First day riding to work in a while. Wore my sister's Xmas present to me: a wool jersey from Oregon Cyclewear. This may be the finest cycling garment ever.

On the downside, I was totally out of my routine. Took me nearly 20 minutes to get out of my garage.

I got most of my commute figured out. You can see that here https://www.vimeo.com/8429162 only a part of the route, there is also a map link.

I had a double-header commute yesterday -- headwinds both ways. It's that time of year. Windy again this morning and colder, about 28 F. Tomorrow it's supposed to hit the low 20s, so today was just a tuneup ride for the cold. I was dressed just right, so I was warm enough without sweating. I would be tempted to drive this week but I am just shy of 500 miles for the month, and I want to top that. I have ridden more miles than that most months, butseldom under more challenging weather conditions. It has been a cold, wet December, and very hard to get in long rides on the weekends. If it weren't for commuting, my mileage would have really sucked.

Mid 30s and nice. It's supposed to start raining later, which I'm not thrilled about. I don't like rain in the 30s. But it does give me a chance to test out my new PI rain pants.

Savage. Got down to the Hudson River almost got knocked over by 40 knot winds and went back to the house and took the train.

First commute in over a week yesterday. We've got some snow on the roads so my winter tires are finally making me happy! They're particularly good on the partially cleared bikepath. There's a lot of slick, frozen snowmelt around and I'm rolling right over it. Gotta say they're slow, though, or could it be those 5 pounds I put on since Thanksgiving?

Worked the late shift yesterday, which means I was biking home around midnight. Anyone do that on a regular basis? I was slightly dreading it for some reason but it was very nice. So little traffic. And dark is dark, whether it's 6:30 or midnight. Around 18 degrees, but I was ready for it.

Pea soup fog. Glad I had both blinkies going.

Offthebakistan, is that anywhere near Getbackjackistan?

After getting socked by a car last week I took my bike to the lbs who confirmed the frame was bent, not just the rear wheel and crank, so that's a write-off.

Riding the mtb while I decide what to do with the insurance money. Went through a couple of ugly potholes with the front suspension this morning, it was like they weren't there!

Wind gusts so hard at times I was practically a hamster on a wheel, spinning madly and gaining feet by the minute. Okay, slight exaggeration, but damn, I was glad to have donned my face mask. My forehead (not covered by the mask) was definitely feeling a bit raw and warm for a little while. I might go grab a balaclava. Cheers all and keep on pedaling,

Possibly the hardest commute this Winter yet: around 20F and very strong winds. It was hard to pedal and required extra effort to keep the bike going straight

Yeah, I built my commuter bike around a hardtail MTB with front suspension. I was tired of hitting potholes with my roadbike, about a half of my commute has very rough pavement.

A.

Nice warm ride today at 20F because of my new clothes: $25 Champion windbreaker with back, side, and sleeve vents (Target), $10 wool dress pants from the Unique Thrift Shop 2" larger than my size - fit nicely over work pants. Just needed a cotton sweater underneath. I'm liking my Pearl Izumu booties over the Keen Commuters - comfy warm.

13〫F tonight on the ride home with a steady headwind. It was a slow one. Fortunately, I was dressed for it and was warm as toast.

Aside from the quarter inch of freezing fog a few weeks ago, today was our first snow day. Spoiled by nothing but champagne powder last year, I'd almost forgotten what a chore it is to slog through 3" of Cascade cement. 1.95" spiked tire in front, 1.9" semi slick in the rear and I didn't go down even trying some carves in empty parking lots. Definitely gonna put the 2.1" knob back on the back for the next snow ride.

It was a cold ride in at 9 f (-12 c). Tried out a new hood and gloves. The gloves worked fine, but the front panel of the hood would get sucked into my mouth, while riding up hill. Will keep that one for warmer temps. I didn't ride yesterday, because of the winds; they were gusting up to 50 mph ( 80 kph ), and too much stuff flies around in the dark at those gusts.

21 deg F but the wind was gone along the Hudson. Ski gear came out. Really recommend goggles.

Also cold here for my ride in this morning at - 10 C, (14 F). With the wind chill, real feel was -15 C. I did not ride in yesturday for the same reason as you, high winds making real feel temperature - 22 C! With only one more day left commuting into work, I have just passed the 5,000 kilometer mark for 2009.

First ride in about a month - the first mile was rather cold. New stem from Velo-Orange, and new PB Superflash were great. No traffic thanks to holiday week, too, and every light was green - as if a higher power were encouraging me to ride!

My saddle/seatpost interface keeps creaking. It's an old Campy aero seatpost. It looks like a million bucks but it is a pain to get the saddle level and it creaks. But I can't get rid of it. I guess I'm just sentimental that way.

Anyway, the ride in was uneventful other than nearly being left-hooked by the red Acura. I gave her the Death Stare when I caught up to her at the next traffic light. She studiously avoided my gaze.

low to mid 20s in Boston today. tried the Charles River bike path for the first time. went well until I broke a spoke halfway in and limped the rest...

was a good first test of the haul from Santa: lobster gloves, booties, balaclava, baselayer, and orange hunting vest for visibility. was surprisingly warm!

Yesterday was my last bike commute of the year. It was raining this morning, so I decided to drive today. Spent quite a while cleaning my bikes last weekend and didn't feel like doing it all over again. Not a bad year for bike commuting, 3134 miles over 142 days. Off about 500 miles from 2008, mainly due to a knee injury that flared up over summer and way more rainy days than we typically get in NC. Hopefully I will improve on that in 2010.

High 30's and a bit of freezing rain this morning. The roads were mostly wet with sporadic slush, the bridges and over passes had deeper slush but it was fairly grippy and un-frozen. By the time I got to the airport everything seemed to change over to rain. I broke out the balaclava as a means of keeping my throat warm and comfortable, I've had to hammer home a couple of times this week and, sucking in all that cold air seems to have left me without a voice. The forecast calls for most of this to have passed by the time I head home today. Happy New Year everyone! Ride safe in the new year.

Got rid of the creaking with coating the seat post rails, bolts and the rest of the seat post hardware with a light coating of grease. Put a few drops of oil down where the rails go into the seat. That was a year ago and I havn't heard a peep since.

Last ride in of the year the traffic was light, the temperature was warmer, (-1 C), with only a light head wind.
It was fun hanging around here this last year and I would like to wish everbody a happy and safe new year.

Bill.

Genius. I never thought of that. Thanks!

Today was 47F and 100% RH. I was wearing a thin sweater and cordoroy pants and sweaty when I arrived. But my hands were cold. This in-between weather is a pain to dress for.

Riding in the slush of DC which turned into a couple inches of snow in MD. Took it slow and had no probs. I enjoyed cruising along in the snow on the side of the road near my office (lightly traveled road) instead of the wet slush on the road. When I got close to the office, I took a spill as I cornered No harm done, no cars nearby. Nice, relatively gentle slide to the ground. Hoping the slush stays melted for the commute home tonight!