How was your January?
 

Mine was great, I'm surprised that it's over already! Biking to work really made the month go quickly.
I put in 408 kilometres (253 miles), rode on 14 days (some were half commutes) and rode in temps from -14 C to +1 C. I wimped out 3 times due to cold, once due to snow and the rest were legitimate excuses! :p
Only bike trouble has been continually freezing rear brake cable (don't use the brakes much anyway!)
How was your month riding to work?

Mine has been poor - I've managed to pick up a knee injury so I'm off the bike at the moment. I don't seem to be in the same state of mind when I get to work now ::(:

Well, this is what January was like here:
29 days with snowfall in a row.
21 days in a row of temperatures never rising above freezing.
50-some-odd inches of snow.
5 nights below zero degrees farenheit (about -20 celsius).
at least 5 days with winds over 35 mph.
Grey skies, snow covered streets, salt and slush, etc., etc.
Oh, yes, the local economy is in a depression, too.

Until Mid March I am off my 12 hour shift, so I only get to ride on weekends or at night.. So work is soo early- no way I can commute to work; which usually accounts for over 250 miles a month..
So with just riding on weekends, my grand total is 617 miles, of course January has a couple holidays; so that helps get in the miles with the extra days off.. Short February will probaby be a bad month for miles.. Doing the 100 mile day at Death Valley will help, but that is not until March. Back on shift mid- March.. Then I can count on 600-800 miles a month..
ps- Gawl, has the weather been nice out here. 70's today, often high 70's.. that has helped to get in the miles- great weather great riding..

Commutes were minimal. Only did this a couple of times through out the month. We had a lot of snow, lot of cold weather, but I did get in a bike ride every day. One with a flat tire which sucked.

Great month except heating used a lot of fire wood that I will now have to replace. Found some nice places to get some fire wood if I can get permission from the land owners.

It has been crappy for me. No particular reason, it's just been crappy.

No comment.

Glad to know I'm not alone. We had the 21 straight days of sub-freezing temps including a commute at -11 degrees F, a new personal best / worst. As a commuter of 19 months, finding myself midway through my second winter, the question "Why am I doing this?" has played out in my mind frequently as I've ridden to and from work this January.

Statements like "You must be nuts" or "What's wrong with you?" from co-workers and other people I encounter have more sting then before.

I think I'll ride through this to better days, but this January has been a Mother.

I think Im getting gills. I put on a few hundred miles commuting to work in January in the rain, wind, rain, little bit of over cast and more rain. I definitely need new rain gear. I dont mind getting wet but actually putting the cold wet stuff back on after work...especially the padded shorts....turns you into a woman.:eek:

Yes it was a little on the wet side here more of a spring wet (we have two seasons here, warm wet and cold wet) with the warmer temperatures and none of the freezing mist we tend to get around here. I put in just under 400 miles on my commute and boy did the month go by fast. Funny thing happened on thursdays commute but one of the wheels on my dérailleur fell off never had that happen had to walk the last mile to catch the bus and the mile from the Everett Station to home. and TLN you never do get used to the cold wet gear, but I have been commuting long enough the company has given me the space to hang up my gear my boss even brought in an electric shoe dryer for me to use.

Nice boss.
I just get to lay my stuff over the other side of my workstation. But since the air isnt really moving around that much my quick-dry stuff is a bit damp at the end of the day. But after a couple of miles I start to heat up and then its just a warm wet feeling, which I dont mind. Better warm wet than cold wet.

Awful. Weather and the cold conspired to minimise my commuting. Only 75 miles or so.

Wet, snowy and freezing but worth the effort :)

My january sucked.

I had sinus problems and flu and rode only a few times. Riding in sub-freezing temps (down to 10F) bothered my sinuses and made it a miserable time.

Today it's in the 60s. Maybe Feb will be better.

It's been an interesting January here in Minneapolis, the first couple of weeks the weather was wonderful (by Minnesota standards), warm and no snow. Well, that didn't last, from then on it's been as cold as -14F (-26C) and many nuisance snows (light but messy roads) and now we just got clobbered with 8 inches of heavy wet snow. I still managed 316 miles (508.5 C's). For the most part it was a good month... for January.
--Mark

Nice summer in Hobart (average 22 Celsius), except for a couple of days with forest fires (average 35 Celsius). Just started riding again after a couple of years not doing much exercise after hurting my right knee and foot.

Slowly increasing the distance and speed, but struggling at some times (Hobart is very hilly). I think if I'm careful I won't have many problems with my body, but I really enjoy myself riding again :)

Only fair for me, with various trips to MD's and my Mom, I only managed to commute 10 days. At least the weather has let me try out my new winter bike under winter conditions, which hardly happened last year.

It was a good month for me, I rode 20 days and covered 865kms/540miles. I had three races with a best place of 3rd. The heat was the only thing that stopped me riding more. We had our hottest day in 21 years, 44.1ºC/111F on a Saturday and I only managed 45km/28miles that day.

171km/107miles for this month already, gotta love summer.

CHEERS.

Mark

January in Kentucky was bad. Cold, rain, sleet and very little sun. I got in about 20 miles all month, and gained 10 pounds.

Miserable. I've had a flu since December, so I haven't been able to commute by bike at all. Lately I've done a few short trips during the weekends just for fun, so I've got probably 35 kms in January. This sucks.

--J

excellent. most excellent. it is the end of my first six months of bicycle commuting and i have developed a composite plan involving riding/rail travel that leaves me with just the right amount of miles but not too much. well maybe i could stand to do a few more than my daily 16 miles but i'm making up for the difference by re-upping at my local gym and doing some strength training :beer:

i am convinced that longer commutes that start and end in the cold and dark are not sustainable.

as far as the weather, i don't want to rub it in. i live in california, see? moved here 18 years ago and with any luck they'll bury my bones one fine summer day on a hill overlooking the bay. hopefully none too soon!

Is it too late to comment on January's commuting?

Well, anyway, it was great here in the Bay Area. Nice temps and actually little rain. I think we had a decade's worth in November/December.

I feel for the people here who slog through a commute in super-cold tempatures.

I didn't get nearly as many commutes as I had hoped for a variety of reasons, but definitely not from a lack of interest.

Pretty good. The city sells discounted parking passes to people who commute by bike or mass transit for the occasional times you need to drive. I haven't had to use one yet.

Put in 224 total miles this month. Not too shabby by my standards.

580 miles for Jan. I started driving on Wednesdays to break up the week and spend more time with my daughter, so I lost a few miles. Plus one day was just to foggy (couldn't see the street from my garage).

Nothing really below 42F here, just a bunch of fog :(

You guys that commute in sub freezing and/or snow are crazy.

someone has to post an upbeat report ...

I had the month off, looking for work after being made redundant in December.

So it was wasn't a normal commute month. But I did manage to lay down 1734 km (1083 mi). There were 27 ride days - the 4 days off were to recover/prepare from a 200 Km ride and so that I didn't get obssesive about riding every day :)

January actually seemed cooler than December here so the heat hasn't been a real issue. Riding in the early morning is always better because of the easterly or sea breeze coming up during the day. The days are getting shorter already so it will start requiring dark mornings to keep the k's up.

My Feb distance will be much shorter as I expect to start work soon - but it is a nice commute distance away.