38 and damp when I left so it felt cold. Wore balaclava for first time and was glad of it. My lighter gloves with glove liners were almost not enough. If morning temps drop much more I'll have to switch to the heavier gloves.

But I zooooomed to work this morning. No traffic to speak of. Encountered yet another construction sign in the bike lane rather than on the shoulder. Unfortunately I couldn't move it myself b/c the sandbag was way too heavy.

Looks like light traffic this afternoon too so hoping to get out of work a bit early for a nice ride home for the weekend.

A week ago Friday............Dark and bloody.
About half a mile from home, I hit a sharp piece of metal with my rear tire. Tube exploded, bike fishtailed, I lost control and went over the bars, landed right shoulder down in the gutter in front of a bus stop crowded with high school students. I got up, collected myself and my scattered belongings including my Specialized Tarmac. Both Mavic Ksyriums were too bent up to roll, so I started walking home carrying the bike. I got home 15 mins later, got dressed and drove to work.
Right around lunch time the pain started to kick in.
1) right knee swollen like a cantalope
2) road rash on right hip, right shoulder, and right elbow
3) bruised or broken ribs on right side making deep breaths painful
4) right calf sore and stretched

And I did ALL this by myself! No cars, no pedestrians, no peleton....just me, my bike, and a hunk of metal.

Upon further inspection, the rear wheel had a hole punched all the way through it by the hunk of metal.

I have had better commutes...including the day I got a ticket for track standing at a red light!

First time commuting by bike to my new workplace. 12Km each way.
Just fitted fenders and lights to my budget citybike (BTWin Vitamin, a singlespeed chainstore bike that goes for 79Eur, to which I fitted a selfbuilt wheel with a Nexus Inter-8 IGH, dynohub, decent tires and V-brakes). The frame is hi-ten steel and feels like it's made from uranium.
Was greeted by a fellow bike commuter, felt so good beating the traffic jams, will repeat but next time wearing other clothes because I arrived all flushed and sweaty. Took 35min when by car it takes 45-60min (yeah, the traffic really is that bad).

Ouch! Here's to hoping that you're feeling better, and have better luck on your next commute.

I think this is the end of the unseasonbly warm weather, next week back to cold commutes. Very dark ride but still having lighting problems. Good news is that the DIY lights are actually bright enough, too bad the connectors on the Everready are junk. Can't take the road vibration.

Rear lights are so bright I think they atract drivers like moths. Quite a few close passes.

yeah, last day for the year I would guess where it was well into the 50s. Missed the rain this morning by a few minutes. Tried out my new light (Colleen recommended) MG P-Rocket. Let's hope it holds up better than the P7s I had before.

45 in the morning, 60 coming home. Kinda cold on the way in, especially my sensitive finger. But going home it was too warm for what I was wearing.

I had to buy a taillight for the ride home. I thought to put it on my bike after using it as a Halloween prop (a skeleton's beating heart) but then didn't actually do it. I had the headlight at least.

Rode home last night.
Cold and damp. Sure can feel winter creeping in.

No commute today but got a really nice 20 mile ride in.

went for casual ride to newcastle harbour which ended up a 47klm ride,averaged 22 kph and fastest speed was 52kph on a downhill on the way home
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j3...eHarbour-2.jpg

It's Sunday morning so it wasn't really a commute, but I woke up early and had an urge to ride my bike, so I left around 6am, it was around 50F and clear. I ended up riding to the top of nearby shopping mall that has the best views in the area (and "No bicycling" signs LOL) and snapped some shots.

Some beauty and serenity can be found in Gotham on Sunday morning :)

http://a-world.net/files/cycling/201...a-IMG_0071.jpg

http://a-world.net/files/cycling/201...a-IMG_0079.jpg

http://a-world.net/files/cycling/201...a-IMG_0081.jpg

http://a-world.net/files/cycling/201...a-IMG_0085.jpg

And for those craving urban shots:

http://a-world.net/files/cycling/201...a-IMG_0091.jpg

Beautiful photos, Adam. Such colors. I love the birds on the fence. Thanks for sharing a view I'll never see since I only acknowledge one 7 o'clock per day. ;)

Sunday, Noveember 14, 2010. Rode up to Hoover Resevoir (Ohio) about 8am. 45f. The water level up there was down about 17’.
It made for some great fat tire riding on dirt. A real unique experience for these parts. Being able to ride on areas
that are usually under water. It was like a moonscape. Rocky in parts with loose dirt. Lotta fun.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4147/...72f97d7638.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4133/...3964090df0.jpg
Riding thru a dried up seaweed bed.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4089/...480076d0f9.jpg

That looks fun. I hope it wasn't windy? Was it dry enough not to be slippery?

LOL! My wife said she prefers sunsets.... because you don't have to get up early :D Yeah, the one with birds is my favorite!

I like to say that I AM up early. It's just that my "early" is between midnight and 1 a.m. :p

Cool moonscape, Scott!

Got a nice 14 mile loop in checking out some road projects and a Linier park (MUP) that is going in in my area. Specifically the one that was going to run me hop on the mup in my neighborhood and jump up to a new road to take me right up me to my current office on a new 4 lane with bike lane. Too bad a month ago we found out we are moving and I will no longer be using these daily when they are done. :( But I can still hop on it and loop out and back to get some extra miles in on the ride home to make up for the 2.3 miles I am loosing (each way).

Looks like a postcard! Beautiful country.

It turned out to be an unexpectedly warm ride this morning at 46 F ( 7 C). I had to adjust my clothing before I left. I knew we were expecting rain this
week, so I guess this is all part of it.

Left 30 minutes early this morning and noticed a major difference in traffic (or lack thereof). The roads had about 1/3 the volume of cars, which made the ride that much nicer. Every other cyclist I saw was riding without lights or reflective gear despite the thick fog. Got a little damp from the fog, which I wasn't expecting.

Tough commute this morning due to tired legs. I had a long weekend and made the best of it, riding a bunch of miles, including 60 on Sunday. It was cold this morning and I was having trouble generating enough energy to warm up since my legs were so pitiful. That and catching just about every red light on my route made for a slow ride. It's supposed to warm up near 70 F this afternoon and hopefully my legs will feel better by then.

Nice morning 44f nice temp to start off the week

Tired legs for me too! Richmond marathon Sat....any others out there run it? First time for me and it was great. What a perfect morning commute today with overcast skies, moist air, not cold at all. I gotta savor this as I go into my first Winter of bike commuting.

Oh and saw dozens of Tweed riders out in DC on Sunday, including one of those jumbo wheel bikes.

First commute back after missing out last week. Had a broken spoke and no time to make it to the LBS. Finally fixed all that. Ha da nice 17 mile fun ride Saturday afternoon and finally a commute this AM. Like dcb23 said, it was a beautiful morning for a commute. Temp in the mid 40s, cloudy, a little fog. I really enjoyed the ride. For once I don't have to stew all day about how I'm going to have to take metro home... :)

^Definitely some awesome pics posted up.

Excellent commute in at 45F and mostly cloudy with winds from the NNW @ 3mph. This morning was the fastest commute I've ever had for the trip in, which was 16.5mph average. I beat my PB from Friday by about 1mph. I had to check a few different sources to make sure that I actually had a slight headwind and not a crazy tailwind helping me out. The funny thing is that I also didn't get as much sleep as I usually do. It was nice because I got some extra studing time in for my test in my first class.

Damp ride in this morning in the dark. Not the best time to fuss with new gear, but after a bit I started to get used to the toe clips and straps. Not as nice as a set of clipless, but better than my back up pedals used to be. I lost a dust cap for my regular pedals and haven't been able to find a replacement yet. I'm insisting that this bike be one I can take for rides with my son, so it must be compatible with street shoes.

Not good doesn't really begin to describe it. Oh, in fairness, it could have been MUCH worse. But honestly - I don't know if it was me or just a bad day. As others have mentioned, the weather wasn't bad -- overcast/ cloudy, but no rain. Not too warm, but still fine in shorts. A recipe for what should have been a fine day.

Unfortunately, incident #1 was pretty much all me. I have to 'merge' (really a right/left transition) each day from the towpath to the Capital Crescent trail. I was running late this AM, so I was, I admit, in a bit of a hurry. I was watching the CCT from the towpath, to see if I was going to have to wait for traffic when I merged. It was looking pretty clear, but I wasn't accounting for a couple of faster moving road bikes who appeared after my last check. Worse, I wasn't thinking about the surface quality (gravel) of this transition. The final straw was my own indecision -- get out quick or stop... I think I tried to do both, with predictable results. Down I went, and worse, because of my momentum, I was sprawled across the CCT, so my main concern was getting out of the way. I'm sure I looked quite the fool. The good part of this was that I fell quite nicely, no injury to me (thanks, gloves) and my ride appeared to be completely unscathed. Some dust on my pannier.

Incident #2 was also preventable through smarter riding, though not 'my fault' -- the truck driver's inattention is not my responsibility, though I acknowledge that I must take charge of my own survival. I was on Water Street under the Whitehurst freeway, riding to the left hand side of the right lane, when a delivery truck decided to pull into the right lane without signaling or checking to see if it was clear, evidently. I was wearing high-vis yellow jacket, running front and rear blinkies, and generally doing my best to 'stand out'. What I could have done better, I suppose, was a) recognizing that he might come right (despite his lack of a signal) and/or b) taking the main lane instead of the right lane. I'm not sure if he heard my yelling, finally saw me, or just happened to stop, but I managed to get through it unscathed.

I will admit that after this second incident, I was thinking about taking metro home tonight. But the rest of the ride was uneventful, and I made pretty good time overall (about 13.5 MPH avg. speed)

I installed my studded tires yesterday, which was perhaps a good thing since the roads and trails were pretty slick this morning. Rain on and off all weekend in low temperatures and freezing last night in the 'burbs left things a bit icy. Nothing too terrible - it didn't seem like cars were having much trouble, but it looked to me like drivers were taking it a little easier today. About -0.5C/31F when I left home, but I think it was above freezing downtown.

As I left my residential area and merged onto the main road, I suddenly felt a tear emerge from my right eye. It was at least another 30 seconds before I realized I had forgotten my cycling glasses. Rode without them, but definitely prefer having them on.

50F, misty. Kind of gritting my teeth waiting for winter but it just isn't time yet I guess.

A chilly morning today. I converted my bike from a 3x6 derailleur setup to a 3 speed IGH last night, and it feels like a totally different bike to ride. Thankfully my homebuilt wheel held up just fine (a first attempt at wheelbuilding for me) and the three gears feel about right in terms of range. I've lost a bit off the high end, but those gears rarely got used anyway, and I can always coast if I spin out. All in all a nice, cold commute today.

-3C for the ride in and 0C for the ride home. With snow on the ground I'd really like the temperature to be around -10C to keep things dry. I've been having to wipe down the drive train and re-lube every day since the middle of last week.

I took the MUP home, mostly to see the condition of it. It has been plowed, but not all the way to pavement so it is very bumpy with clumps of ice and snow everywhere. Definitely not something to try riding in the dark.