33% warmer! 8F vs yesterday's 6. Peasoup fog pretty freaky vs the blinding sun of the rest of the week. Inversion setting in?

Gotta say, between the 33$ increase in warmth, adding an earband thingy, and not dropping my son at his school (in-laws in town, so not futzing at the bike rack w/ him, running into the gym and yakking while dressed pretty fully), just hopping on the bike and getting to work was pretty painless (literally, I had enough function in my fingers to unzip/unpack etc... as soon as I walked in the door).

it was 2 degrees F this morning when I headed out... wind gusts greater than 40mph.

It was a decent ride... only saw 4 other commuters. I should have put on warmer shoes... my freewheel acted up a bit. I need to clean it out.

last nights ride home from school was beautiful... around 9pm... temp in the teens, and about an inch of snow packed on the side streets. such a quiet fun ride. Cold too.

Heh, interesting ride today. 15 degrees Fahrenheit, 35 mph winds and some snow and ice on the roads for a good measure. The best part was the long bridge I normally take: it's completely open to winds from every direction, so things can get very interesting, especially as natural wind gusts are superimposed upon the artificial ones created by passing busses and trucks. At least it has a bike lane, and it's even been sort of plowed.

It was cold this morning at 16F ( -8C), but I stayed toasty. Dealing with foggy glasses, as I do every year. I had to go slower on down hill today, because of black ice, so that adds time to the ride. All the empty warehouses back here are kept tunnel dark during the week, but on Mondays, when I come in, this place is lit up like a stadium. I guess weekends are when people break into empty warehouses. Empty buildings are an interesting concept.

18 right now and no wind, not too bad!

yeah, cold is one way to describe it. I microwaved my water (in a big glass) for 1 minute before leaving. it still froze before I got to work but it lasted a lot longer! I think I will try 1.5 minutes next time. I added a blinkie strobe to my left drop bar hoping to get a few more inches of courtesy from the cagers. the roads were empty this morning at 5:45, so I'll see if it helps on the ride home. glad the ride in wasn't any longer, cuz while I felt strong enough my toes were cold even with a sock liner, wool sock, decent hiking shoe, and rubber over boot. I added my shower cap to the helmet even though I wore a ski mask and the added wind barrier was a good idea, and then the inherent air space was good too for when I warmed up and got sweaty. my superflash rear strobe stopped workinh but it worked most of the way. not sure if it was the cold or what - the batteries are brand new!

11F this morning, winds were a little less wild than yesterday, but the best part...the road conditions. Most of the snow missed us the last two days and the wind ensured that there was little ice on the roads. No ice bike this morning! The ride felt much faster and easier, even riding into that darned wind. Of course the Browns beating the Steelers last night probably helped my attitude too. :)

Batteries lose power quick in the cold.......


The electric current generated by a battery is produced when a connection is made between its positive and negative terminals. When the terminals are connected, a chemical reaction is initiated that generates electrons to supply the current of the battery. Lowering the temperature causes chemical reactions to proceed more slowly, so if a battery is used at a low temperature then less current is produced than at a higher temperature. As the batteries run down they quickly reach the point where they cannot deliver enough current to keep up with the demand. If the battery is warmed up again it will operate normally.

One solution to this problem is to make certain batteries are warm just prior to use. Preheating batteries is not unusual for certain situations. If the battery is already warm and insulated, it may make sense to use the battery's own power to operate a heating coil. It is reasonable to have batteries warm for use, but the discharge curve for most batteries is more dependent on battery design and chemistry than on temperature. This means that if the current drawn by the equipment is low in relation to the power rating of the cell, then the effect of temperature may be negligible.

On the other hand, when a battery is not in use, it will slowly lose its charge as a result of leakage between the terminals. This chemical reaction is also temperature dependent, so unused batteries will lose their charge more slowly at cooler temperatures than at warmer temperatures. For example, certain rechargeable batteries may go flat in approximately two weeks at normal room temperature, but may last more than twice as long if refrigerated.

Your kidding the Browns won a game??? Holy Crap! Looks like my team will be the worst in the NFL this year then. Rams.

Thought I might set a seasonal low temperature for commuting this fall, but just missed. It was 28 F when I rode in this morning, slightly warmer than Monday morning, when it was 27. Not that I could tell the difference riding. I find it easier to dress when it's cold like this because I don't have to plan different gear to wear in the afternoons. Lately it's been cold enough in the afternoons that I can wear just about the same gear as mornings. One thing I really like about the cold weather is not being all sweaty when I get to work or home.

Not bad, not bad. Quartering tailwind. About 20F. The MUP has been dutifully ruined by pedestrians. They tracked up the wet snow, and the snow froze up last night. Why they can't follow their own tracks instead of walking on the entire width of the trail, I'll never understand. It's my annual rant.

Water bottle nipple was frozen shut. :p I drank by unscrewing the cap while stopped at a red light. There was ice in the bottle, too. I'm easily amused by stuff like that. We're hard core.

21F and windy in NYC, but sunny, ended up being quite enjoyable ride, I managed to dress just right.

A.

Haven't commuted since mid October because after 26 years I'm retired from the Air Force. But I'll submit a job application and the next day I'll hop on the bike to check out the commuting route and see if it's a good one or not. And yes there are some places that I haven't applied to because the commute is not doable.

18F - almost as many degrees as the last 3 mornings combined! Still cold, it turns out. Thick thick THICK hoar frost on everything, but no real problems (although the x-walk light button a block before the office was frozen).

Does that save Fredo Mangini?

Farking cold.

And it's getting colder.

My first commute, having moved house a couple of weeks ago (but been out of town since). Just wonderful, 10k, temp a little below freezing, whizzing down the hill and over the bridge as the sun began to filter through the thick shaggy grey overcastness.

Had to scoot home at lunchtime to fetch something important, so actually a double commute today. Toes a bit cold. Light speckly snow falling on the lunchtime ride.

It was a lot warmer today, but the snow was really slushy in areas. I was almost killed by a cell phone. The woman driving the car was paying more attention to her call than me or the yield sign she ran. I need an air horn on my bike. I found a primitive tool, kind of like a file with a handle attached to it.

39F and a light rain this morning. Belgian weather. I need to have some waffles and chocolate when I get home.

ride home home cold dark and lonely. I was the only psycho on the road. I almost wiped out on ice 3 times. at one point I slowed down for a big patch and some cars stopped to watch me so I kept goign against my better judgement and they almost witnessed me falling. what I wanted to do was wait for them to pass and then take the lane ... ugh - why do thy watch?

12.9 miles
24.8 max spd
12.5 avrg spd (ugh)
1 hr 2 min (double ugh)

As I looked into my 8 ball....it read Negative!

I meant to post this yesterday but I didn't get a chance: I had a nice commute in this morning, -4F and light breeze. I only saw two bikes on whole way in (fifteen miles) and that was a little disappointing. Although I did see a lot of tracks in the snow and it was pretty early. I had 17F for my ride home, almost tropical.

Rode down to the bike co-op today (10km) and was pretty impressed to see 3 people working on their bikes... it has warmed up to -29 C and there's a wind chill advisory and the low tonight is supposed to be -38C.

I was actually a little too warm on my ride today...

Wet and foggy on the ride home last night - necessitating a little attention to clean up the bike today. Also a reminder that I'm now lacking a beater bike...

I like my masochistic bike.

Wet, foggy, dark, rainy, muddy. But I got more done than I planned today, and completed the semester's requirements. Classes start again in January. Sweet.

It was a warmer ride at 28 F ( -2 C). Foggy in places, but nothing serious. The begining of a another week, and may it feel like a short one.

short!

.89 miles
20.8 max spd
8.2 avrg spd hahahaha
6 minutes saddle time

It didn't take long to realize there was too much black ice and riding would only be suicide. I stayed upright untill I came back home and dismounted, at which point the bike slid out from under me. I didn't fall and I caught the bike before hitting the ground, but nearly wrenched my back.

Gonna use the back massager, rest, shower, and drive to work like a lazy fat slob.

Low 30s. We had a little snow last night, followed by some rain. The MUP was loaded with black ice. My studs got quiet so I knew I wasn't riding on clear pavement. I put a foot down as I was rolling. No traction at all. :p I just smiled and kept riding.