Much milder temps than I expected and the sleet/snow that was forecast didn't happen. The roads were only moderately wet with intermittant sprinkles. The headwind was annoying but, not unbearable. I'm at a new location for the week and have had to change my route. I've been coming down Indpendence to 4th Street and, in rush hour traffic, it has been a little hair raising. On Monday I just bolted down Independance, dodging cars and busses and was a little frazzled. I tried the sidewalk option yesterday but, that is slow and tedious, especially with all the pedestrians. This morning I tried yet another route, I went 1 blk. past Independance and came down the Mall. What an improvement, I had the road to myself, all the way to 4th Street where I cut over for a couple of blocks. This is a much safer and relaxing option, well worth the (slightly) increased distance. My bike is now resting comfortably beside me in my cube as I write this and shop for new tires. As I look out the window it seem the weather is improving, I hope that's the case for this afternoon's ride home.

Walked 2.5 miles to the bus this morning. (Beer after work!)

But, in response to the Virginia MUP picture, here's a Vermont MUP picture. Looking south. Lake Champlain on the right. Winooski River under the bridge.

photo48.jpg

Stupid, stupid! I forgot that my new bike doesn't yet have fenders, and rode in street clothes; my pants got soaked where I sit. (I changed into rain pants on the train, but it still sucks.)

Ha! I'm inspired to share my own tale of idiocy: Yesterday, before setting out for home, I unhooked my cantilever brakes to adjust the toe-in. And then I headed out to the street. Fortunately, the first stoplight I came to was on on upslope; gravity saved the day. (I have children, so I don't think I'd have qualified for a Darwin Award.)

Perhaps we need a thread for stupid commuting tricks!

Weather was nicer than I anticipated as well. The wind was annoying, though, for sure. And since I'm probably meeting up with my wife after work for a free movie thing and then taking the bike home on metro, I won't even get the benefit of a tailwind going home. Bummer.

I am looking forward to the nice weather this weekend and am trying to figure out a way to get everything done that I need to and make time for the VASA ride here in DC. I'd like to at least do the Kort Vasa, if not the Half. Then have blueberry soup!

40F and foggy. Trailering 5 yr old both ways and accompanying 8.5 yr old home tonight but my wife rode in w/ him this morning.

I was hoping to wait out the rain, but it was still coming down pretty well my whole ride. Of course, by the time I arrived at work I was beginning to enjoy the ride. I should know better.

My commute was pretty nice -- the temperature here in Louisville is deeply reasonable today, and since I was riding in at 10:15 AM, instead of 7:15 AM, there were few cars on the road. I mixed the route up a little and took one of our multi-use paths partway. I have come to enjoy riding in traffic, but it was really nice to really just sit up and relax for a change.

EKW: That VASA ride looks like a lot of fun, I'd love to do it too but for the fact that my wife and I are heading out of town this weekend. Blueberry soup? Sounds........interesting........... Looks like our ride home will be a wet one, a co-worker said there's a light rain out there. Oh well, Spring/Summer will be here before we know it.

A beautiful almost spring day in NWIN! Mid 40's with a stiff (head on!) breeze. Almost warm enough to forgo the goretex jacket..... Almost.

I remember commenting recently that I hadn't been harassed in quite a while. Must've forgot to knock on wood. Coming home from the store last night, stopping at a three way, when the middle-aged man in the oncoming yells out of his window, "Hit the guy on the bike!". I guess he was yelling to the two cars behind me, but I'm pretty sure that I'm the only person who heard him. It's winter, and everyone's windows are rolled up. Bewildering.

Today it felt like I was flying to class, in the top gear all the way down Fireweed Blvd. Found out why when I came back home into a 15 mph headwind. 40F and blowing, with the forecast for 2 to 6 inches tonight and tomorrow. Could be a bus day, could be a bike day.

Wind in my face on the way in. Slowed me down a bit. Light rain/snow mix.

Bought some new gloves that are reflective. They seem to work as far as getting cars to notice my hand signals. Glad I got 'em.

Winter hangs on here in Beantown- it ain't gone yet.

A very cold breeze and lots of black ice this morning at 22 F ( -5 C). Other than that and a couple inattentive drivers, it was a good ride.

Thanks to CCrew - I'm back in the saddle after not commuting since late January due to the snow - oh and an office move that left me plowing through online maps to figure out the best way to get in. Felt great to be back on the bike!!

W&OD/Custis trails were much better than I thought they'd be. Ran studs and really only needed them through a couple of sections in Falls Church.

So true. The northerly wind pushed me along this morning, but I have my eye on the hourly forecast: it's gonna build into a gruesome headwind by the end of the day.

Yup, great ride this am.. They must have heard you were coming which is why they finally plowed the trail

first commute of the year today...it's 40'F, sunny in central CT. Roads are dry, little sandy. Despite torn rotator cuff I rode an SS in.

I was supposed to have surgery on shoulder today, but doctor called it off due to a death in the family. I guess you call this seizing the opportunity. Riding is about the only thing I can do without pain.

cheers

Cold this morning, very sunny, not sure what the temp was. Weather channel had it at 10, My-cast called it 27. It felt like about 20. Very heavy traffic.

The fellow who thaught that crushed limestone is great for a bike path never rode it in march. Noticed some slippage on the ice, probably time to think about new studs.

2nd commute of 2010... rode my old Specialized Hardrock... despite my non-existent winter training regimen, I felt OK but the gearing, positioning and outfit of my bike made the ride fairly slow... it's like the bike wants to stop rather than go... kinda the opposite of my Aurora. We'll see how the ride home is...

Getting home the other night I had to pedal really hard through the two or three inches of slush / snow on the canal towpath, hard enough to bend the pedal in the threads. That is, the crank arm threads gave way. I do carry a pedal wrench (6 mm allen key) and did tighten it up, but the damage was done. I had to keep riding --4 miles from home-- and by the time I got there, the pedal was ready to fall out entirely. Crank arm totally shot.

Not sure why this happened; this crank arm hadn't had trouble before, and the pedal wasn't loose in the threads. I'm thinking this is a disadvantage of short crank arms (155 mm); the shorter crank arm has less leverage so really hard pedaling puts unusually high torque on it. Anyway, I replaced the crank arm with an even shorter one.

This mornings ride was my first "I want to ride my bike" commute in the rain. 40 degrees and a slight drizzle. The T700 handled it pretty well though, and I'm glad I swapped brake pads to Koolstops.

40F and clammy. Felt really strong today, don't know why. The baklava at lunch yesterday?

This morning I had to get to work early so I left the house at 5:30 am. This was the first morning this year I left the balaclava at home. Nice weather (in the 40s) and a beautiful sunrise. One benefit to riding early is that all the dogs and dip***** drivers are still asleep.

Went multi-modal last night, sort of. Rode my bike to the Nat'l Archives - met my wife and saw Food, Inc., the documentary. If you haven't seen it yet, BTW, please do. It'll make you think twice about what we eat and where it comes from. It's nominated for best documentary feature at this year's Oscars, too. Anyway, after the movie, metro'ed home w/ my wife and my bike on the train. Sure missed my afternoon ride for sure, though.

The ride in this morning was windy... again. This 15-20 mph headwind w/ gusts to 25-30 EVERY morning thing is getting old. Can't wait for some less breezy days. At least I'm riding home tonight, so if the wind keeps up, I'll get the benefit of the tailwind. At least the sun is out again, and the temperatures have been really comfortable for riding w/ a hacket and full finger gloves on (30s in the AM 40s in the PM).

Looking forward to the end of next week, when I will hit 500 miles of commuting for the year so far. Would have had that many already were it not for the freak winter weather we've had.