I had just left the house, so it was still dark and about 6:45 in the morning. I came across a scene that appeared to be a police officer who had just hit a deer. The deer was injured and falling down and hopping around the street. The cop was watching, probably wondering what his next move was.

If I pop this thing to take it home I'll have to carry it around in the back next to the riot gear until the end of shift

"Well, I SHOULD shoot it and prevent anyone else from getting hurt from hitting it. It also would put it out of its misery and being eaten alive by coyotes tonight. On the other hand, if I discharge my gun, I have to write it up in a report. Also, if I miss because it flops at the wrong moment and the bullet ricochets off the road, I have to worry about where it goes..."

We're on a warmer trend now. 34 ° for the commute this morning and it's supposed to get up to 36. The piled up snow from two weekends ago will slowly melt and make for almost continuous salt spray on the cars. (but not mine, since it's parked at home!) Then, it'll all freeze again tonight. I hope there's enough salt left on the road to prevent a lot of carnage. There were a LOT of sirens last night, so I suspect not. I took the folder again today, great little bike. The fenders were appreciated.

On the way home from work tonight, I'll stop at a couple stores looking for a couple whole chickens for the grill this Saturday for the family Christmas party. We're going to have around 35 people over, as my FIL had 6 kids and they mostly have kids and grandkids and even two great grandkids.

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 2260:

There was a high wind warning predicted for today. They weren't lying. I woke up to the house shaking from the howling wind. As I prepared I found myself dreading what was waiting for me on the other side of the insulated walls.

Had I not had this stupid-long commuting streak going, I would have thrown in the towel and driven. That is, if my truck wasn't in the shop getting repaired. So I even if I didn't have the the streak, I had no choice but to ride my bicycle.

On Thursdays my usual routine is to ride to our company office, then at lunch ride to a client's office. Sometimes in the winter when weather is this extreme I will skip the ride to the office and just ride right to the client. That cuts the day's commute distance by more than half.

Today, however, is my favorite work day of the year: we're having our company gift exchange and pot luck. This always turns into an absolute laugh riot, and I didn't want to be at a client location and miss it. So in order to attend I was going to have to ride the full 8 miles to our office. As a concession, I decided to stay the whole day at the office and not travel to the client, so that would knock about 6 miles off what normally would be a 22 mile day.

The winds were steady at 30+ mph, with gusts much higher than that. My thermometer said 34°F as I was loading up my pannier bags, but this was projected to quickly drop during upcoming hour. Normally when the temp is above 20°F I don't wear my ski goggles, so I had put on my riding glasses. Right before I walked out of the door into the garage I heard the wind, and decided to go ahead and leave the glasses at home and wear my goggles.

I am so glad I made that last second eyewear choice, as if I had not it would have been a catastrophic decision. Riding straight into that wind was brutal. From the time I left the house to the time I arrived at the office the temp dropped 16 degrees, making it 18°F when I pulled into our parking lot. The wind chill was calculated to be -20°F or lower. Without the ski goggles my eyes would have turned into raisins.

Riding into the steady wind was tough enough, but the gusts felt like misery on a stick. Several gusts were easily over 50 mph, and I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of them topped 60 mph. The wind was strong enough that I had to pedal down steep hills to keep from losing momentum. For most of the ride I kept the chain in the smallest ring of my triple. I tried to spin, but even with the low gearing I was often mashing the pedals to keep the bike moving.

The news said that west of us there have been wind gusts even higher, with one gust recording 144 mph. That's category 4 hurricane strength. I'm very thankful that I didn't have to ride through anything near that level, although it would have made for an interesting story if I did.

A couple miles from the house snow began to fall. With the wind, the snow wasn't accumulating, just adding to the assorted debris hitting my face. I must admit a few times during the ride I started to audibly grumble.

I finally arrived at the office after an hour and twenty minutes of riding to travel 8 miles, which was a 6 mph average. My body hadn't warmed up at all from the effort of pedaling, and I was a complete popsicle. I felt like I had just taken a beating. When I walked in the door several coworkers commented that I looked quite haggard.

The wind is supposed to continue throughout the day and maybe even strengthen a bit. The temperature will continue to drop, reaching the single digits. The wind will shift this afternoon, so I won't get the push home I wanted. Instead it will be more of a cross-wind. I'm anticipating being exhausted by the time I get back to the house.

Even after my post-ride hot shower I was still cold. I had brought an ugly sweater to wear during the gift exchange party, but I decided to not wait until then and put it on immediately. It doesn't meet the company dress code, but I'll worry about addressing that if one of the owners says anything. I doubt they will. After 19+ years of working for this company they have gotten use to my weirdness.

Tundra_Man You are a beast! Way to go!

In the 18 pandemic months I was self-employed and working from home without a commute I would counter lack of motivation to ride with the mantra "the motivation is OUT THERE". I can't remember regretting a ride, as long as it was a 6 mile out-and-back rather than the 8-mile minimum I strove for.

So lately I have been trying to motivate myself to take the longer 8-mile routes to work rather than the more direct 6-mile routes. This morning I told myself a variation on my mantra, "The motivation for the 8-mile route will be found after mile six."

Well, it was found three miles in at a long stoplight as a squadron of geese flew overhead from Prospect Lake, by the Velodrome in Memorial Park. It was clear and almost cold at 29F with a insistent breeze. The geese made me think of the great fields of geese I'd pass in Memorial Park when it was a more regular part of my older, longer commute to the old job. And being a clear December morning, the sun would be be coming up and setting fire to Prospect Lake just as I pedaled past it...and it was.

I also figured out the rubbing noise in my front fender, and it is stones being caught by and sticking above the treads in the tires I bought last fall, the first tires with tread this deep in a long time. When the rubbing stsarts, a few quick taps of the fender, or a sweep of my gloved finger across the tire seems to do the trick. I suppose I could raise the fender the quarter inch left to raise it at the fork crown...but then it looks funny to me. I'm not vain, but I will be content for now to deal with the inconvenience of sweeping and tapping to keep a tight, tucked look up front.

When I hit the Greenway Trail and turned north, the wind was strong and in my face...maybe 25mph...nothing like the hurricane force arctic freight train Tundra_Man dealt with recently.

Before the ride home tonight I turned on my headlight and wondered what combination of inattention, ineptitude and insanity kept me from successfully turning on the headlamp the other night and led me to believe it was time to replace it. And apparently I was the only cyclist on the trails to use a headlight, or any light. My old commute would often take me through the Colorado College quadrangle where shadowy bike ninjas would dart out across my path. So here it is a month into dark commutes home and there are cyclists riding towards me with no lights or reflective aids. The homeless and indigent are excused, but these were people on nicer bikes. Okay...maybe a pedal reflector.

At one point I heard a noise very close behind on my left and a guy in a black skin suit was right next to me. Since I ride with a glasses-mount take-a-look mirror, I would have seen him approach from behind with even a tiny light source. He did have a small red facing rearward under his seat, but it was almost too dim to be useful. I caught up to him at two traffic lights up ahead, and after the second one he turned on a headlight, a modest one, but it lit of the path ahead of him enough that I could see that long after he passed me.

All in all I felt strong (if not as fast as skin-suit ninja), and I relished the feeling of generating enough heat to stay toasty in the frigid night air.

Last commute of 2025 today. It was 21 degrees this afternoon, and it felt pretty crazy to be riding 6 days before Christmas wearing a T-shirt and shorts. Looking forward to a great 2026 on two wheels.

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 2261:

Compared to yesterday, today was completely uneventful. 6°F and just a hint of wind. I rode to work without anything noteworthy happening.

I forgot to mention that yesterday during my ride to work slog, a guy came riding by going the other direction (wind was pushing him.) He had no lights, no helmet, no head covering and no gloves. I got the distinct impression he had lost his driver's license but still had to get to work. I can only imagine how brutal the ride home at the end of the day was for him. He had to ride into the wind in single-digit temps with all that exposed flesh.

I should have ridden today. I'm regretting it. There is rain forecast in the afternoon but I could have snuck out early and even so it's not enough to matter.

The month-long fog was supposed to blow out in favor of an atmospheric-river storm, but as often happens, it moved off to the north toward Eureka and Oregon. It's only been a patchy few rain showers, and in between the fog settles back in comfortably

Pictures taken at 06:55, December 22 2025
I am soooo glad that days will be getting longer for quite a while starting today. I don't like riding to work when it's dark, even though about 3/4 of my morning commute is peaceful and quiet, but what I like even less is riding back home at 4pm and it's dark again - that's just depressing. Also, there is way more traffic at 4pm then at 7am. This section of the road sees maybe one car every minute, it's very narrow, winding and poorly lit.
As I was taking these photos this morning, I was thinking about how bright and brutally hot it can be at this same spot and this same time, in late July and early August. This morning it was 3°C (38F) but the fog was thick which made it feel colder.


December 22 2025, 06:55

Beautiful photos...but dangerous situations for cycling around traffic.

Thank you. I am used to these types of roads - winding and narrow, where two small European cars can barely pass each other - and I know the mentality of our drivers, so I am not (too) worried. Having ridden this route hundreds of times helps too. I do feel uneasy to an extent when it's this dark and with fog, but that only makes me more careful, hopefully.

I always found it interesting, and for me sad, that the three different cities I have lived in are all in the eastern parts of their time zones (north of NYC, Houston and Belgrade, Serbia) so my whole life I was getting early sunrise (which is nice) and early sunset (which I dislike, expecially in winter). I would love to live in a place where sun does not set before at least 6pm even in winter, even though it would mean late sunrise... oh well.

Early sunset does make me sad.

Now my new line of work had a pleasant surprise for me. School teachers start and end our days earlier. I get up a little before sunrise. That was a difficult adjustment at first, but now I'm fine with it. And the school day ends at 2:40pm Wednesday through Friday and at around 3:30 on Mondays and Tuesdays. The sun is still out! So I get to be outside in the sunlight more than before, and I'm grateful for that. Right now, a day after the solstice, the sun will set at 4:32pm here in NYC.

[QUOTE=cyclomath;23666116]...I would love to live in a place where sun does not set before at least 6pm even in winter.../QUOTE]
Because we are right up against the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, in Colorado Springs we have an early sunset year-round as the sun dips behind the mountains much earlier than on the plains.

Took the main commuter on the trail-to-trail both ways. ~40F in the morning...63F on the ride home.

It was the shortest day of the year, but I left work about a half-an-hour early at 4:25p and made it home at 5:05, just as darkness fell. But even leaving at 5pm. except for right around CHristmas, the beginning of my ride home is still somewhat light. How different than the last job, where for 28 years I left for home around 5:30, so winter commutes home were always dark in their entirety.

30F and dry on the ride in, but it felt warmer, even though I dressed lighter than usual again. 53F and dry on the way home...felt as warm as the 63F yesterday, even though I dressed even lighter.

Took surface streets today and almost regretted it. Traffic was very light this morning, but twice, well-meaning "nice-holes" stopped at intersections where I had a stop sign but they did not causing me to have to stop and put my foot down whereas if they had just continued I would not have had to stop. Those were minor annoyances. I also had to stop and yield to dogs and their owners at two narrow sidewalk pass-throughs at two different parks. Besides the fact they had the right-of-way, these were happy dogs and their owners enjoying the morning and I didn't wan't to be the jerk that ruins their day, so I stopped and waited.

Half-mile from the office I was in the center of the labeled combination "straight ahead" lane/bike lane approaching a red light with cross traffic with a car waiting in the left turn lane. A large pickup truck came up fast from behind, veering slightly towards the left lane, but it became apparent he was going to try to squeeze past me by forcing me into the right turn lane. I honked my air horn and gave him a hand signal to slowdown and back off. After the light changed he followed me across the intersection down the narrow, alley-like continuation of the street, for the 50 yards before the street bends right. But there is a MUP that parallels the street if one bikes straight. I biked straight and he revved his engine. I turned to the right to face him and he hit his brakes. Then he pulled into a parking space behind a business.

I shook it off (eventually). It was a light day at work and I was able to leave an hour early so I didn't even put my headlight on my handlebars (although I had it ready in my commute bag). The ride home (again on surface streets) was pleasant, although at one busy intersection a car blew through a fresh red light really late almost hitting a car left in the intersection trying to complete a left turn. And he made me wait an extra few seconds as I saw he wasn't slowing for the yellow (or the red). I honked my air horn and he honked back. So I gave him the finger. I know it's immature and at 63 (64 in January) I should have had more self-control and not reacted or gotten angry, but bike commuting keeps me young, and I consider this a side-effect.

Took my wife's minivan to the shop this morning and put the Dahon Boardwalk 20" folder in the back...but didn't have to fold it. I forgot how fast it is (after I upped the gearing). It doesn't feel fast...but I've checked the speedo calibration against GPS and known distances and it is accurate. But what I wanted to share was this quick encounter with a hawk:

Local knucklehead keeps piling dirt where the bike path I use for commuting to work adjoins a gravel road. I have begun carrying a foldable entrenching tool to knock it down (takes about 15 minutes). Other local riders have noticed but nobody knows for sure who he is. He uses power equipment to do it. The adjacent property has this equipment on the farm. Dangerous at night as I never know when he will rebuild the pile after I knock it down. So I approach slowly and then have to decide to dismount or ride the loose edge where the pedestrians have worn it down. Unsure why he has been doing this the past six months or so...

I'm done for the year. Did not get many rides in December

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 2263:

Once I ride home from work in about 25 minutes, I too am done for the year, as I will be traveling through the first week of 2026. Rode a total of 3,254 commuting miles in 2025.

December can't figure out what it wants to be. We started with three weekends of snow storms, and arctic temps. This week the temps have climbed into the 40s and I've been back on my road bike, even though I'm still having to dodge a lot of ice.

Another year of successful commuting. When I return from travel I will only have about another 35 days until I hit my ten year anniversary since the last time I drove to work. Crazy.

BobbyG you gave more grace than you received. You are a mensch. Try not to sweat it. People like you make the world a better place.

I am done for the year too. Last couple of weeks were cold and mostly dry (with fog) so I rode to work every day, but now it's gotten wet and slippery with slush everywhere. Because I live in a city and ride with traffic, and don't feel like dying just yet, I am switching to public transportation. This year I rode to work 123 times - the most I have ever done - which brought my commuting total to just below 3900km (~2400mi) with almost all of it being trips to work and back (13km/8mi one way).

Well done, cyclomath!

Take photos and write up a report, have members of a local bike club sign it and send it to multiple local authorities.