The Chemist

Wet and raining all day today. No problem on the morning commute, but I really don't enjoy riding in the dark and rain together so the ride home tonight wasn't fun.

dcb23

Pleasant ride in, needed the light gloves and hat but still doing shorts.

Blew it out at REI this weekend in preparation for Winter: Ortleib Back Pannier classics replace my throughoughly worn out collapsable baskets (responsible for many a sctratch and torn bag); picked up winter riding pants; rain over pants; sock liners; wool socks; nd some shoe covers for rain...I've been looking for those for ever.

Only thing left are OTG goggles with a clear lens.

making

Rain but very warm for this time of year here, just under 60 degrees. Must have been the first rain we have had for a while. My hi vis jacket has more road grime and sand than I ever remember. Still a very nice ride.

vtjim

36F/2C, no wind. Sun coming up. My hands were a little cold but if I put gloves on, they get too hot. Even in the 20Fs I sometimes take gloves off after a while.

Played hopscotch with a bus. Passed it twice. It passed me twice. Then I caught it at a stop sign before it turned. Buses are slow.

Surrealdeal

I hit 3000 commuting miles on the way in this morning. That'll do it for me, see you all Next April.

Chalupa102

Great, but slow commute in today at 35F and dawn to mostly cloudy with no winds. I had a feeling it was gonna be a slow ride because I woke up feeling pretty drained and tired. Definitely getting to bed early tonight. Also had a minor issue with my tailbox as one of the support pieces broke and was causing the rear wheel to rub. Not sure what I'm gonna do about it, because I'm not going to have much time today when I get home to fix it. It should hold up as long as I am careful at packing my stuff.

tdreyer1

Beautiful ride in. Clear w/ low wind and 50f. Supposed to get all the way up to 80 today.

Had an old lady tell me that she almost hit me the other day. Said I had no lights on my bike. I do have lights, so it makes me worry for the lady's eyesight or some other biker that's riding without lights. Could be a good excuse to get more lights though...

wphamilton

That is just about the scariest kind of thing someone can say to us. She doesn't recognize the danger posed by her own inattentiveness or other defect because she blames you for it, and therefore she'll always be dangerous. At least she warned you so you can see her coming.

gecho

-5C with no wind this morning. My thumbs started getting cold 1/4 way in but eventually warmed back up. There was a bit of ice here and there from yesterday's showers. It might rain tonight, I have the studded mtb on standby just in case.

Today is my 82nd commute, which puts me ahead of last year. Optimistically I'd like to get in another 25 or so before the end of the semester when finals start. If I find a summer job next year, I should easily break this years number of commutes.

CrazyWally

That's awesome Surrealdeal! I'm just a tad over 2000 myself, hope to hit 3000 by year end

The ride in this morning was nice. No wind today for the first time in ~3 weeks, I was amazed at how much better I felt, and how much stronger I was from riding in the winds the last few weeks. Since it's starting to get a bit cooler and my knees were aching last week, I ordered some bike tights from Cold Lizard and am waiting for those to come in. Recommendation was from Icebike.com so I think those will keep me warm enough through the winter.

gecho

I was walking around campus before class and saw posters for Carpool Week. I wanted to see how the prizes compared with the $75 grocery prize they offered for bike to work week (which occurs during the summer break, so I couldn't participate this year as I wasn't taking summer classes).

The university was offering 2 - $500 grocery cards. Plus the provincial sponsors were offering a 3G ipad, Wifi Kindle, a GPS and $700 in gas cards. The only way you can participate is to commute by car. People taking the bus or riding a bike are inelegible.

pityr

First time in the 30s this morning and its beautiful out. Overall uneventful ride other than the seemingly lost driver making things interesting on my way out of downtown. Wish they would teach people that the bike lane is not a break-down/temporary parking lane...

by my conservative calculations I have about 3500 miles across all bike so far this year

mjw16

Nice ride in, cool but comfortable-used my full finger gloves, skull cap, long sleeve shirt and continue to wear shorts. I had a series of flats last week and switched tires/tubes this weekend to Ritchy Cross Max CX tires, the bike handles like a tank but, should be good through the Winter. Also, found an abandoned bike last Friday, an old Peugeot. It's intact with flat tires, rust, dragging brakes and rotted leather saddle. It was entangled in a bush near the airport and I didn't want to leave it fearing someone else would get it. I checked around and no owner appeared to be around, also, it certainly wasn't ridden there-probably dumped from a car in the parking lot or, maybe, it fell off a car driving on the GW Parkway. So, I (slowly) dragged it beside me as I rode the rest of the way home with one hand on the Peugeot's stem and one on my bars. It took me quiet a while to get home and, hills and intersections were kinda scary-but, I didn't wreck. I will canablise the wheels (high flange 27"), brakes (Mafac Racers), stem, handlebars and, stem. I'll sell everything else and make a few $$$.

Igo

First windbreaker of the season. May wear gloves tomorrow morning.

buzzman

Loving these NYC commutes. Yesterday did 47 miles around town total. Today, including a late night run over to Brooklyn, I'm at around 26 miles for the day. The ride back to Manhattan from Brooklyn was stunning on the bridge. Ride up the West Side Path was also wonderful- I just didn't like the two rats that ran right under my bike as I rode along- yeccchhhh!

fletchh

A decent fall ride in at 48 F (9C). Yep, I always feel like you just can't have enough lights. I have 4 flashing in the back and two bright ones up front. I ride in the morning darkness 10 months or more out of the year, so with municipal budgets not being good; they found a way to play games with the street lights. Some are on on some mornings and others are on on other mornings. Some areas are pitch black.

vtjim

Dreary. 49F/9C with light rain.

JPinWI

49 Degrees, Light Rain. Awesome! Must of been the tailwind.

tarwheel 

First day of my longer commute to my fancy new office building. My morning commute increased from about 10 to 14 miles and took about 15 minutes longer, but it was a nice change of pace today because the weather was perfect. Yesterday I had to drive so I could bring items into my new office, so I walked 4 miles at lunch for exercise. Our new building is incredible -- all "green" LEED certified with numerous energy and water conservation features -- but encouraging greener transportation options was a bit of an afterthought. They haven't finished installing bike racks, but won't let us bring our bikes into the building, so I had to park a block away. I always kept my bike inside my office at my old building, so I am a bit paranoid about leaving my bike outside and invested in an expensive Kryptonite lock and cable. Hopefully it will perform as advertised.

BridgeNotTunnel

Cool, about 50 degrees.

Only a couple of other cyclists on the 59th st bridge @ 6:30.

I've given up on my preferred 8 mile route which included some MUP and trails for the old standard 6 mile route, the 8 mile route is closed for construction until "late summer" 2012.

I ordered a lot of cycling/commuting gear in the last week or so.

I decided that the O2 rain gear was a failed experiment in inexpensive rain gear and invested in, Pearl Izumi Elite Barrier Jacket, Turfers Full Monty rain pants, a pair of low rise Bogs brand boots, and Columbia brand waterproof fishing gloves.

Also I have finally purchased cycling specific gloves (fingerless), Pearl Izumi Select Gel.

I ordered a pair of Nashbar Canaan Baggy shorts and an AYL (rechargable) Mini Speaker as well.

I enjoy the little portable stereo speaker I found so much, I thought I might invest in a better quality speaker and see if I can improve the sound quality/volume.

Everything listed above was found on Amazon except the Bogs boots and Columbia gloves (Marshalls).

Surrealdeal

I hit 3000 commuting miles yesterday and called it a season. I didn't get started until May 18th, so I am hoping to get an earlier start in 2012 & reach 4000!

And don't worry, I'll still be out there - This morning I made my official debut as one of those a-hole headphone-wearing joggers.

Don Gwinn

First clipped-in commute today. In the spirit of Doing It All Wrong, I decided to wear my new MTB shoes and give it a shot even though I haven't gotten a chance to practice clipping in and out. I do have Shimano 524s with big platforms around the clips, so I found that it was really easy to ride unclipped, like riding on platforms. But I haven't ridden on platforms since last summer, so that was an odd feeling in itself--very disconnected and insecure at first.

The first 5 miles of my ride is a bike trail, so I had time to play with the clipless there. I found it's actually really easy to unclip, actually a lot simpler than getting my old running shoes out of the toe clips when I'm strapped down. Clipping in was a much greater challenge, because I didn't understand how it was supposed to feel--I was trying to get the pressure to hit where I thought the cleat was, in the middle of my foot, but because of the angle and stiff sole, I felt it most on the ball and big toe of the foot when I hit the clip the right way to get in.

But, man, what a difference! It's not just the locked-in feeling on the pedals; I should have bought cycling shoes years ago. The stiff soles made a HUGE difference. It felt like pedaling effort was greatly reduced. I'm a believer, although I still rode unclipped through most of the traffic areas in town.

CptjohnC

I don't get how people can ride all bundled up! I sweat plenty with shorts and a long sleeve base layer -- I can't imagine doing it in tights, with a hat and neck gaiter, or rockin' a full on parka, as so many of my fellow cyclists are doing it. I did, however, wear full finger gloves today, as my fingers were cold almost the whole way to work yesterday wearing fingerless.

I realized that because of work, weather and other obligations, this was the first week I've ridden two consecutive days since... August? It has really taken a toll on my mileage accumulation rate! I think I'll ride the long way home tonight to make up for taking the short option this morning, but I need to get on the stick if I'm going to actually make 3,000 miles for the year.

idc

I wore a regular short-sleeve cycling top, a shell jacket, a "Buff" around my neck, shorts, legwarmers, and my regular gloves today. Fingers were a bit cold but as usual I was too warm by the time I got to work.

I know what you mean, I saw a lot of folks out with their jackets on. But I think it depends on how long your commute is. Mine is < 25 mins so I'm cold for a bit, nice for a bit and too warm for a bit. Overall - not too bad.

Don Gwinn

I sweated it out in my makeshift clothes: Canari shorts, an old pair of soft workout pants tucked into my new merino socks from Joneswares (I absolutely approve of these, will buy more--very comfortable.) A polyester "golf shirt" on top to try to get at least a little wicking action better than a cotton t-shirt, and a bright yellow IGOLD hooded sweatshirt over that. Forgot my new wool skullcap, which was OK, because I absolutely did not need it or gloves. I'm still kind of guessing at this, and this morning the weather faked me out--it was 57 degrees Fahrenheit when I got out of the car. It'll be in the thirties later this week, and I'll probably want more coverage. I need to get some kind of more breathable top than that sweatshirt next, but this morning worked pretty well. I have the merino skullcap to cover my ears when I need it, and the balaclava is in my pannier waiting for the true cold.