How was the commute today? Continued.
#3252
Senior Member


Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 30,465
Likes: 4,547
From: 25 miles northwest of Boston
Bikes: Bottecchia Sprint, GT Timberline 29r, Marin Muirwoods 29er, Trek FX Alpha 7.0
re: "Reason to pause before "going" on a green light and checking intersection first: vehicles traveling at a high rate of speed blowing their red light with nary a brake tap"
+1000!
+1000!
#3253
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 448
Likes: 0
I think I have found the temperature limit for the wardrobe currently in my possession. With the wind chill it was -23 degrees Celsius for my ride into work this morning and that was a head wind. I was quite cold and had a difficult time shifting my frozen bike. I had to avoid the side streets because they still have not bothered to plow them. I would be dancing in the street if the temperature were 35 degrees Fahrenheit, the snow melts at that temperature.
#3254
Full review here. In case your mouth isn't already watering enough.
I always get burnt out on them or too busy when blogging myself. Not to mention the overload of blogs I read now
Ride in was nice I was tempted to wear shorts. 70F
The heat is coming folks.
Lots of yielding to peds today. Lots of saying hello and waving. Even got to ring my bell in response to another bicyclist. (so rare I wasn't sure if it would work. ) Non eventful which is how it should always be.
I can't wait for the ride home, nice long weekend coming up.
Last edited by wheel; 01-09-10 at 07:12 PM.
#3255
You gonna eat that?
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 14,917
Likes: 543
From: Fort Worth, Texas Church of Hopeful Uncertainty
Bikes: 1966 Raleigh DL-1 Tourist, 1973 Schwinn Varsity, 1983 Raleigh Marathon, 1994 Nishiki Sport XRS
#3257
Nice ride in this afternoon to work and a nice ride home. Low temp tonight on the ride was 13〫F but I was very comfy- almost too warm, particularly on the ride in. Chose to do the bike path on the way home tonight. Lonely, quiet, icy and fun at midnight.
#3258
I kept my commute from work on the shortest route possible, since I was too tired from at the cleaning and fixing up the damage from our local 6.5 earthquake that occurred yesterday.
#3259
Senior Member


Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 30,465
Likes: 4,547
From: 25 miles northwest of Boston
Bikes: Bottecchia Sprint, GT Timberline 29r, Marin Muirwoods 29er, Trek FX Alpha 7.0
where-a-bouts do you live and what kind of damage was there? what kind of cleaning did you have to do?
#3261
Older than dirt
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 5,342
Likes: 2
From: Winchester, VA
Bikes: Too darn many.. latest count is 11
A positively balmy 11 degrees when I left this morning
. Only the toes got cold, biggest issue was lots of ice on the W&OD, and I'm not running studded tires. I think they're in my future... this has been the snowiest winter in a few years. When I buy studs it'll stop tho!
. Only the toes got cold, biggest issue was lots of ice on the W&OD, and I'm not running studded tires. I think they're in my future... this has been the snowiest winter in a few years. When I buy studs it'll stop tho!
#3262
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 766
Likes: 0
From: Columbia, Maryland
Bikes: Trek 820 mtb, A no name red steel pipe bike, my commuter
It was a cold ride this morning at 8 F ( -13 C). Still riding around patches of ice and snow. On Wed they are calling for 40 F ( 4 C ). One can only hope.
#3263
Senior Member
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 8,896
Likes: 7
From: Raleigh, NC
Bikes: Waterford RST-22, Bob Jackson World Tour, Ritchey Breakaway Cross, Soma Saga, De Bernardi SL, Specialized Sequoia
We've had the longest sustained cold spell in years since the beginning of January, but oddly have not broken any low-temperature records. However, I have tied my previous coldest commute 3 times in the past 5 days of commuting with morning lows of 17, 17, 18, 19 and 17 F. I knew it was cold this morning when my water bottle froze so much that I couldn't get a drink. I'm getting used to riding in the cold, though. Went on a 40-mile group ride yesterday where the temps ranged from about 27-32 F, and it felt positively balmy.
#3264
multimodal commuter
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 19,810
Likes: 597
From: NJ, NYC, LI
Bikes: 1940s Fothergill, 1959 Allegro Special, 1963? Claud Butler Olympic Sprint, Lambert 'Clubman', 1974 Fuji "the Ace", 1976 Holdsworth 650b conversion rando bike, 1983 Trek 720 tourer, 1984 Counterpoint Opus II, 1993 Basso Gap, 2010 Downtube 8h, and...
Cold, cold, cold. Tomorrow I have to wear thicker gloves. The snow on the canal towpath is getting rutted --mostly by me, since I've ridden it several times now-- and the ruts are turning to ice, but if it gets much worse I won't be able to ride it any more. Then I'll have to leave a little earlier to ride to Trenton (7 miles) rather than Hamilton (5.5 miles), not a big deal.
Oh, and check this out: on Friday, on my ride home, I found two nice new crisp $100 bills! I spotted them blowing between two cars driving down the street next to me, so I slowed down, waited for the cars to go by, and grabbed them. How often does that happen!
Oh, and check this out: on Friday, on my ride home, I found two nice new crisp $100 bills! I spotted them blowing between two cars driving down the street next to me, so I slowed down, waited for the cars to go by, and grabbed them. How often does that happen!
#3265
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 448
Likes: 0
Monday morning and the ride in was not to bad. Minus 8 with a wind chill of minus 16 degrees Celsius. The roads are not as snow choked so the studs were really singing on the pavement. A tip for people in the colder climates, I put my glove liners and balaclava on the heat register when preparing my breakfast then when it is time to go they are cozy warm. When at work, I put them on top of my computer tower.
#3266
Member
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 41
Likes: 0
In a word.. Sloppy. Lots of wet melting snow, thank goodness for fenders!
#3267
You gonna eat that?
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 14,917
Likes: 543
From: Fort Worth, Texas Church of Hopeful Uncertainty
Bikes: 1966 Raleigh DL-1 Tourist, 1973 Schwinn Varsity, 1983 Raleigh Marathon, 1994 Nishiki Sport XRS
Commuted to my new office for the first time today. I rode maybe halfway with a friend of mine who works at the same company but in a different building, then rode the rest solo. One way distance to the new office is 17 miles, roughly an hour and a half with a couple of stops (at one point there are three of us riding together). A little chilly at 29*F. While we were waiting for the third rider to join us I pulled the hood from my hoodie up over my balaclava and then I was fine except for my popsicle toes. A couple cups of coffee at work and I'm all warmed up.
#3268
1st time commuting this year. It was 15F when I started, and was 22F when I arrived at work. I appreciated when I can feel the temperature rising.
It took me 1.5 hours for 13 miles.
It took me 1.5 hours for 13 miles.
#3269
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 2,053
Likes: 0
From: Alexandria, VA
Bikes: Trek 830 Mountain Track Drop bar conversion

Ride in was good. I'm getting used to this riding around with weather feeling like it's in the teens *F thing. In fact, I'm afraid I'm going to be downright hot on Friday, when they're predicting a daytime high of 50*F here. That's right! 50!!! Heat wave. LOL
On another weather-related note, I'm glad the winds are dying down, too. Knowing that every morning commute last week was going to involve a 15-20 mph headwind was no fun. Today's ride felt like a breeze (no pun intended) w/o the headwind.
#3270
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 183
Likes: 0
From: Chicago, IL
Bikes: Sputnik
left a half an hour early today... around 6:20. streets were deserted... saw no other bikers or $100 bills. Going on my 2nd week with my awesome gloves. Its such a great feeling to be able to feel your fingers for an entire ride.
#3271
Senior Member

Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 40,863
Likes: 3,115
From: Sacramento, California, USA
Bikes: Specialized Tarmac, Canyon Exceed, Specialized Transition, Ellsworth Roots, Ridley Excalibur
First day I was able to hook up with my training partners for a pre-work ride. Good god, are we out of shape!
#3272
GATC

Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 8,839
Likes: 183
From: south Puget Sound
45F and raining. Now, 4 hrs later, it's 46F and raining.
#3273
Senior Member

Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 40,863
Likes: 3,115
From: Sacramento, California, USA
Bikes: Specialized Tarmac, Canyon Exceed, Specialized Transition, Ellsworth Roots, Ridley Excalibur
#3275
GATC

Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 8,839
Likes: 183
From: south Puget Sound
I've had good luck coaxing my 8 yr old out into downpours. He doesn't complain about it anymore, just takes it in and does it.






