Being my first winter trying to commute, how necessary are studs on paved roads? My ride is 12 miles in on fairly flat terrain.

DC weather improved from the weekend. Morning weather high 40's - not bad. DST+1 ride home was nerve-racking along Macarthur Blvd as leaves covered most of the bike path and had to ride by feel. I am using the NR Ultra Fazer 5.0 light -- not much help... Any recommendations for a lamp would be appreciated.

Dark...DST hits again...

Well yesterday was a big day. Yesterday was 13 weeks since the last time I put gas in my vehicle. I have been riding everyday since then. As of today I am at 730 miles since 8/2/09. I have ridden on and off for years, but never this much. At the end of July I told myself, enough with the excuses. I was going to ride everyday in Aug no matter what. I did that, no problem and then Sept and Oct. My commute is 6.5 miles ea way. I have ridden up into January in the past. This year I am going to try and go all year. The second half of my trip is what gets hard in the winter. My plans are to ride to a Mall at my halfway point and take the bus from there. The university I work for made a deal with the local bus co that employees can ride for free. They also have racks on the front of the buses so I can take it to work with me. That is my plan.
Well now on topic, my commute today was great. Cool and crisp around 46. It also was the smoothest ride I have had in a long time. Yesterday I did the most complete cleaning of my bike I have ever done. It rode so smooth. All the gears worked and no extra noise. It was peaceful. Awesome!

Nice Ride in, but chilly at 32 F ( 0 C). I stayed warm throughout, and my chilly gloves seem to be
working even going down hill. With any luck, I won't have to drag out my cold gloves any time soon.
The moon was beautiful in a clear sky, and it should be a clear day.

Hey, Aardvarks congratulations on not filling up your gas tank in such a long time. Yeah, Jan, Feb and the begining of Mar are all pretty bad, then from the end of March until June, you keep asking yourself, "when is this cold weather ever going to end?"

Ugh. Soul-sucking headwind. 25-30MPH off Lake Champlain. Temps around 40F and I had my jacket unzipped because I was overheating from plowing into the wind. Saw two cyclists going the other way... Fast.

It's that time of year: Lots of wet leaves on the ground. Newbies: Wet leaves are very slippy. Be careful riding on them!

Took my new route for the first time - riding over the Watchung Mountains. Hilly, dark, and much traffic. More in this thread. 22 miles, 2h13m.

Coldest commute this morning since sometime last spring, with temps in the upper 30s. My commute time was also slow, presumably due to the physics of denser air at cold temperatures. I dressed just about right, which meant I was cold for the first mile or so but didn't sweat any. It is nice riding in daylight for a change, and I'm able to run my headlight on low beam just so drivers can see me.

35ş this morning with bright sun and no wind
I had good energy today, it must have been from the pasta and veggies I ate for dinner.

*I took my crank apart last night hoping to remove the bottom bracket, but it wasn't budging. I may have to take it in to the bike shop and see if a vice can't get it free. Has anyone else had a stuck bottom bracket to deal with?*

Glorious. 49F, brilliant sunrise, negligible winds, friendly traffic and attractive joggers.

The low-water crossing of the river is still under water, but I had time to backtrack to Route B and still make my train.

Low 30's this morning. I had to drop my wife's car off for service, so I tossed my bike in back and rode in from there. Shaved 2 miles off my normal 12 mile commute.

Came upon a recent two vehicle crash at a two way stop intersection. Air bags had been deployed and a guy was calling out for someone to call 911. I don't have a phone but several other people were around so I'm certain they were called quickly. This is a 25 x 35 mph intersection. Someone made a mistake, and someone else was not prepared for it.

Ouch.

I neglected to mention that I failed to pack a shirt for the office this morning. Fortunately, I DID remember to put in a short-sleeve synthetic shirt for the ride home (priorities). We're casual enough that I can wear that with my jeans and not look too out of whack. The other choice was the snug smartwool sweater I wore on the ride in. Snug is not my optimal look.

I've had to go back home and pack clothes after realizing halfway to the office that there were none there waiting for me, but have never actually gotten to work without civilian attire available. I have, however, had to spend the day in my Special Shoes more than once. Not nearly as bad of course, but Shimano MD-076 really do look terrible with jeans.

Gray and warm (48F)

I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival tomorrow of my Terralux 220 lumen flashlight, which I plan to mount DIY on my handlebars. I've seen some really good comments about it in the Electronics forum. Less than $30 including shipping on eBay. At a manufacturer-claimed 220 lumen, it's about three times brighter than the NR Ultra Fazer 5.0 which claims 70 lumen. I'll be glad to provide a more complete report along with a thumbs-up or thumbs-down on it. (FYI, I ride the MVT from 14th St Bridge to 4 Mile Run and sometimes Old Town Alexandria. There are stretches of that where the path is completely unlit, which can be made worse by the blinding effect of headlights of oncoming cars next to the trail. So I figure if it'll work for me for that, it should be pretty good.)

On to my commute. Last night's commute was, shall we say, dark. I have a "be seen" Planet Bike 1 LED front light, which, until I have said flashlight, I am complementing with an LED headlamp we have for camping. The headlamp is woefully underpowered for lighting the trail, so the flashlight can come none too soon. Lots of times I had to go VERY slow to be sure I knew where the path was going, that despite the fact that I ride it almost every day!

What almost got me as much as my issues with my current light setup, though, was the number of ninjas! Come on, people, get some lights of some kind. Please. I beg of you! If you can't see the trail, that's mostly your problem. If no one else can see YOU, that's everyone's problem, and you need to use your brain and put on a light of some kind.

Lighting and ninjas aside, though, I really enjoy riding at night. It feels completely different than riding in the day. Must be like riding roller coasters - riding at night is a whole different beast.

Ride in this morning was nice. Brilliant sunshine, temps in the upper 40s. I was perfectly comfortable in my shorts, a tee-shirt, and my fleece for most of the ride.

Thanks -Asphalt

Monday commute in the morning was more soreness from my recovering injuries and fear everytime a car came up from behind not to mention sleepiness lol.

My ride back from work was so nice about 73 degrees. I felt better and decided to do 15 mile training ride half on the road and half on bike path. It was nice work out. It got dark fast and temp dropped.

I had a vest on, blinky in the rear and add a blinky light on my left shoe. I was flashing like a low budget Christmas tree.

Headwind that got stronger as I got closer to work this morning. Low 40's but felt much colder. Overcast with a chance of rain on the return.

First evening commute in the dark. Headlights, downdrop handlebar lights, tail light, computer light, chain light, and helmet light will get a workout. My biggest concern is being run into by a deer. Several fields and wooded areas a long the way.

Happy cycling!

Nice 50 degree this morning. I used my longer spandix pants instead of shorts. Yesterday morning was brisk. So a much more comfortable ride today. I was behind my starting point by 6 minutes so I was pedaling hard to make up time. My legs didn't want to fire. Last night training was catching up to me.

All is well. I'm still on the bikers high and it's been 5hr now at work. Today I'll lay off the cycle training tonight and do some ab work and strength training. And do bike training tomorrow night.

Lovely morning here, rather warm even.
Last night was the first of many journeys home in the dark. There are aspects to this I rather enjoy.

High 30's this morning with little wind made for a nice ride. I saw two fellow commuters which was nice.

Used the new Magicshine light on the way home last night and it did a good job of lighting up the road while my old light was set on strobe.

Looking to step out into 93F for my commute home. Had knee warmers on for the 55F ride in.

Uneventful ride a.m. low 60s. This afternoon strong North wind pushed me home so i really got the cardio going..lol.

Riding home last night in the dark, I saw 2 kids on bikes about a block ahead. As I approached them, they were slowing down and turning around to look at me. I had my two bar mounted lights on flash, my helmet light on flash, and my armbands were flashing. As I passed them, I got a COOL!!! in unison from them. I arrived home with a smile on my face, and it carried through to the commute this morning.

Beautiful fall mornings, sun just coming up, no wind, no rain, ~40 degrees, light traffic, trees all colors, some fog. Dark rides home now though which isn't so fun, but this fall weather is fantastic. Rain to start again Thursday.

Headwind again. (Both ways, today.) Ride home wasn't as bad though.

Got about 100 yards from my driveway and heard wild turkeys clucking in the woods. Stopped and looked for them. They were getting ready to cross the road, so I stayed still and watched. 18 of them. They've been around our house since springtime.

About 10 minutes later I was upstairs getting out of my riding clothes and I looked out the window in time to see them flying into the trees. Yes, wild turkeys fly. It's surreal. They're huge, yet they fly. Quite well, actually.