dygituljunky

Summary from a few days (my laptop died and the computers at work are getting so slow that it takes 10 minutes to close a window):

Tuesday, I rode down to the daycare with the trailer to pick up my daughter. I got there and realized that I forgot my helmet. I turned around and went back home. As I was getting close the house end of the driveway, the leaves underneath my wheel start sliding along with me. I, of course, ended up with a scratched palm and a bruised knee. My bike ended up with a bent fender support, a bent bell, and the left brake pushed out of place. I then rode back down to the daycare and again back up close to our house to the polling station, then back to the house. My brother got 20% of the vote for his run for a city council seat ... not bad for a 22-year old.

Yesterday's ride wasn't bad at all. I'm glad I bought gloves on the way in to work because I needed them on the way home.

Today was cool on the way in but there was no happy medium between layers on a layers off. I went with being a little warm and put the layers on. It should be freezing or sub-freezing-point temperatures on the way home in the morning.

wphamilton

We have our season's first frost this morning, and it turns out to be a pleasant temperature for my rig. Maybe a little cooler than I like. I wore a leather jacket for warming up but quickly stripped down to a regular jersey and gloves. I think that low to mid 30's will be the sweet spot where I can commute in regular work clothes.

cehowardGS

Chilly and dark, but oh so sweet. My Centurion Master just loves to ease up to 25 mph+ and gobble up ground. The whole time I am saying "oh boy". Temps were in the mid 30s. Perfect for long underwear and Under Armour Cold Gear, along with the Balvacta, and cold weather gloves. The 7 miles to the subway was more than sweet. Can't wait for the return trip.

BTW, I was harrassed by a co-worker (doesn't like me) for bringing my bike and parking it an empty cubical(no way under the sun will I ever chain my bike up outside). Anyway, after they took it to HR, they came with this comprimise. No more putting it an empty cubical, but I am allowed to store my bike in a storeroom which is about 5 yards from my cubical. .

HATERS are always around, we just have to learn to live with them..

canyoneagle

22F (-6C) was able to get out of the house closer to when I prefer (6:15 AM) when it is still totally dark. Lately I've been hitting the snooze until 6:30 or so and getting out the door at 6:45.
Uneventful ride in, which is the way I like it

zachisageek

First commute below freezing temp. Body temps were real good, more worried about sweating and getting cold. My feet however need a change, time to look at some more gear.

HardyWeinberg

Yesterday was a gorgeous fall day and I spent 7 hrs of it in/around a work car on a road trip. I had a nice ride in, got to see the sun rising on Rainier, 2.5 hr drive, 5 hr meeting, then looooooooooooooooooong drive home into what was essentially holiday weekend rush hour traffic through Seattle (and Everett and Tacoma and Fort Lewis and...). That stop-and-go monotony was interrupted by a flat tire by the airport (I knew I should have stopped for dinner in Seattle to hang out and see if traffic disippated). Something the size of a softball rolled through my lane and into my tire, boom.

So I pulled the car over scraping against a jersey barrier and I still would have had my ass hanging into the travel lane while figuring out the jack (every car has a different one) and going through the changing process. Then I realized it wasn't my car, so I got back in, drove it to the next exit, got off, looked for a nice parking lot, and changed the tire.

Then I got back into the traffic jam, got back to work long after everyone had left, had a nice ride home in the pitch blackness, and made it home just before the 1st kid went to bed.

MNBikeCommuter

A few years ago, building security clamped down on bringing bikes into the office. I wrote a couple of emails that somehow made it up to one of the vice presidents, and we got bike lockers out of the deal. :-)

As for the commute, it seems like I've been pushing a wind all week and I'm tired of it. Yesterday didn't get out of the 30s, so this afternoon's 50 should feel pretty good!

Raleigh GP 08

Coldest commute of the fall season this morning, temps hovering around freezing, and windy. Luckily, I caught mostly a tailwind, so the time getting in was great. Broke out the balaclava and winter weight gloves for the occasion and they worked great.

RadioFlyer

awesome. Yeah, going to one car allows your family to pool its resources into one better car. Like we weren't really taking care of our two cars as well as we should cuz of limited money. But now, we put all the car money into one vehicle.

I take it "The Lady" also rides to work when possible? My wife drove me to work a few weeks back when we had 8-10" of snow. It's kinda frustrating riding a bike in powder, made me long for my skis.

gecho

Rode to the university to study and swap laptops, but the gym was closed. Since I didn't feel like sitting in soggy tights for a few hours I just went back home. The side streets are getting really slushy now making things slow. But the MUP is mostly clear.

I just realized today that I've been riding all week without a pump. I strapped it to my touring bike to free up space in my trunk bag, but forgot to put it back in there after switching to the mountain bike.

somedood

I had a hard time getting motivated to ride in this morning. The thermometer said 24F which isn't too cold, but I had to convince myself to not drive in today. It'll get quite a bit colder over the next month or two, and these days will be the warm ones.

The air this week has been incredibly clear. During the winter months we usually get inversions which keeps all the crap in the air stuck in the same place, making a lot of haze and smog stick around until a storm comes through. It feels great to breath cold but really fresh air, and see the peaks of the mountains so clearly. The climb to work was really good, and I was able to keep my every-other-day goal pace to the top. I forgot my headlight so I'll probably leave a little bit early.

Gecho just reminded me that I need to replace my tire repair stuff, I used it all up on the group ride I did last week!

Bud Bent

I rode to work four days this week, Monday through Thursday, but drove today. I came down with a cold that just got worse as the week went, and felt bad enough this morning I decided that spending a hour pedaling in the 39 degree morning air wasn't in my best interest.

This is the second year in a row that I've gotten a really bad cold that came on slowly, starting three days after I got my flu shot. It was the only cold I had last year. I may need to reconsider that flu shot next year.

2011 days ridden to work: 194
2011 commuting mileage: 4742.3

Mark Stone

33 degrees this morning, no wind. Felt very comfortable - seemed to be a few more cars on the roads but it wasn't a problem

GriddleCakes

Got faked out by the weather forecast yesterday, only 3 inches of fluff but I rode the bus 'cause the weatherman said to expect up to 8. 17º and overcast today, with persistent cold temps keeping the roads from thawing. Which is cool; main roads are plowed and scraped smooth so it's pretty fast going, and I love taking off at the light and leaving cars behind as they spin out trying to move from a stop. It's really slick out, and everyone on the road was behaving; even had several cars wait patiently behind me for a block or two each in order to make a turn.

Saw this genius lock job as I went to math class today:



Wouldn't be so bad if the rider had looped the chain through the front wheel, so that at least a thief would have to carry it away and not ride it. Then again, it's a Magna; you couldn't pay me to take it (and I imagine that bike theft plummets with the temp, so probably not a lot of risk today).

Yup, she rode today even. Not as lucky as me, since I made it home before it started snowing, and she's currently headed home through some pretty thick snowfall. Snow riding is definitely slow going when it's deep or dense. Forecast is for 2-4 inches tonight, but at less than 20º it shouldn't slow me down much heading to work tomorrow. When it gets really deep, I've been known to ski to work.

cehowardGS

Great move on pushing the issue. I have had one bike stolen, and recovered, not trying to go that way any more, plus I don't fancy leaving my bike outside. Bike lockers, I could live with.

Safe commuting to you,

cehowardGS

Same here on the gear thing. I am looking into HEATED SOCKS, and maybe HEATED GLOVES too. It is so much more fun when we are WARM!!

Mark Stone

The Whistle Guy was there again yesterday morning. I rode through the comfy 33 degree morning, and was ready to lock the bike to the rack in front of the Albertsons - and there he was. Or she, I can't tell from this distance in the dark. The person rides a long setup, with bright lights on the front and rear, a trailer loaded down, one of those tall flags, and whenever they cross the intersection they blow their loud referee whistle. I think it's a commuter because he/she is at the same spot at the same time every day. Since I hadn't actually locked my bike ("The Rig") I thought of quickly riding the one block distance over to introduce myself. Their speed looks like about 10 mph, so it would be an easy catch . . . but then I would probably miss the bus and be late for work. Since I'm the boss, I can't be late - - and I wouldn't want to make them late either.

So I need to plan better if I want to meet this person. But, really, do I really want to meet them? Isn't the mystery the attractive thing here? To me it is amazing to see, especially before sunrise, another bicyclist riding through the dark, feeling the kinship with them, even though we've never met. Makes me feel a little less alone in this world.

I know - I'm gonna buy a whistle! Then when I hear that whistle in the morning, I'll whistle back! That'll blow their mind!

Mark Stone

I downloaded this picture to make it my desktop background - - Makes me appreciate El Paso TX!

ambitions2o

GriddleCakes -

Any info on your commuter? I can't see much of it, but I definitely like it haha.

cehowardGS

I am with you that, she looks like a road bike..

BTW, lots of guts to be out in that, lots!!

enigmaT120

Griddlecakes, why did you have to post that? How am I ever going to wimp out, especially here where snow is so rare. I'm not going to buy studded tires but I bet the stock knobbies for my Fargo would go fine through snow, if slowly.

richard4993

I had to do the morning shift instead of my usual late shift today. The roads were wide open this morning at 7:30. Sunday morning is definatly the best time to commute.

Mardmakarm

Barom Rat Chonnani Rd. is the easiest and fastest to send help for ppl around northwest of Bangkok now.






This road was planned and made by our King, very useful because it made soldier and volunteers help ppl here much easier.







And you know.



Even Mario still come help here!(You can see him right?)

GriddleCakes

Headed to work Saturday morning through two more inches of fresh, and beat the plows again for fresh tracks all the way up N st. Another two inches fell during the day; on the way home I had to walk the bike up the Hillcrest trail (doesn't get plowed and not enough snow yet to run a groomer down it), and up the sidewalk for the last block before the house (fully buried under 6-8 inches of stiff plow wake from the road plows).

Three more inches fell last night, and it was still dumping this morning when I left the house, so I left the bike at home and skied to work today. Broke trail the whole way in, so it was slow going, but it was a lot nicer being out in the open air than cooped up in the car waiting for some knucklehead to rear end me at the next light. Plus, I don't have to scrape windows.

There's a better picture on page 359 of the Commuter Bicycle Pics thread. It's a Nashbar Cyclocross X build, nothing fancy. It's got a set of Nokian Hakkapeliita 240s on it right now for ice riding, but it's really only a backup bike as far as winter's concerned. The main winter ride was halfway through a hub service, so I wasn't riding it that day:



^^Snapped coming home from work last night. I prefer an upright position and wider tires for riding in the snow. The only downside to the green bike is that it weighs more than twice as much as the Nashbar, so when it gets too deep I have to push it through the snow, whereas the Nashbar is light enough to carry on my shoulder.

Guts? Naw, I'm a skier. That is what we skiers call a beautiful day; you'd have a hard time keeping me inside on days like that.

fletchh

A warm fall morning at 56 F (14C). Buzzed by one van in the dark, and I have seen that van before, maybe poor eyesight.