I was born with a bicuspid aortic valve. Basically, a normal valve has three flaps, and in my case two of them fused together which doesn't allow the valve to seal so the blood leaks back down into my heart. With the tests they did last week they determined that I've reached 33% leakage, which means every time my heart beats 1/3 of the blood it would normally pump doesn't go anywhere.

I went 42 years until I was diagnosed, and another 7 before they decided that it's now leaking bad enough that I can't push off the surgery any longer. This actually turned out for the better as now they can replace the valve with a mechanical one, and while it's major surgery it's fairly routine. Had the valve started leaking 40 years ago, at that time all they could have done would be to tell me to go home and write a will.

29F and sunny. Got honked at and swerved toward by someone who has done that another time.

Some people, I swear. I hope you have a cam so you can report their BS to the cops. Or maybe report the area and time you see them so they can set up shop and watch.

Today: 45F, clear. I'm a little skeptical of my phone's assessment of the temp as I was cold as hell this morning (hey, it's California, lol). Might have been that whole sunrise stirring up the air phenomenon. I got my bike fit adjusted over the weekend and my knees and butt are both telling me that there's some adaptation that needs to take place.

I'm also about to give up on the Cycliq and return it. It recorded for 15 minutes on Thursday and shut off mid-ride, and then wouldn't cooperate when I tried to do the firmware update. Not sure if it's bricked or what but I'm over it. A $200 device shouldn't require this much pain to get working.

[MENTION=175954]Tundra_Man[/MENTION] you sound courageous. Keep us posted. I'll be thinking of you.

I did have a camera! But the battery had died. I recorded last night's ride home, starting w/ a full charge, turned it off when I got home, left it in the garage (down to 20F overnight), and it only recorded 6 min of this am's commute before pooping out. Guess I need to charge after every ride and/or bring it in where it's warm between rides.

^^^^ Bring the battery in, or the whole device. Temperature has a major effect on battery efficiency.

And def. get it on video and notify the 5-oh. The action implies intent, which makes it no longer a "traffic" matter.

Morning Commute 27°F, calm winds, sunny

Evening Commute 53°F, 4 mph winds, clear

[MENTION=175954]Tundra_Man[/MENTION] best of luck with the medical issues.

Upper 40s and a couple of spots that spit rain at me. Not enough to actually get me wet, just sprinkles. I wore shorts and a jacket.

Yesterday on Strava a friend who lives in my area commented on my morning ride.
Friend: "Red jacket?"
Me: "Yes, and devastatingly handsome."
Friend: "I’m so much faster than you in my car... left you in the dust!!"
Me: "You were faster only because it was my easy day."

Ha ha. We're both so funny!

Winter is getting pretty old. I was hoping with the arrival of March we would at least see high temps moving into the double digits. No such luck. In fact, the forecast next week has high temps below zero on some days. Ugh.

This morning was 2F with a 15 mph head wind. It was slow going, but at least they now have the MUP plowed so it was a much easier ride than yesterday. Supposed to get up to 6F for the high.

About 3/4 mile from home I had a guy in a truck close pass me. The side of his vehicle was extremely close and his mirror missed my head by mere inches. I hollered and shook my fist, which accomplished nothing. He pretty much ignored me. The car behind him must have seen it, because they gave me an extremely wide berth.

Good and icy this morning! The studs handled it perfectly. Got to see some interesting sliding cars.. I learned not to laugh because I'd slip right after.. oops.

well was planning on riding this morning, then saw it was colder and rain showers possible, and the final straw I was up late close to midnight worrying about car problems. Insurance declared my car a total loss so now my wife and I have a week to find a newer car.
not too happy about it....

Pretty decent ride in this morning. Mostly cloudy, light winds, not too cool. I was running a little late (and didn't care this morning!), so traffic was a bit lighter than usual, and all of us were pretty much well behaved.

Tuesday PM: Windy! 20 mph winds ESE - basically in my face a lot of the way. So it was slow and strenuous but not bad considering it was also 65 degrees out.

Wednesday AM: 45 and clear. The word of the day is "relax". My upper back was feeling a bit stiff from tensing up yesterday as I get anxious taking the lane sometimes so I tried to pedal easy and relax as much as possible. I'm glad I powered through because I had a headache this morning.

Morning Commute 32°F, calm winds, sunny

Evening Commute 57°F, 12 mph wind, cloudy

Nothing really of note happened, but these 25° temp jumps are making me have to pack way too much extra gear. Shorts weather on the way home but full winter gear on the way in. Stabilize dag nabbit!

9F this morning with only a 5 mph headwind. On paper it was the warmest morning I've had in weeks. Didn't feel that warm, though. My goggles were icing over by the time I made it the 8 miles to work, which usually isn't an issue when the temp is above zero. I wonder if the humidity was really high?

Supposed to get to 16F today. First time we've seen double digits in a while. Unfortunately it won't last long as the next sub-zero arctic blast is supposed to arrive by the weekend.

[MENTION=339610]Darth Lefty[/MENTION] : Hope you heal up soon!

Foggy morning. Heavy in some places, almost non-existent in a couple of places. Dark colored cars with no headlights on look like they're in stealth mode. I got too warm with about 2.5 miles to go so I stopped to shed a layer. Much better. Rains coming in this afternoon. Wife is prepared to rescue me if needed.

28F and dry, my last commute day for a week - heading to warmer vacation climate!

Wednesday PM: Windy again, ~20 mph, but in a slightly more favorable direction than Tuesday. 58F and overcast. Not bad!

Thursday AM: 51F and 87% humidity. That's super sticky by desert standards, but at least it's warm. I took it easy as my legs are definitely feeling the fact that I'm just over the 100 mile mark for the week. It was pleasant and uncomplicated. Leaving work early for a doctor's appointment so I should skip all the shift change traffic.

25F and sunny. Rode straight to a meeting, changed in bathroom, stuffed my riding clothes in pannier. Boy, Ortlieb panniers are not the place to put stuff you might hope the sweat would evaporate from... not really a problem 'cause I intended to ride to office from meeting in work clothes anyway, but now I only have ~90 min to let the riding clothes airdry when they would ordinarily have 8-9...

Started riding to work recently, with my new Ebike

Light rain on the way home last night, but about 60+F so comfortable. I gave the bike a decent wipe down when I got home. But then this morning was more rain, though more of a drizzle and misty fog than actual rain. 55F for the ride in.

I rode 462.5 miles for February. I'm hoping to be closer to 500 per month, so a bit short, but also the shortest month of the year.

3" of fresh snow on the ground and falling steady. MUP wasn't too bad plowing through the fresh powder. Streets were treacherous as the cars compacting the snow made for a slick mess. Temp was 14F degrees, which meant the warmest morning by far in the last few weeks. Temp is supposed to steadily drop all day and we'll be back down with below zero highs for the weekend. Next week doesn't look like things are going to warm up much.

Bad day for snow, as at lunch I have to ride to the hospital for my weekly PICC line maintenance, then later this afternoon I need to ride all the way across town to meet with a lawyer (having a will drawn up.) I'll have to schedule a lot of extra ride time to make sure I make the appointments on time.

An inch or so of fresh snow this morning, still falling steadily as I rode to the station. It was nice until my goggles fogged up so much I had to take them off, but after that I had to squint to keep from getting snowflakes in my eyes... which is harmless enough, I just don't like it.