11°F this morning. Thankfully the wind was pretty light and the sun was out.

Had to go to our office this morning, so 8 miles. Temp is supposed to be around 20°F at noon when I ride across town to a client.

I crossed the 600 mile mark on my winter bicycle this season. That's the most I've ridden it in a single winter since I started winter commuting in 2010. Usually I'm able to swap out the nicer days with my hybrid, but we've had so much snow and ice that I've only ridden the hybrid once since before Christmas. Lots of ice still on the ground this morning, so it looks like I'll be riding the winter bike for a while longer.

Speaking of the winter bike, and I was... the middle gear (#4) on my 7 speed freewheel started to skip. I'm guessing it's a combination of chain and cassette wear. I replaced both only 1,050 miles ago. I've said it before but it bears repeating: it's amazing how fast winter riding destroys components. Hopefully I only have a few weeks of the winter bike left and I can just avoid that gear. Then I can replace both during my annual off-season clean and rebuild.

It's amazing how the wind feels like April the last week or so -- except that it's usually above the mid thirties in April! Clear, mostly quiet ride this morning.


Our camellia is doing its usual thing -- lots of buds, a few blossoms because of the warm spell, and then it cools down and bam! all the flowers fall off. A few people have better locations for their bushes, and they're beautiful.

I took the subway today for the second day in a row, since we had snow last night. It turns out the streets are not so bad. I don't know how the bike path is, but they're usually pretty good at clearing it. I should have ridden. Lesson learned? The last time I timed my climb from the 4th floor to the 12th floor, it took 2:20. This time, it took only 1:35, and it took less than that for my breathing rate to return to normal, so that's good progress. I'm still doing pushups in my office several times a day to get stronger.

38F and raining

Good training for the Empire State Building Run-Up!

Pushups in your office is old school (pun intended)!

I rode this morning, and it wasn't too bad. I'll let you know if there are any issues on the way home.

I took Citi Bike home. Yay! I’m lucky I have Citi Bike near work now. It wasn’t bad at all.

Clear and cold -- we got down to freezing this morning -- but the wind finally died down. Fringe benefit of bike commuting: no windshield to scrape!

I didn't want to ride today, as I have a concert tonight in Brooklyn. It's a long way, and I could be late or get dirty. I thought I might take Citi Bike at least for some distance, so I brought a helmet and mirror and rode the subway this morning.

Today's climb up the stairs (8 flights): 1:23! Maybe I should train for the Empire State Building event.

A chilly 20F, some ice and lingering snow but no wind... no wind

Last night was kinda nice. Wet everywhere, but no snow or ice on the paths. I started using Strava, and it's fun to compare times/speeds in certain areas. Last night was my second fastest time over the 59th street bridge, and I think it was mostly due to lack of wind.

How are you timing your stair climbs?

I use the stopwatch function of my clock app on my phone.

Sunny and cool this AM. Part of my bike route (the usually quiet residential streets of the CVG) was packed with cars this AM. The parallel car-commuter route was shut down due to a head-on collision. Vehicle carnage.

Coming into this weekend, a long one for me starting on Friday, the forecast was murky for a week out. But it's been clear all weekend and tomorrow has cleared up too. I'll ride. Forecast is even murkier the rest of the week. The three inches of rain that were forecast over eight days is now compressed into four. But if it's going to be this wrong, who knows?

It was a nice commute this am with the temp at 22 f degrees per the clock at the bank. This am a man yelled out his window "get on the sidewalk what the hell is wrong with you". I ignored his screaming rant. But when I got to work my back light was out. So I am wondering if the back light was out when he yelled as that would make sense. Otherwise the ride was pleasant but we are expecting more snow again tomorrow so no riding for a few more days.

22F this morning with a light headwind.Still a bit of ice on the ground but I couldn't wait any longer to take my old hybrid out for its inaugural ride after the complete rebuild over the winter.

Every part was disassembled, cleaned, lubed, and adjusted. New seat, handlebars, grips/wrap, brake levers, brake pads, bottom bracket, crank, chain, cassette, jockey wheels and all cables. After thousands of miles it was overdue for some TLC. It rides like a brand new bike again.

Spent almost $500 on a bike I initially bought new for $199 (big sale). Doesn't seem to make financial sense, but I decided I liked the bike well enough to justify sinking some money into it. I could have spent the same money on a new bike but who knows if I would have liked it as much. Over $300 of the money I spent was on the Brooks saddle and the Jones H Loop bar setup, so those were more splurge items (and a new bike wouldn't have come with those.)

As long as I was replacing every item on the chain line with brand-new non-greasy parts, I decided it was a good time to try the crock-pot wax method of chain lubrication to see how I like it. The chain was running pretty quiet, and when I got to work I could touch all the components and not have any grease on my hands, so I like that. One thing I did notice is that as I was out in the cold winter air the wax stiffened up and some of the links were a little sticky. So it may not be the best winter riding option. Today was just the initial ride so I haven't formed any long term opinions about wax lube yet.

Nice bike! And spending $500 on a $199 makes perfect sense to me - who among us keeps anything stock??

24F this morning with a slight breeze. We're experiencing Canadian airflows - wish you guys would keep this cold air up there! Rain this afternoon and tomorrow. At least I got my main commuter's drivetrain fixed and working like a swiss watch. All's right with the world again

I hate the earlier change to DST; it takes a light morning commute and turns it into a half-pre-sunrise commute.


Other than that, the rain stopped before I got out, so it was only cold and windy. And dark.

33F, supposed to be pushing 70 by quitting time! Busted out the roadie, it was awesome. Apparently I put it away for the winter with a new chain, so smooth and quiet!

This morning, it was cold, but I was OK with that. The headwind was strong, but I was OK with that, too. I pedaled hard and didn't make much speed, but I didn't let the wind reduce my effort. My phone's battery died before my ride was over, and when I plugged it in, it said I have 65% capacity. I'm not happy. And the recording of my ride was aborted a mile from my finish. Not that one mile makes a difference for my tallies, but it means my phone battery is flakier than I knew. I usually connect to an external battery, and this reinforces the fact that I need to do it all the time now.

Having spent all that energy pedaling against the wind, and with bags heavier than normal, I still walked up the eight flights as fast as I could, two at a time, as normal. With my phone battery drained, I couldn't time my climb.

Only one person on bike passed me on the whole trip, partly because I was going hard, and partly because the weather thinned out the bike commuting crowd a bit.

My phone is a few years old, and I have this problem as well. It's definitely connected to the cold. I'm not sure where you keep your phone while riding, but I always try to keep mine in a pocket that's tight to my body and will give it a bit of body heat to keep it alive.

Oh, I hadn't considered that. I mount it to my handlebars where it gets the maximum cooling, I'm sure. I had just switched from one podcast to another, possibly causing a heavy download. Then my headset fluttered, then the phone shut down. I'm not going to do something to keep my phone warmer, but I will remember to power it. And I should take up Apple's offer on discounted replacement batteries.

A really good one today. I have had little heart symptoms for the last few days and I really appreciate it.

I looked again at the Karate Monkey dropouts and maybe it will do it. I'll have to call the local dealership and see if they have one to let me try it.

Yesterday was cold and raining in the morning so I drove. I have also been fighting a sore throat and a cough, so just better to not push it.

Cool at 32F this morning, but felt okay. Some headwinds when I was heading west, but not terrible. Warming to 50F this afternoon with sunshine, so should be a good ride home.

Yes. If your iphone is still under warranty, then take advantage of the free battery replacement. My wife just got hers done on an iphone 6s. But she had to wait a month for the battery to come in. And then she still had to call the local apple store to remind them and make the appointment.