been slowly building it up.

Yesterday I was in town and missed the orcas and humpback whales. But I did catch the sea lions. They have been feasting on some herring which are hanging around. There was a kingfisher attacking its reflection in the window of a fishing boat this afternoon. I live in a great place.

My son got a new bike from Santa (very late!), it is only a box store bike but it will serve the purpose of island abuse. I did just adjust his brakes which allowed me to use the 4th hand tool I got a few months ago, and wow what a great investment that was. Overall it is a little big for him and his torso need to grow a bit. I did have to adjust the brake reach for him.

https://goo.gl/photos/D8zXBp1yjWnuoAfW6

It took me a while to page through my memory and find it, but I was thinking of South, east of Sagamore, and Main down to the mall. I don't think I ever made it down where you live.

[MENTION=152773]noglider[/MENTION] could be worse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Flood_of_1862

We got five inches of snow on Saturday, which has been cleared off the streets... mostly. But it's been so cold that the remaining snow is not melting. So I had to ride over a couple streets covered with a slightly uneven but very hard layer of compacted snow or ice. You can ride on it... but it's iffy. And it was really cold, like 10 degrees F. To top it all off, my train was ten minutes late, so by the time I got on the train I was completely cooled off from my ride.

Friday I biked home in a rain / sleet mix which stopped about halfway home. It made a cool sound hitting my helmet but kinda stung hitting my face. Then about a mile later the snow started. The flakes didn't hurt but would stick to my lips. We ended up getting 5.5 inches overnight Friday and Saturday morning.

The roads are mostly clear this morning, but I wimped out and drove. It is about 15 degrees which I probably could have handled, but I knew there would be some icy spots. My wife needs the car before I get off, so I'll probably take the car home at lunch and she'll drive me back to work with the bike so I can bike home. High today should be mid 30s.

First bike commute of 2017 on my new Suomi studded tires. I learned that the sidewalks are not as well plowed as it looked like from the car window last week so it was a bit of a struggle at times. Not helping was that I didn't put the left pedal on properly yesterday and about 2/3 through the ride, the left pedal fell off, I walked the rest of the way, ~20 minutes.

Yesterday was a low of -24C/-11F so in preparation for this morning's ride, I got out my snow pants and ski helmet. When I woke up at 5:30am, it was -14C/7F and I decided to wear a balaclava and a bike helmet instead of the ski helmet. After I got up, let the dog out, fed the cats, let the dog back in, had my shower, it was -12C/10F and by the time I was dressed, hot and a bit sweaty, it was -10C/14F so I got rid of the snowpants and got my MTB shorts and wore cycling tights underneath and a replaced the balaclava with a Buff (shaped into a toque/beanie). It was dressed like this that I rode in (or at least as far as my pedal let me) and I was comfortable.

20ish degrees... almost tropical!! Odd how peaceful it was this morning.

20F, headwind, sunny - damn near tropical! There's still some snow on the back roads but no ice and most roads and trails are clear. My poor bike is covered with ice and salt - supposed to warm up and rain tomorrow so she'll get a bath.

This morning was 5°F with a 10 mph headwind and light snow falling. Typical South Dakota winter day.

Traffic was moving unusually slow, then 1/2 mile down the road I came across a garbage truck that had parked in the right lane and backed up cars for a long, long way.

Temps are supposed to get into the mid-20s by this afternoon. Haven't seen temps that warm for at least a month. However the wind is supposed to shift so I'll have to fight it on the way home, and we're supposed to get freezing rain.

Working from home today as I'm iced in from the winter storm we had over the weekend. We were supposed to get 4-8" of snow, but instead got about 2" of sleet -- which is much worse for road conditions. Temps have been below freezing for 3 days with at least one more to go, so conditions aren't likely to get better for a few days. Needless to say, no cycling here.