substructure

Welp. I s'pose. Getting dressed to fight the wind and cold.

Like tarwheels was talking about. It's gonna be fun - er .. except change the word fun to ugly.

Sentinel04

Fairfax, VA, had a 6 mile commute, so pretty short. Was windy and kinda chilly at first, but once I got going I really enjoyed the weather. Commuting is great and no cars decided to try to kill me today!

Big_e

The commute home was peaceful with mild traffic. I had to put most of my biking clothes back on since they didn't all fit in my backpack. They felt good this cold morning but make for a warm ride going home! I now start to see the beauty of panniers. I did have one kid in his rice-burner cage trying to buzz by me but I could hear his girlfriend setting him straight so he won't be doing that again.
Ernest

Grim

Little breezy with 20mph gusts this afternoon but not so bad. I was off yesterday and drove in because of the weather on Friday so it was good to get back out on the bike after 4 days.

Morning was 38f on the north side of A Town where is live. Got to try out my Balaclava. Thought I was still going to be cold and put a second winter beanie on. Head was sweating by the time I got to work.

Tomorrow it is suppose to be 30f. I'll skip the winter beanie and try a helmet cover so if that works out and gives a little air flow but retains some heat. Rest of me was just fine other then my ongoing battle with the reflective vest I have. Its sad but I could hit Harbor freight with a 3 mile side trip on the way home and just haven't done it. Maybe tomorrow I can hit it while I am out driving for work.

substructure

I was blown all over the place on the ride home.

jyossarian

That can't be taken the wrong way.

Gloves would've been nice for the ride home.

ken cummings

Passed (both ways) 30 other cyclists. Somewhat more then normal.

drummer5

Ugh, cold and raining this morning with a 17mph headwind, then cold, rain and snow at night on the way home. They're predicting 4inches tomorrow so I may bust out the mountain bike for that one but then it's supposed to be 55 and sunny on Friday....

Crazy upstate NY weather...

Pig_Chaser

The ride home was awesome. I was tired and sluggish all day, well i killed it on the ride home. Felt great, felt energized for the first time all day. I stopped off at Micheal's on the way home to pick something up... if i were single, i think i'd hang out there. I mean wow, it must've been 'hot chicks get 40% off day' there or something.

FreddyV

This morning's commute was pretty darn cold. I wore a thermal shirt, t-shirt, longsleeve and summer jacket, along with long underpants and long tights and still it wasn't too darn warm. I did sweat a lot, so I might have to think about some new cycling clothes for the winter.
However, can't say it was cold with the clothes I wore either, so maybe I'll just stick with this.

Ah well... Might have to think this over a few times...

heywood

Ride in tonight was cold (32F) & windy 30km an hour from the Northwest.. along with rain that was just turning to snow. Wore my layers and so I warmed-up after I got started. I'm working closer to home tonight so it was only around 7km in. I had a headwind all the way in so I stayed on the lower gears which made steering allot easier. I was not going to ride when the snow came and it's been snowing lightly all night so guess I've got not choice but to go home in it, think I'll stop for breakfast on the way. Nice having time off when everyone is working, one of the advantages to shifts

daredevil

The Shuffle didn't want to give me anything good today but the ride was nice of course.

Thomas Brock

Windy as heck on the ride home.

Cold this morning (36 when I left the apartment). My layering and windbreaker plan worked fine, but the Gator neoprene mask plan sucked. It kept shifting out of place and blocking my nose or mouth and made it heard to breath. And then it fell off completely.

But, any day on a bike is better than a day in a car.

DCvision

some days are a fight.. fight the cold, fight the wind, fight the bike, and of course, your body fights back... but by the end of the 8 rounds (miles) you get rewarded with a beautiful sunrise, and a hot shower... who's making the coffee?

substructure

I would have enjoyed it though.

Right now my legs feel like someone smacked them with a shovel.

tarwheel 

This week has been a test for year-round bike commuters in NC -- the coldest weather I can remember in October for many years. Although it's mild for Northerners, we don't usually get freezing temperatures here until November. So far, I'm handling the cold just fine and have avoided the mistake of dressing too warmly. The hardest part has been the wind. When it's really blowing it seems to swirl from every direction and you never feel like you've got a tailwind.

vtjim

About like I expected... Windy. A bit damp, but not raining. Low 30sF. Quartering tailwind at about 20MPH off Lake Champlain. It pushed me a little bit. No snow. I wasn't expecting any snow. I forecast the weather better than the TV and radio people. They pay no attention to elevation.

substructure

+1 My commute home last night was nasty. I was suppose to have a slight tailwind but it seemed like the wind did whatever it wanted to. Really tough. I fought the crap for 4.5 hrs yesterday. I feel beat up.

Thomas Brock

Exactly. I haven't seen frost in Jacksonville, but I've heard that some of the more rural areas are getting it, and some places even had ice on their cars Monday morning (after a rain).

FredOak

Man, couldn't agree more. Last night the wind was so unreal. At one point I was just starting from a red light and this blast hits me and actually lifted me and the front of the bike slightly off the ground!!

My legs are gone this morning. Took a break today as I don't want an injury to ruin things. Weather is suppose to start to mellow out tomorrow.

So it looks like the wind will be my nemesis this winter and any thing over 35-40 mph is going to make me think twice.

substructure

Thinking about the wind.

I do think it could be real dangerous when it's whipping around heavily. I've been pushed from the left and tried to hold myself upright. Then when a car cuts me close on the left it tends to block the wind and I find myself trying not to steer into the vehicle.

The mixture of wind and bum-holes not giving adequate space can be deadly. Just be careful.

girljen

This cold is NEVER going to go away. I still feel just as crappy as I did on the days that I drove. But I didn't have access to a car today, so I loaded up Serious Bike and trucked off to work.

The weather was nice. 50 degrees and clear.

The ride was slow. I didn't want to put forth too much physical effort. I pretty much had it on autopilot.

kgriffioen

First ride since Thursday. I've had a number of appointments out of the office and Monday was just way to windy for me. Today was cool (26) and was the first time I had to wear something on my legs. All in all I was fairly comfortable although my toes got a bit cold. I guess I need to do something about that. Its supposed to be in the 60's or near that by Friday. Other than that, nothing out of the ordinary to report

TimothyF

1st cold commute for me today.

It was 34 in Montgomery AL this morning, about 10 degrees off from our normal over night lows for this time of year.

I was prepared- Leather shoes, air force issue boot socks, underarmor tights, Nashbar cargo pants (knickers), underarmor ss compression shirt, poly pro ls, and wind breaker. I bought a poly pro balaclava, but had to pull it down below my nose-- I was fogging my glasses.

The only thing that didn't work was the Nashbar full fingered gloves. Not good for mid 30s My fingers were in the painful stage by the time I finished my 6 mile commute. One I reach the base, I do a loop around the flight line for another 7 miles, but not today.

I was mostly warm and enjoyed the ride. Expecting about 61 degrees for the return home. Can't wait to get back on the bike!

Itsjustb

I had the same thought yesterday on my (very windy) ride home. The bike felt very snaky, like the back end was fishtailing even though I wasn't braking or anything. One down-side to panniers: I've found that in cross winds they act like a rudder. Just another reason to take the lane.

substructure, I thought my jelly-legs problem was just my own, but if we both have it maybe it's a result of wind and cold (and a certain amount of overuse, but at least if I have other reasons I can avoid taking the time off the bike I know I need).