My first lap of the year was uneventful. Among the roadside garbage there was a globe/lampshade from a garage door motor. How did it make it to the roadside half a mile from any house? These are the mysteries that keep us entertained. It stormed for two weeks while I was off but it's looking like fair weather for the next two weeks.

How was your ride?

Happy New Year! Great ride this morning in the dark. Dry after 4 straight weeks of LOTS of rain (15 of which days I was on vaca til this am)

ARRGGGGH! Yesterday morning started with frustration. It was cold (16F) but dry. Despite the dry conditions I wanted to put the studded tire wheel set back on the winter bike in anticipation of the coming snow. That went smoothly and quickly (5 min), but the tires were still at a low 25psi from the last snow ride. So I went to pump them up. I put the floor pump on the rear tire and all the air rushed out. My bikes and floor pump live in an unheated shed and I have had silicon pump seals shink or crumble in the cold. I've even had the plastic parts just disintegrate in the cold...but much colder conditions.

So I grabbed a frame pump off another bike, pulled it open to pump, but it just came apart in two. Another pump seemed to work but at a crazy slow rate. I worked the floor pump a few more times to warm it up and the seal took. The front wheel inflated with no issue. So both tires were at max.

As soon as I started riding I had a nice surprise. I forgot that the new-to-me '97 Rockhopper is so much lighter than the bike it replaced recently. And with the new taller gearing it was a delightful ride. I had layered just right and traffic was light. The ride home was just as sweet. And I noticed that one the trails I take that was closed since thanksgiving for paving had re-opened during the day!

It had snowed last night, but I had an outside work free-lance project that went late and needed finishing in the morning. By the time I completed it and shoveled the driveway and walk for my wife it was too late to put my gear together for the ride to work. Plus it was supposed to snow all day, and I've already biked in all the previous snow events....and there will be plenty more.

The new Ford Escape is warm, comfortable and sure-footed, but most of traffic is not, and driving in snowy traffic is stressful.

I shoulda biked.

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 2031:

First commute of the new year. As per our annual tradition, I took my wife to see her family in Ohio over the holidays. We got back yesterday, so this was the first day I rode. I was off the bike for 10 days and pretty much had a feeding frenzy while we were traveling, so I felt like I was huffing and puffing more than usual. I'm afraid to step on the scale and face reality. It's weird how I can display almost supernatural tenacity in things like riding my bicycle no matter the conditions, yet have absolutely no willpower when it comes to controlling my food intake.

The temp this morning wasn't as cold as they had predicted. Originally it was supposed to drop below zero this morning, then before I went to bed they had updated it to the low single digits. When I got up this morning I was pleased to see it was 10°F air temp. The wind was light, so it was a pleasant ride. I thought maybe I would have lost my winter skin while we were in Ohio and the temp was about 30 degrees warmer there than it was here in Sioux Falls. I figured I would get back on the bike this morning and feel like I was going to freeze to death, but I was actually quite comfortable as I rode.

We are way behind on snow this season. It has snowed at least a half-dozen times, but the most we have ever gotten is about 1/2". The pavement is currently 99% free of snow and ice, so I decided to take the road bike today. It's not very often that I'm able to ride the road bike in January. My clipless shoes aren't very warm, so my toes were pretty cold by the time I made it the 8 miles to the office. However, cold feet were worth it in exchange for the easier pedaling of the road bike.

Over the last few years I've been fighting to keep a hemorrhoid at bay. I thought maybe the 10 days off the bike might help it heal up a bit, but it felt angrier than ever this morning. I'm worried that if anything will ever break my consecutive riding streak, it's this thing.

View as I was leaving work to start my commute home yesterday.

It's January and I have been dressing for January but it is 50F out. This morning I still went with tights and full-fingered gloves but only a t-shirt

ps here are last night's mountains to the west

Bigger than average riding day for me as the short commute was fortified with a trip to the dentist, which is nearly twice as far back as I had come. The morning was a little sharp and there was still frost on the bridge at 8:30

Biked the coldest morning of the season today...8F to start with extra layers and extra smugness to keep me warm.

I balked at yesterday's commute due to high winds. But this morning it was still, so the extra cold was no problem. I took the studded snowbike since I anticipated a fair amount of packed snow and ice on the side streets I take...and I was correct, although the roads became dry and clear after the halfway point to work.

I tried something new for my face. I usually am fine with just my thin balaclava, and as it gets colder I pull my Halo headband over my ears. But this morning I wore my thin summer neck gaiter as a 2nd balaclava layer. It worked better than wearing the shell hood as I have done in the past, both for warmth and for side vision. And when I say warmth...it was just enough to stay warm, and not enough to overheat.

Today was also the first ride in a couple of years where I double gloved. In the past I have tried big mittens over my winter gloves, or cheap cotton work gloves under my winter gloves, but the mittens make it hard to shift, and didn't seem to keep my hands warm, possibly because of tightness, which restricts blood flow, which is also the problem with the cotton glove underlayer. But this morning I wore my thin, synthetic dollar-store work gloves under my winter gloves and it was the best dual glove combination in 32 years of winter commuting. The work gloves have perforations to breath, and the winter gloves have just the right ratio of breathability to water repellence ratio.

So, high on the smugness of nailing the clothing, I then had to parade in front of my co-workers to get to my office. I work on the lower level of our building, but construction has blocked the rear lower-level door. So I came in the front door and walked my bike to the stairs. First, I took my commute bag off the bike and took it down so I didn't have that weight on my bike or back. Then I carried the bike down the stairs to the lower level. I really appreciated the much lighter snow bike replacement I bought just a couple months ago. Anyways, being a 60-something biker in an office of 20 and 30 something drivers already boosts my self-image. Biking in the cold and snow is another boost, and rolling the bike through the office...well that's even better.

Maybe this makes me a little immature, but at my age, a little immaturity is a good thing, especially if it keeps you biking.

Immature? No way. I'm 62, the oldest in my office, and the only one that bike commutes. Since they say you are only as old as you feel, I prefer to think of it as acting my age

Back from 63rd birthday lunch with buddy of mine. First time in a long time riding in street clothes...first time ever riding on snow with regular street clothes. 29F Wore chinos with a black sun sleeves over my right pants leg in case of chain or gear grease. Heavy sweater over a t-shirt with the usual hi-viz shell over that. Started out with usual light balaclava and headband over ears plus winter gloves but half way there took off balaclava and switched to midweight gloves. Wore bike glasses (with sport band) take-a-look glasses mount mirror.

Backed off usual pace so as not to sweat.

Also, this was only the 2nd time parking/locking up new snow bike in public, and in a much higher crime area than the first time at my neighborhood pharmacy. Not really an issue except the bike still has a quick release seat post. The saddle bag and bungees running through it to the rear rack make it tough to casually remove the seat...in fact I couldn't fully remove it, but just to be safe I ran the cable through the front wheel and frame and clipped the lock to the seat frame. When I got home I put a smaller cable in the saddle bag for the seat.

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 2035:

2°F air temp this morning with a 10 mph headwind. I woke up with a case of "the Mondays" and really didn't have much motivation to ride, or to do anything else for that matter. As I'm (so far unsuccessfully) trying to teach my son, responsibility trumps desire, so I ignored how I felt and prepared to ride as usual.

The streets looked mostly clear from my living room window. With my low motivation level I wasn't all that enthusiastic about riding a slow, hard-to-pedal winter bike. I seriously contemplated taking my hybrid bike, or maybe even my road bike. However, I wasn't sure how much ice was going to be on the MUP. Plus, my winter bikes have bar mitts on them which keep the hands much warmer. In the end I decided to suck it up and ride the winter bike with studded tires.

As it turned out, there was barely any ice left on the MUP. I could have easily taken the road bike. Perhaps I will take it tomorrow if we don't get any snow later today. There's a 25% chance of light snow in the afternoon, but they have been wildly inaccurate with the snow predictions this season, so we may get nothing or we may get a foot.

The water heater at the client's office must be on the fritz, as the showers have been getting cooler and cooler for a while now. This morning they were ice cold. I opted to skip the cold shower right after a single digit commute. I put on an extra coat of deodorant so hopefully that will suffice.

Supposed to get more wintery next week, like down to the 20s, but still 40s this week. I like riding in the dark with not much around.

Intended to ride today but could not get kids ready in time for riding. They also had a case of the Mondays. So I drove them, and hence me.

And well below normal precip in Bellingham this year ... so far

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 2036:

We were supposed to get snow flurries late yesterday. The forecasts this season have been even more unreliable than usual. As I was getting ready for bed at 10:30 PM I looked outside and saw that we had about 3" on the ground. I decided I would rather deal with clearing the driveway right away versus setting the alarm to get up an hour early to do it. Thankfully the snow was fluffy so it only took about 1/2 hour to move.

It was about 11:15 PM when I crawled in bed. Then I laid there sleepless until around 2 AM. I think moving the snow jacked me up a bit, not to mention my brain filled with lament after watching the Vikings completely melt down on national TV. In any event, I didn't get enough sleep.

When I got up this morning and checked the thermometer, it said -8°F. That was four degrees colder than predicted. I briefly contemplated doing a split commute with the bus, but realized that due to the bus schedule I probably should have gotten up a few minutes earlier to make that a viable option. So I decided to just suck it up and ride. I did decide to ride directly to the client location rather than our office, which cut my ride distance from 8 miles to 4.5.

There was an 8 mph headwind which made the wind chill -24°F. I was riding slow, which is normal in the winter, although I felt like I was working hard. The closer I got to downtown, the less snow was on the ground. The center part of the city got less than an inch of snow. That should have made the riding get easier the closer I got, but it felt like I was slogging through mud. It was all I could do to maintain 6 mph when I looked back at my tire tracks and thought, "Those seem a little wider than they should be."

I stopped and checked my tires, and sure enough the front one had gone flat. It probably happened gradually enough that in the snow I hadn't noticed right away. I was still a mile from the office. I decided that changing a tire in these temps is probably dangerous, so I made the decision to push the bike the rest of the way and deal with the flat later. I think in 16 years of winter riding this is the first time I've gotten a flat in sub-zero temps, although I've often contemplated what I would do if that ever happened.

Once I arrived at the client location, I parked my bike in their heated underground parking garage. I'll let things thaw out and go deal with fixing the tire over lunch.

I was a sweaty mess when I got to the locker room, and they still didn't have any hot water. So this is day two without a shower. Hopefully I'm not fermenting. When I'm on stage playing music I like to be funky. Not so much when I'm sitting in a cube writing code.

I took a photo to commemorate the event:

Just a skosh warmer this morning...8F vs Friday's 6F. (I drove yesterday due to schedule logistics). I guessed the streets would be mostly clear by now so I took my main commuter with its 700x35 smoothies. The new snowbike is about 10lbs lighter than the old one with less resistance in the drivetrain, but the studded snowtires with lowered psi for snow and ice still up the effort needed to ride. (When inflated to max the Suomi Nokian W106's are pretty easy rolling on dry pavement, but the design makes the studs ineffective on ice at full psi) There were still a few isolated stretches of curb-to-curb ice, but luckily the adjacent sidewalks were dry. And as I hit the halfway mark all was clear as it was on Friday.

I dressed the same as friday with my max layers, double gloves and double light balaclavas, but it had warmed to 11F and in the sun my head and upper body began to get warm. I unzipped my shell and all was okay.

This was the second day biking in to work since the lower level entrance was closed for construction. So I entered in the front door, rolled through the main floor cubicles and carried my bike down the steps. The head of HR said I could leave my bike in an unused cubicle by the front of the office. It's secure and out of the way, but I like having the bike behind my desk. I'm not sure how long before the lower level door is back open.

The only other employee who bikes (but not to work) said he doesn't like to ride at night when there's the possibility of ice because he won't see it. I can understand that, but I've been riding home in the dark in winter for 32 years and I haven't had a problem yet, although at 63, I'm sure my night vision isn't what it once was. Luckily my average pace has slowed with age and bike headlamps have gotten better.

Rode today. Only saw one other soul outside a car this morning, a big gym-looking dude jogging at a pretty high pace. Or maybe it was me who was slow. No one even stirring at the campsite by the overpass

36F on the way to work, 39F on the way home. No rain, and now there is a bit of daylight each way. Near the solstice I was going to and coming from work in the dark. Which isn't an issue until the last mile, when the bike lane ends and the road goes underneath I-5, where there's a tight cloverleaf interchange. WADOT has turned it and the road underneath into a perpetual "improvement" project. But that's a bear no matter the amount of light.

Beautiful sunset, but rather chilly at around 5C, and breezy. Still a great ride, as it is most days after work.

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 2037:

Yesterday afternoon I went down to the basement parking area and attempted to fix the flat front tire so I could ride home. The puncture in the tube looked like a pinch flat. I tend to run lower PSI on the studded tires in the winter, and I'm guessing I had it too low to begin with, compounded with the even lower pressure that occurs in negative temps. The tire probably had too little air and once I hit something, it was game over.

Fixing the flat seemed simple enough until my 23 year old rubber rim strip crumbled like an old rubber band. That was problematic. I briefly considered just putting the tube in and riding home without any rim tape, but wasn't in the mood to have another flat and do more walking. So I made the "call of shame" to have my son bring my truck and take me and the bike home.

On the way home we stopped at my usual LBS so I could pick up more rim tape. They're normally open until 7 PM, but when we pulled up there was a note on the door that said "gone skiing." So we drove to a different LBS that was still open (and apparently weren't skiers.) I wanted to upgrade to a nicer cloth tape, but they didn't have any in stock that was the size I needed. However, they did have a rubber rim strip like the one that my wheel originally had, so I went with that option just so I could get the bike back on the road.

They looked me up in their computer and I hadn't bought anything from them since 2010. I felt bad that my first purchase from them in 15 years was only $1.79 for a replacement rubber rim strip. So when I got home I gave them a shout-out on social media for being helpful. I figured it was the least I could do.

This morning, once again the temp wasn't what they had predicted. When I went to bed it was supposed to be 2°F this morning, but when I got up my thermometer said 14°F. I wasn't going to complain at all about them being inaccurate in this case. However, once I was riding I realized that the humidity was extremely high, so it felt almost as cold as the previous sub-zero morning.

I did have a tail wind though, which combined with the fully inflated front tire meant I was able to maintain speeds of 12-13 mph for much of the commute. On my studded tire winter bike, that's smokin' fast.

Knowing that the client showers would probably be ice cold again, I showered at home. And when I got to the office I had one of the people who work there put in a facilities work request to get their water heater repaired. So hopefully that little hiccup will get resolved soon.

I'm on vacation this month, though I've been bike-commuting to visit my mother in law and also to rehearsals. Each trip leg is about five miles.

Last winter was unusually mild here in NYC. It was the first winter ever recorded to have zero snowfall. This winter, so far, we've had two dustings of about 1/4 inch. It has not been entirely warm. We've had some cold spells, and a new one started yesterday. Mind you, weather that we call cold spells are things some folks here would call warm spells. We had a high of 32ºF and fairly high winds. In previous years, I might have declined to ride, but I'm working on building a tolerance for low temperatures. And we have no slush or ice on the streets! The sky has been clear, and the air pressure is high, so I might as well dress up.

I have a new pair of mittens on the way, thanks to a recommendation from Smaug1 . I hope they work. I have everything else I need to stay warm. On some days, I'm wearing my snowboarding helmet which is terrific for cold weather. I'm surprised to find that I got used to pedaling with hiking boots, and it actually works well.

I rode today. Already don't remember anything about it. Must have been fine.

I've had a slow leak in my rear tire that has not been sealing up for a week. I've needed to pump it up for each ride. I was loath to put in any more sealant since I'd put in a squirt a week ago. Last night it finally found the hole and the bike was ready to ride this morning with no pumping. Tubeless is funny.

Girl 7yo (nearly 8) has been refusing to ride to school without gloves or mittens. But she keeps losing them. She had a new pair just yesterday. Today they are gone. When she can't find them she will hang around the driveway and porch working up the nerve to confront us and ask to be driven. I pointed out her brothers had already left with no gloves and she'd be ok too. I told her she had to HTFU (not verbatim) or wear socks on her hands and look silly. She chose the socks

Sunrises (cloud greyings) are before 8am! I left the house a bit late this am and could definitely see to the next turn in the trail the whole length of the ride in.

I'm on vacation this month. I had errands to do in three places. It would have been 4.4 miles by bike. I walked! I think I walked about 4 miles. At the end, I was tired but in a good way. I need to walk more.

Consecutive bicycle work commute number 2040:

Bitter cold this morning. Air temp was -7°F with a 12 mph headwind, making the wind chill -26°F. Brrrr. Before I got warmed up my eyes were watering and my tears would freeze my eyelids shut when I blinked, causing a conjunctivitis-like feeling when I would open them. Didn't hurt, just felt kind of weird.

I rode the winter bike with studs. There was hardly any ice on the pavement that would require studded tires. The biggest reason I chose this bike was because it had bar mitts and platform pedals. Riding my hybrid bike would have been slightly faster, but I would have a lot colder hands and feet. I opted for the slower bike.

I was about 3/4 mile from home when I realized I'd forgotten to take my morning heart medication. Normally I would turn around and go back to the house, but I didn't have the motivation to do it in this cold weather. I think I was so preoccupied with the pending sub-zero bike commute that I completely spaced off my normal routine which included taking my meds. Oops.

By the time I arrived, my quads and upper hamstrings were on fire from the cold. Thankfully the work order that was submitted last week was completed, and there was hot water again in the locker room. I took a nice shower to warm myself back up.

The client is closed for MLK day, but my company isn't closed. I kind of like these days, as I still rode to the client's office. I'm the only person in the building. With nobody else around I'm lounging around wearing sweats and no shoes as I work with no interruptions.

The high temp today is supposed to be -5°F, then the temp is supposed to plummet even further. My ride home will be chilly, but I should have a tail wind. Tomorrow morning the temp is supposed to be well into the double-digits below zero, not accounting for the wind. Flesh freezing temperatures. I'm probably going to do my first split commute of the season where I ride 1 1/4 mile to the bus stop, put my bike on the rack as I bus downtown, then pull my bike off the rack and ride another 1/2 mile to the office. The bus routes and schedules have all changed since last winter so I'll have to double check the website to make sure I don't miss the bus, but also that I don't arrive too early. Standing stationary for too long waiting for the bus is even colder than if I'd just ridden the entire distance.