I'm back. I took 2 and a half weeks off, but thanks to the November holidays, it only cost me 9 days. Anyway, I got a lot of riding in, raced some CX, had a lactate threshold test (which was depressing as hell), and destroyed my road race bike (which was even more depressing).

This morning's ride was very nice. 39F but perfectly comfy in my merino baselayer. Just steady tempo for an hour before work with a friend while caught up on each other's holidays. Good stuff.

I think that might have been me! (Then my alarm clock went off...) LOL 20+ sustained on a hybrid on the flats is a bit more than I can do.

It was quite a bit warmer this AM than I expected. I even checked the weather and it still felt balmier than I thought it would. It was a good ride in, though. Judging by the radar, it looks like it could be a rather rainy ride home, we'll see. In any event, it's nice to be back on the bike and commuting again after the Turkey Day holiday. I was out of town so I hadn't even have a chance to ride since Wednesday going home from work. Gotta make some time for a weekend ride or two soon. Only miles I'm getting are commuting miles. Glad to have those, don't get me wrong, but...

Glorious morning sure degenerated into a totally crappy rainy cold ride home. Oh well, have to take the bad with the good they say!

I got lucky on my ride home and only had to ride on wet roads. The rain actually stopped shortly before I departed.

Tomorrow AM is supposed to be in the low 20s ... ugh. Trying to figure out my face coverage plan.

This morning I got started a bit late, but caught up with a friend towards the end of the ride and got to catch up on holiday stories. I left work early to pick up some vitamins and took a different route home. Yes, sometimes it's easier to ride on the sidewalk then take the lane. It was a nice relaxing ride home, but not much of a sunset.

beautiful bright moon over the lake on a very crisp ride home. lovely. new 'winter' route has so little traffic that i barely had to spit any venom for the whole hour-long trip. life is good.

Chilly ride in at 27 F ( -2 C). My gloves had't quite dried from the rain yesterday, so the tips of my finger were cold. A few more degrees below this and I will
bring out the cold weather gloves, but we will see how the weather progresses this year. November was warmer than usual, so we shall see.

high 20s; broke out the ski gloves; balaclava; skin wax and wore full tights over the bike shorts and under the rain/wind pants. I broke down and applied the last of my expensive reflective tape on my expensive pants. this weekend I lubed my brake cables because I thought they were getting sticky. I should done the shift cables cuz this am due to low temps and wet conditions last night I could not use my rear derailer - had to stop twice to manual tug on the cables and derailer back and forth to free it up. no-doubt it hurt my time. oh well, lesson learned. switched from steady light to strobe 1/2 way to work. still magic for my Magic Shine to arrive - maybe today? riding again Thursday, so just 3 days this week. low temps next week maybe I will wear snow pants over bike shorts and skip the tights/wind pants combo. of course that means more tape ...!

13.34 miles
28.9 mph max
14.1 mph avrg
56 minutes saddle time

Jim from Boston you out there?

The crunch of ice crystals under my wheels this morning. Time to get studded tires.

Ugh. Upper 20sF. Just one of "those mornings." Every uphill incline felt like a mountain. The light headwind seemed like a gale. Only saw a couple of people out walking, and no cyclists.

The sun was just coming up over the Green Mountains, and it was bathing the top-third of Whiteface Mountain (Adirondacks) in a cool orange/red glow. There's snow on the trails, which made it "pop" even more. I was wishing I had my big camera.

1st real snow of the season is sitting on the ground right now, have been meaning to winterize and clean the commuter for the last couple of weekends, but was lazy ... and so I did it last night - Just in time! Put a (commuter is mtb) decent set of knobbies on it it, studs are going on this weekend. Not bad at all out actually - hovering in the low 30's - and no wind (now THAT makes a huge difference).

nice haven 't seen double posts in a while

First commute in a couple weeks. Cool temps, but some moderate humidity. Being my first ride in a couple weeks, ride was slow, but I took it easy and spun most of the way. Felt good to have the heart pumping hard again!
Rode my newly outfitted winter bike/ foul weather commuter for the first time. It's a mid 90s Specialized Hardrock fitted with an On One Mary HB, 2 inch Forte semi-slicks, PB Hardcore fenders, updated Shimano Deore V- brake on the front, MKS touring pedals with Power Grips and a Cardiff Wessex (sprung) saddle (pics to come, I promise.) Basically, I set this bike up as a poor man's Bombadil. The geometry is very different from my Aurora so that will probably take some getting used to, but stability, vision, and maneuverability were paramount when selecting components, and I think I accomplished my goals. We'll see what the evening ride has in-store as the ride home is usually more telling for me than the ride in...

Low 30's this morning... I gotta gear down for the winter... but a nice ride. if you ignore the fact that my quads are fricken destroyed from P90X. This is my first week... I don't know how this is going to affect my commutes. But so far... so painful.

Nice ride in today. Temp right around 30. Trying out all my new warm weather gear and so far so good. I bought a pair of addidas booties which are keeping my feet much warmer than I thought. Also picked up a nice pair of PI winter gloves which are also working well; too well actually because my hands were sweating big time. I may have to reserve those gloves for under 20F temps.

As long as there is no snow I'm good to go

39F again, but I'm discovering (or remembering, I guess) that if my head, hands, and feet are warm, I'm comfortable.

I love how the Great Lakers consider 30F to be warm weather....

The coldest morning in NYC so far 39F (4C) partly cloudy, no wind, not bad at all but I wore earmuffs and a thin cap under the helmet

Dr's appointment so in late this am. Nothing but Milf Herds on the W&OD, so a cool comfortable ride in.

I haven't posted in a bit, but still riding daily (except for the week my wife and I had the flu). This morning was 35F or so with a beautiful sky at the end of the ride. The next couple of days are supposed to snow and cold (low of 8F). Can't wait!!!!

Paul

Chilly this morning (for AZ)... nice to feel cold, though. saw about five or six other riders.

It took almost 2 hours to go 12 miles into work this afternoon. I had a 21 mph headwind out of the west. I could not get comfortable over 10 mph and settled in at 8 Mph or a little less. I was hoping the wind would last until heading home for a little boost. However, it is now at 9 mph and dropping..Oh well I'll never get to the speeds I see in this forum, but the pedals will keep turning.

40F and clear. And dry. Which means, wet but nothing dripping. Plenty of road spray.

Same here. I hate clogging up the intertubes with “nothing to report, all’s well, sirs!”

But today, there’s stuff to report. Mainly, that it’s COLD. Maybe not Minnesnowta cold, but for coastal NC, it’s frakkin’ cold, man! 40°F when I left this morning, first time this year wearing both pairs of tights. Looks like next week I’ll have to switch to the winter shoes (old, beat up Shimanos that are a size too big).

Then on the way home I flatted. Not a huge surprise, as I simply blew a hole through the tire boot I’ve been riding on for the past hundred miles. Gave me a chance to try my new folding Gatorskin that I’ve been carrying around since that day. It was an absolute nightmare to put on, especially with half frozen fingertips. But I do see why people like that tire so much. It’s got a very nice feel, an odd cross between cushioned and rock solid. And I think it negated the 0.5mph performance hit from putting on fenders this weekend.

Today it was 17F with a couple inches of snow. I took the Kona Blast with studs and the kiddie trailer in tow. After work I stopped by the Commissary and picked up $175 worth of groceries.