3-inches of snow and it is still coming down, making fresh tracks. The new ritchie cross speed max tires paid off this morning. Which was good, because they drive me crazy cornering on dry pavement.

33F but bone-dry; usual fog after I topped the rise sheltering the 1st half of my ride from Puget Sound.

This is black ice season, or it could be any moment now, so I am riding pretty slow to keep an eye out for that.

I left 2.5 hours later than normal today and actually got to see the sun come up. A bit colder this morning at -8C. It was nice riding with my new bar end shifter as shifts are smooth and precise once again. Some of the side roads are incredibly icy, being bumpy ice makes it much worse.

As I was turning left into the park on the way home and car came up the exit ramp towards me going the wrong way. I tried to indicate to them that they were going the wrong direction on a 70km/h road, but they just kept going. I guess they probably figured it out on their own soon enough.

I left the apartment a tad late today after checking the forecast and seeing northerly winds, thinking to myself that this was finally the day I'd get a tailwind going in to work. I'm out of the saddle, climbing the one hill I have to climb on surface streets before I get to the MUP, and an asshat cager gets right on my wheel and honks, startling me and knocking me over. They drive off while I'm yelling, but luckily since I was going slow up the hill nothing worse than a tiny scrape on my knee, some torn handlebar tape, a bend in my handlebar bag's steel rod which was bent back after some effort, and a quick re-truing of the rear wheel.

I'm now 15 minutes late but thinking, "no matter, this 25mph tailwind is sure to blast me all the way there." Nope. West/southwesterly winds coming off the Hudson again. FFFFUUUUUUUUUU.

But all's well. Crisp air, blue skies, and I was still beating the cagers on the West Side Highway sitting in traffic. Worked off the adrenaline that had built up from the spill, and now the endorphins are making me feel good again.

Reluctantly decided to drive in today. Steady 25-30MPH wind with gusts over 80 all day. I still considered it, but when I saw tree limbs and boxes, trash containers, cushions, and other large things blowing like tissue paper, I decided to stay off the bike today. =(

Down here, too. I rode my motorcycle today and also had to be really carful of ice all over the place. If the pavement looks wet I treat it as ice.

Having said that, the weather we've been having this week is my favorite type of winter weather: clear and cold. Last night on the bicycle going home was back to shorts and a long sleeve athletic t-shirt. :-)

Little chilly, but not as cold as yesterday. Double layers long johns, face mask and gloves. It was dark, lights front and rear, safety vest, and a lot of desire.. the wife wanted me to put the bike on bike rack on the truck and we drive to our favorite breakfast spot. She had to drop the daughter off. I would have none of that!! I told her I would meet here there. That way I get my ride in ... I got there before she did..

Getting off in about 30 minutes and ready to do the commute home..

Tell me life isn't sweet!!

There was a Severe Wind Advisory for SoCal so I thought about not riding, but when I peaked out the front door this morning . . . yeah, there was a bit of a breeze, but nothing to get worried about.

Took off in 55deg.F temp. then about 1/2 way to the Metro station got a serious, instant flat rear tire. Just as I was thinking "Have to find out what caused this!" I saw a silver metal-working screw sticking out of tire between the sidewall and the main tread. It was an inch long and I had to un-thread it from the tire! "Yikes" thought I.

In the end, not that bad. Put in new tube, didn't even have to boot the tire. Pumped up tube (gotta love Presta valves!) remounted tire, re-installed wheel/tire, re-hooked-up the Nexus shift cable-nut, put tools back in bag . . . probably less than 10 min. lost. Still made the 6:10AM train (usually catch the 6:00AM train), so no worries really.

When I got to work I used the warehouse Joe Blow pump to pull it up to 85 psi. (My hand mini-pump got it up to almost 60 psi.) so now it's ready for the ride home. Have yet to see if the tube is patchable; suspect not based on the size of the screw!

Rick / OCRR

Good, but slow and windy commutes today.

36F and partly cloudy with mainly crosswinds and some headwinds from the NNW @ 7-11mph. 47F and sunny this afternoon with mainly crosswinds from the N @ 10-15mph. A pickup truck passed my on Rt 20 with Christmas lights strung all around his truck including up the antenna. I wish it had been dark so I could see what they looked like all lit up.

Felt kinda slow on both commutes for some reason. Not sure if the slow feeling was from the wind, cold, maybe a low tire, or a combination. Regardless, I was still faster than what I used to get before I built my velomobile.

Windy ride home, 40 gusting to 50km/h, when the forecast was for under 30.

I compared my November riding with what I did last year.
2010: 16 days for 510km
2011: 25 days for 760km

My last ride of 2010 was December 6th, then nothing for 25 days until New Years. I'm not going to repeat that again this year, besides I need to squeeze in another 740km to get to 8,000 for the year.

I'm guessing you mean the tracks between 12th and 13th ave? Are you biking from the North-West end of the city? I bike downtown from the NW and go under the same tracks and it has gotten nearly impassable, but I have only had to actually walk once. I'm wondering if you're the guy who blew by me the other morning...

Passed the same bunch of cars, trucks, and a scooter 3 times at lights/construction slowdowns, over the course of about 3 miles; didn't get to play with them after I turned off. Keep up with traffic? Pretty much.

Yup that's the spot, I phoned the city late this morning to see if they could plow it. It would be much easier if it were smooth and icy. It sort of slopes to the side, so I've had my wheels frequently slip sideways. I ride with clipless pedals, so going south I'll unclip part of the way down the one side and just push with one foot for a bit.

I ride 15.5km from the North West (Westhill) out to the University. If I leave late I usually get on the bike path at Dorothy street, and get off on 11th near the RCMP. But lately because of the icy section I'll go past the dog park to Pasqua Street.

I rarely encounter any cyclists until I get close to Regina avenue, but it could have been me. I have a bright headlight, bright fast flashing tail light and have been riding with a left red pannier + trunk bag. And I do tend to go fast when I'm on the touring bike.

The ride home this afternoon was insane. About a 30 mph headwind, and the wind was cold. I was going about 7 or 8 mph, I could have gotten off the bike and walked faster. Insane. But, crazy old man that I am, I just kept riding. What's wrong with me? Who's idea was this bicycle commuting carp? Why didn't I just take one of my cars? I must be bonkers. My family needs to perform an intervention. People were looking at me like I was a Bozo.

I can't wait til tomorrow's ride . . .

No, you couldn't have!

Always better to stay on the bike.

Except for the unbelievably blinding sun glare at the start, it was a beautiful ride home - high 40s, little wind, comfy in a light jacket, zero sweat.

Beautiful! Clear, about 40*, no wind.
Wore just the right clothes on the way in.
On the way home, detoured to my motorcycle mechanic, and found out he's fixed my CL360. Had him order some tires and fork seals, and I should have it back by the end of the week! Hooray!

38F and clammy somehow *way* colder going home tonight.

Coldest commute of the fall so far with temps in the upper 20s. Should have worn my warmer gloves as my hands were cold, but otherwise I was dressed just right. Rode my Italian racing bike (De Bernardi) because I felt like going faster today and I made good time despite the cold dense air. However, I forgot the key to my office and had to turn around 1/2 mile from home to go get it, adding back the 5 minutes I gained by riding the faster bike. Didn't matter because I left 15 minutes earlier than usual today.

28F and I wussed out and drove Actually I had planned to drive anyway because I did bike gear laundry last night and most of it is still drying, and I'm going on vacation soon so I didn't want to be too tired. But I gotta say the time it takes to warm up the car and clean up the windows/windshield is more than it would take to my winter bike gear on. Motivation right there.

This morning was my best ride all week, -1C with a 20km/h tailwind and fast. I've been sore most of the week re-adjusting to the touring bike, but today the legs were working fine. Half-way through the ride what had started as light flurries turned into a good snowfall. I really enjoy riding while its snowing, but I would periodically get these bright flashes as big flakes passed close to my headlight.

Yesterday I got a used roller trainer for use with my road bike. I spent a few minutes on it yesterday, leaning against a door frame, but decided to wait until the weekend before trying it without a safety net.

I was wondering where all the bikes were this morning, and then I remembered that the forecast was calling for low temps in the low 30s(f) today. Apparently the prognosticators were feeling bullish, though, as google tells me the temp is only 28f now.

I was plenty warm in my tights with wool socks, a technical T, under base layer and fleece, under my showers pass club pro jacket (which does NOT breathe!) and a beanie under my helmet. I wondered why my face felt a bit chilly starting out and descending my once decent hill, and now I know. Still, too warm to break out the balaclava. I probably could have left off one of the upper body layers as I am pretty damp with sweat. Or I could switch to my Performance jacket which breathes quite a bit better.

New chain and new cassette installed last week, and oh what a difference! I put a 11-30 instead of the OEM 11-34 Megarange, and shifting is so much nicer at the top of the range. The old jump from 26 to 34 was always a pain. I will find out if I regret the change at all tonight when I climb my one 'big' hill -- but I always have the triple if I need it (I can't remember the last time I dropped into it on purpose).

Rode a very short ride yesterday, starting from a different part of the city (my sons had a school visit in DC, not far from my office, so I drove them in and rode from there to the office). I will note that it took about the same amount of time to drive past my office to the other location as it did to bike back, and visa versa in the afternoon. The driving trip to and from where I parked the car took about an hour and 20 minutes each way, which is almost as long as it takes to bike the distance from my home to my office -- and that was using the HOV lanes. I don't know why people drive into DC!

leather gloves too thin
was twelve degrees Fahrenheit
took the short way in

14F with a slight headwind. As yesterday's half inch of snow was still out there in some form or other in various spots, I took the "winter" bike with studded tires. It was certainly a slower commute and the 22.5 miles took an extra 20 minutes.

Commuter haiku
Makes me smile and envy you.
Thick gloves make long rides.