That's awesome.

A rare near 50 degree night time December ride to work. The streets were damp, but the air was dry. In the morning I should have a 20 mph tailwind for the ride home, it will be nice way to finish the year of commuting.

Cold and frosty at 20 F ( -7 C). No wind and the roads are dry from the wind and salt, so no there was no ice. Yesterday afternoon was warm in the 40s F ( single digits C), and I hear we are to get some more of that for a couple more days. Party for new years will be outside.

Nice ride in, hammies are sore from not having ridin (or exercised at all much) for a week or so. Lots of salt pushed into some of the bike lanes but overall a good ride.

22f with a light dusting of snow, nice and crisp air and fast ride in on big blue

Tired and sluggish this morning. I started lifting this week, after a 3+ year layoff (torn rotator cuff), and doing core exercises, as well as a lunch time ride that probably doubled my daily mileage so, I was on empty this morning and took the opportunity to take it easy and spin in. I'm excited about our lunch time rides, I've never been able to participate in something like this, we'll use it for fun as well as an opportunity for some focussed training-it's great that the other guys are really into it. It's also good news that we're getting a break from the sub-freezing temps and high winds, next week looks good so far. dcb23 is right, there is so much salt in the bike lanes in DC, it's an inch deep in some places, I hope this weekend's rain washes it away-it can't be good for one's drive train.

Last commuting day of 2010, and I took the short ride, which was, I think, smart, given how my legs feel after yesterday's long ride home. I need to total my miles, but I think I'll be a bit over 1200. Not too bad considering I only started riding in May, and didn't start tracking miles at all until June. If I rode every day, all the way from home to work and back, I could theoretically hit right around 9600 miles in a year. a bit over 10% represents a good start, right?

Nice and sunny, about 32, a little slushy, but generally great!

Between the snow storm that dumped a foot of snow on the city, and being sick, I've barely been on my bike at all in the past 2 weeks. I've been using public transit to get to work this week. Today, a bit more of the snow had melted, so I took my folding bike and rode the subway part of the way. Bike lanes are still covered in snow, so even riding to/from the subway stop was a bit harrowing--I took the lane but drivers were NOT happy about that.

Nice chilly ride in today at -4C/24F. Dressed well and all my Christmas presents worked great. Yesterday I noticed my brake pads were worn out... Cheap MEC pads didn't even last 800 km until they were metal on metal! The wear line is nowhere near the end of the rain groove. Had to rid home without using the rear brakes at all. Closest shop only had Shimano Cantilever shoes so that's what I've got. I'll have to pick up some Kool Stop pads next time I place an order.

Rode the bike home from the office last night where it had been for a week while my arm was in a sling. Legs felt great but every bump in the road was hurting my arm bad. Gonna give it a few more days to heal up. Just managed to squeak over 4000 miles for the year.

I don't suppose that DC drivers could be convinced to just learn to drive on ice? Only highways and expressways are salted here, and we seem to get along just fine. Hills and four-ways on lower speed roads are merely graveled (which makes for amazingly terrible gravel drifts come spring, but the city is mandated to clear them out by late May, I believe).

Full on heatwave here, with temps into the lower 20s (F)! It always amazes me how warm reasonable winter temps feel after a cold snap. Much like the wind, acclimatization can be a beautiful thing when it goes in the right direction.

Unfortunately, warm temps plus fresh snow makes for a sweaty ride. Especially when one attempts to ride off trail! The Fish Creek estuary, swampy in the summer, freezes solid in the winter and is commonly used as a skier's shortcut from my neighborhood to the Coastal Trail. I though that I might try biking it on the way home tonight, because how hard could it be to stay on the packed ski track? Well, when the track is only 3" wide and buried under several inches of fresh snow, considerably hard, it turns out. Had to push through the grassy bits, could ride over the solid ice bits, but overall my shortcut was pretty much a longcut.



^From the railroad trail that links the estuary to my neighborhood, lights are only on because the iPhone takes terrible night photos; I had more than enough ambient light from the city glow reflecting off of the snow to navigate by. The trail had a few hills so steep that I couldn't gear low enough to ride up in the fresh snow, and had to walk. I think that I might swap out the 36t chainring for a 32t for the remainder of the winter.

@GriddleCakes: You have earned my respect, sir. The conditions you regularly ride in make my winter commute look like a Caribbean beach cruise.

12f crazy windy, and my orange juice froze on my ride in

Abbreviated--got to the train station and saw my neighbor, who informed me of the "adjusted holiday schedule" of the trains. Translation: 25 minutes until the next train. So I biked back home (5 minutes this leg of the journey), got the car, picked up my neighbor from the train station and dropped her off at work and went on my way. When I got to the other part of my (usually) bike commute, I was sad not to be on my bike. But I did notice both a car battery and a log (WTF) that I would have had to negotiate around from the bike lane that runs alongside the road where I ride.

31F, brilliant sunshine. A bit chilly at first but was comfortable by the time I got to the office. Except for the very tip of my left ring finger. I should have worn thicker gloves.

Anyone here order some mid-winter freezing rain with steady 15 mph winds? Because I surely didn't, so I must've received someone else's weather by mistake. Whomever you are, please be so kind as to come and retrieve your crappy weather by Sunday night at the latest.

Thanks, but it isn't as hard, and I'm not as hardcore, as it looks. Adverse weather can be dressed for, and as long as I can make the bike go, I'd rather pedal in it than drive in it. My respect goes to anyone who cycles in dense city traffic; riders in New York, New Orleans, DC, LA, Boston, Dallas, and Chicago, for example. Anchorage is a spread out town, and people don't cluster up like they do out east. Heck, I spend 75% of my time on car-free MUPs. You can dress for weather, but for traffic you just have to grit your teeth and jostle for position. To me, that's hardcore.

Also, happy funkin' new year, everyone! May 2011 bring you nothing but tailwinds!

Your awesomeness is overshadowed only by your level of humility.

BTW, what type of mirror are you using in that pic? I need one that can clamp onto either my trekking bars or bar ends, since I don't have a free bar end to use. I bought a Zéfal Spy, but I find it a little underwhelming.

^^^
The mirror is Rivendell's German Mirror, and I'm pretty fond of it. I wish that the stem was an inch longer, since I have to twist my wrist to move my arm to better see behind me. But it doesn't rattle, it doesn't move out of position, and it's pretty easy to fold out of the way at the bike rack.

Rode my commute route today to check the MUP conditions and drop my laptop off in my locker. It was -14c with a few cm of fresh snow.

The plan was to relax a bit and warm up before heading home. Unfortunately there were signs on all the doors at the university saying the buildings were closed until the 4th. This included the undergound parking where the bike cage and my lock are located. I rode over to one of the residence buildings and found an open entrance where I could warm my feet up.

Other than my feet getting cold it was a nice 34km ride. I had to make a detour on the way home to warm up at a hockey rink. I should probably start carrying my 2nd lock for when I have to make warmup pit stops.

40F/4C with a warm south wind. MUP is in great shape for biking, condensed snow with a melt/freeze ice layer on top (except for the bridges, where the pack is roughly 4 inches of slush over hardpack); it's also empty, since it's terrible for walking and skiing. Minor roads are holding on to their ice cover, which is nice, but major roadways are a slushy, sloppy mess. Most of the alleys that I use to navigate downtown were awash under snow and ice melt. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Breakup sucks, and should only be suffered once per year. Although it was a bit of a novelty to ride home with no jacket and rolled up sleeves in January.

Also, I haven't worked a Sunday in forever (covering for a sick co-worker), and had forgotten how empty the roads are at 7:30am on a Sunday morning. Felt like I had the whole city to myself, until I saw a couple of cars downtown. It was nice.

A rare near 50 degree night time December ride to work.

Someone needs to buy a new calendar. Welcome to 2011.

It was one of those strange mornings, not bad temp wise 25 F ( -3 C ). I started it off with seeing a dead fox by a bus stop, with it's center
eaten. It will no doubt be an interesting conversation at that bus stop this morning. At my worst intersection, there was allot of plastic fender debris from some accident. I hate that intersection. On my way I saw one strange dog walker, with a dog, I don't usually see in the dark. Then
going through a residential area, something came running out of a side street, running in the road. I moved over, but it kept adjusting to me, finally, I crossed the yellow line, and it moved closer to the curb. As it ran by in the dark, it was bundled up way too much to be a runner, and it was all dark running in the road.

Today was my first day back on the bike for the full commute (no subway + bike) since 2 weeks ago. Between the flu and the snow storm, it's been a lazy couple of weeks. There was still some snow piled up in the bike lane, along with lots of debris, glass, salt, etc from the roads getting plowed. Got stuck behind a bus for a while; other than that it was a nice ride.

Fletchh--sounds like a creepy morning!