ice jam
 

We've had unseasonably warm weather the past few days (40s & rain). Thought I could take my usual spring/summer/fall bike bath route home this afternoon - but nope - ice jam! Had to take an alternate route...

The light rain on the way home didn't bother me at all, warm enough under my poncho. The only downer was the headlight battery suddenly empty, but I had an ultrafire mag-light in the trunk that works in a pinch.

Rains overnight and warm this morning at 60F. I started out with a jacket thinking the winds and chances of light rain would be cool enough. Nope. At mile 4 I stopped and removed the jacket to just short sleeves. Much better. Wet roads was all I had coming in.

1 day warm weather respite is over, back to normal 34F. It was rain-snowing, not really a mixture but little wet snow spitting. Wicked headwind... evil

Today was the only one this week with fair weather, but I am likely going to go visit a different preschool for kiddo, and needed the truck. After the preschool visit, if it even happens, I may go home and grab the bike.

Argh, 13 yr old got doored riding home last night. She was going past the elementary school, it was someone stopping to pick their kid up, not looking for other people's kids. I haven't ridden with my daughter in ages but I constantly pointed out dooring opportunities. I wonder if she's just been lucky the last year and a half.

Anyway, nothing broken, but her right temple is pretty scraped up, from the corner of the door.

SW wind so it was a breeze! Glad to be back on the non-studded tires and 20mph!

Ooh, sorry to hear that. Scary for her I'm sure. Yea, people don't even use the side mirror before opening.

1 day warm weather respite is over, back to normal 34F. It was clear with a nice sunrise. Bit of a tailwind... nice

Somewhat cold, -18C/0F with a windchill of -28C/-18F but I was comfortable (except for my toes, these are awful boots). I wore a balaclava under a ski helmet which is more comfortable than trying to stuff a skull cap and balaclava underneath my more snuggly-fitting bike helmet and with the strong breeze this morning, the vents on my helmet would not have worked for me, maybe requiring another layer stuffed under my helmet. The afternoon will warm up to about -10C/14F so I'll probably wear nothing under the ski helmet.

Similar temperatures over the next couple of days as well but a milder weekend.

So glad to hear your daughter is ok, I hope this doesn't deter her from continuing to cycle.

This morning's commute was one of the more uneventful of the last couple of weeks. The streets and MUP had all been plowed. The temp was 17F. The wind was non-existent. I just got on my bike and pedaled the four miles to the client location in about 23 minutes with nothing notable happening.

Last night I was coming home from our company office and was about 2 miles into the 8 mile journey when I felt the need to use the restroom. I had just used the restroom before I left, but then I remembered chugging the rest of my water at about 4:45 PM. Usually it doesn't cause me any issues but this day it went right through me.

By this time I was on the MUP. All of the park restrooms are locked during the winter (to keep people from stealing the poop, I guess.) All of the commercial buildings that had a restroom I could use were at least a half mile off the path. The extra distance might have been an easy concession to make during the summer, but during the winter I wasn't ready to make the extra effort and decided to try and tough it out.

The urge got greater and I was about ready to either concede and leave the MUP to seek relief, or trudge through the snow into the trees and solve my dilemma that way. Then about three miles from home I spotted a dog exercise park that stays busy year-round. I rode through the dog park and was relieved (not just a metaphor) to find there was a porta-potty on the other side.

That was a new one.

What a cluster $%^! Rain yesterday that morphed to snow in the evening and then freezing rain overnight and now today. Everything is coated with ice and there was no warning for the freezing rain. My wife works for a school system and reported 62 buses slid into a culvert en mass while pulling out for the morning pickup.

But I have studs! Even with the studs it was dicey for a bit. A couple times I could feel myself sliding sideways because of the slight downward angle of the pavement. I rode on the crown most of the way. I stopped midway and let some air out of my tires - helped a lot. The worst part was putting my foot down at stops, and then I remembered I have ice cleats... at home!

Next time, bring doggie bags so if you have a different toilet need, you can join the dogs. :lol:

Chilly ride last night, I didn't have long finger gloves with me that would have helped a lot while riding into that north (head) wind.


This morning, clear and right at freezing. Light traffic, hit the long light just before it turned, very little wind -- and then I got to work and the dream was over.

Jesus. That be a river of ice. :eek: You need @Tundra_Man to lend you his bike with the studded tires...

Back on topic. It was a good ride in this morning albeit a bit colder. Was nice to not have rain like yesterday. But it still wasn't too bad (more like a light drizzle on the way in and back). The weather was a bit confusing. So I dressed for 30sF even though it was about 42F. It might get cooler this afternoon. If not, then just take a layer off. My shoes were still wet from yesterday. Boo. Will try to dry them out with copious amounts of paper towel stuffed in them.

Does your region not have "snow days" for situations like this? Ours does, the school bus consortium (locally, we have 4 school boards from the combinations of French and English and Catholic and Public and a single school bus service that works with all of them) makes a determination from either current or predicted winter conditions whether or not the buses are safe to travel in and at about 6am, the radio announcers will announce "Snow Day Today".

I carry a lot in my backpack but I've never considered putting my ice cleats in it: thanks for the idea, my backpack isn't quite heavy enough to ruin my back but this brings it closer. :lol:

First day commuting from the new location. I had to get through a busy roundabout onto a very busy bridge. It wasn't too bad actually. I come in on the major through road, so I didn't have to wait long at the roundabout, and I stayed dead-center in the lane until I exited to get on the MUP portion of the bridge since the bike lane is still covered in snow. Temps were 13F when I left home. The new commute is 7 miles vs. 4 from the old location. It seems like a major difference in what my clothing can handle. I was getting cold toes by the end, and I haven't had that with these boots until temps hit 0F on the old ride. I may have to mix up the wardrobe temp thresholds by a few degrees due to the longer ride.

We do have snow days and they can usually call them the night before. But when they get blindsided by something like this they're not very good at implementing the closures, i.e. cluster #$%!

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Thanks. She stayed home yesterday, caught a ride from a neighbor today, hopefully will be back on her bike tomorrow. I have always been pleased the middle school kids go past the high school (and its teenage drivers) after it is in session in the am and after it has been out for a while in the pm, but I had never really thought about passing the elementary school right when parents are picking up their kids.

For me, today, 45F, gray, clammy, standing water, but no precip.

A little less cold this morning, -15C/5F with a -18C/0F windchill but it felt colder than yesterday morning (and my co-worker made the same comment). Forecast to be milder this afternoon (of course, hate for it to go the other way!!) and then continue to get mild through Friday (0C/32F) and the weekend but Monday will be cold again.

I find it hard to cycle in mild temps as the snow gets soft and my 29er 2" tires sink so I'll take the day off tomorrow (cycling that is, not work, although, hmmm ... )

My department moved across the street into the newer building. It's just 5 of us, so an easy enough move. Biggest advantage for me is I can park my bike in the stairwell under the stairs. There's a rail of sorts I can lock to. There are some ceiling tiles stored down there, but scooted back out of the way.

Just under 30F for the morning ride in, but clear and calm winds. High in the low 50s.

Today was consecutive bicycle work commute number 450. That's a nice round number.

18°F and barely any wind which wasn't too bad, but the humidity was somewhere around 98% which made it feel quite chilly until I got warmed up and made for quite a bit of fog.

About a 1/2 mile from the office I got passed uncomfortably close. There was me, a car parked on the opposite side of the street, a car in the oncoming lane and then someone going the same direction as me tried to squeeze through all at the same time. I thought I was out in the lane far enough to discourage that kind of behavior, but apparently not. The worst part is once he got up ahead of me I recognized the driver as a coworker.

Oh, man, is there any chance of a "friendly conversation" with said coworker?

There is a person who works at my building whom I'd love to discover their identity and chat--they seem to think that when I'm waiting at a crosswalk, off my bike, that they are free to breeze by and not stop. It's always so dark in the mornings, I can't see the person's face well. I would love to have a chat with them about rules of the road!

Was going to be a nice quick ride in due to the SW wind but nope GD train blocking the road. Put the butterfly bars and new seat on last night.. much more comfortable!