Strong winds
 

New Year's eve commute home was in strong winds. Most of it was head on, with a breif period of being slammed from the left. I never worked so hard going down hill. It was a cold wind too, but I was toasty, so other than allot of work to get home, I was OK.

I work for the county so...no commute today :(. :D But I did go on a joy ride with my son!

Cheers

Nice tailwind this morning with temps in the low 30's. A lot of debris on the trail from last week's wind, but most of it was small and avoidable. Legs felt good and had good energy. The tailwind had me in the mid 20's for a stretch near the rugby fields, that allowed me to make up a surprising amount of time. I'm waiting on new tires and hope to install them this weekend, a replacement is long overdue. I guess they're calling for an Alberta Clipper to make it's way through the DC Metro today, rain/snow showers are likely, I'll keep an eye on radar and adjust my departure time as necassary.

The wind was in my face the whole way this morning. So I was very slow. Unfortunately I think it's going to be raining on the way home so I won't get to enjoy the wind at my back.

Hardly anybody on the roads this morning.

Woohoo! 1 for 1 for 2009. Started sprinkling just as I left the driveway but never really turned into full rain. Glad for the fenders.

1 for 1 for me as well
it was cold this morning but not too windy, my toes suffered a bit but i ordered some shoe covers today so i am hoping they will help keep the wind and the slush out

First ride this morning, being it the first day at work in the new year.
Hardly any traffic this morning, cold , around -2°C,and dry roads.
I noticed that there were very little traces of New Years Eve to show for the party.
It seemed like any other day of the year, nothing special at all.
A guy at work wanted to know about my bike , he is moving to another town soon and needs a new way of transport,combined with a trip on the train.
Seems like he too will soon be coming in by bike.
One more for the cause !!:thumb:
I wish the very best to all of you , many safe miles and lots of fun!
2009 will make you faster,fitter and more beautiful than ever!!

Although it was only -35 today I wimped out again.
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b4.../DSC02578a.jpg

Nice, 5 miles, 22-25 F. little bit of ice here and there, first time out on the road in a month. I have been training indoors, wow I can really feel the benefit out on the road.

I guess 20 degrees is not that cold after all!

Nice ride. It started out much colder than I expected but I warmed up after about 2 miles. Still a little fog remaining from this morning.

The seatpost keeps falling about 1 inch and stopping.

The ride home in the morning should be cold and wet, I just hope I'm fully prepared in terms of clothes.

Sunday mornings really are the best commute, by far. It was spinnin zen. Almost no cars on the road this morning.

On the other hand, one driver failed to yield as he entered the roadway from my right, setting me up for the perfect T-Bone collision with his driver's door (that would have really surprised him but he got a couple of NiteRider MyNewt spots in his eyes for his failure) and another driver passed close enough to make me jump when there was plenty of room to ease over into the oncoming lane (there was no oncoming traffic).

It was warmer than I expected it to be going home so I had more layers packed than I needed. There's still a wee bit of fog hanging around from yesterday. The expected rain came through during the night so the ground was wet. My bike and the underside of my garment bag pannier are filthy (not like I care :D ).

All headlights dimmed so I'll have to charge the two NiteRiders and swap the batteries out in the other one. Looking forward to the ride in to work this evening.

I was tired but I slogged in to work. Good weather for it, I just didn't sleep enough.

A couple of casual Sunday-only riders irked me when they each failed to acknowledge a "How's it going." In all fairness, the second one was minor compared to the first who snuck up behind me, ignored the "Hey, how's it going," and maybe even gave the "Oh, shut up, Fred" eyeroll. The guy then rode like a rookie, startling drivers as he blew through a stop sign along the double-yellow.

60 degrees and rainy...but I still added 10 miles to my commute...it was a nice ride too. Tomorrow is supposed to be 40 degrees and plenty of sun...and the best part is I'm off work until Wed...so tomorrow is a riding day!!!

Commuting again--yay! Back to work again--#&^*#&%)@*#*!

Textbook ride this AM--upper 30sF/about 3C or so. The little traffic I see on the arterial usually catch me up in clumps of 5 or 6 cars at once (the first one seemed like an armada in my mirror this morning). Today I happened to catch 'em just at the most inopportune times--at on and off ramps and right-turn-only lanes. Fortunately no one had been to work to get P-O'ed yet. :D

Strange lady bugging me on the commute
 

And this mangy little dog keeps popping its head out of the basket in the back!
Attachment 91065

Rainy. It was a slow ride home because I couldn't see well. My glasses either got water droplets or fog or both on them. That and my rim brakes weren't exactly confidence inspiring...

My recent rides have been between 45 and 52 minutes long, today took 62 (for the same route).

This morning was the first time I was ever a little worried about my safety when riding in the winter. Last night there was some freezing rain (or something like that), and there was a glaze of ice on everything. I've never really had a problem with ice before since I usually just ride on busy streets where the ice melts quickly due to the traffic and the ridiculous amounts of salt. I live on a side street and when I pushed down on the crank trying to get into the saddle, the rear wheel just spun and the bike didn't go anywhere! I don't think that's ever happened to me before. now I understand why people use studded tires.

I wound up walking the bike to a busier street and conditions seemed better there. Nevertheless I was a little anxious about hitting some ice. I basically stayed in the right tire track the whole way (normally there's enough room on the right to stay out of the way of traffic). I wasn't about to tempt fate by riding through the slushy-icy mix on the right. Eventually on that road, a bike lane appears, but I had to stay out of that too since it was covered. I didn't get any abuse from motorists though, which was nice.

Rode Thursday, Friday, Saturday...3 for 3 this year and then...

My freaking disk went in my back on Sunday and to top it off we had freezing rain and as I hobbled out to take out the garbage I fell down our brick steps outside...

I'm so PO'd, my back had been good for 7 months, now I'll be out of commission for at least a week!

Great commute to start the new year since I was off work since last Wednesday. The temperature was milder here this morning (about 55 F) than it was just about the entire months of November and December. The roads were still wet from showers yesterday, but no rain or fog -- despite a weather forecast that had called for heavy fog.

Got my computer bike all ready to go over the long weekend -- recharged the batteries, washed it, lubed the chain. I also finally seem to have found a way to mount my Dinotte tail-light so it won't rotate out of position, using some hose clamps to secure the PVC pipe it is strapped on.

Frustrating commute this morning. The conditions were fine and I felt good (despite having been up since 3 am), with decent energy. However, I had just mounted my new Conti Top Touring tires this weekend and this was my first ride. Even though they were the same size as my Sport Contacts (700 x 28), they were remarkably heavy and cushy by comparison. It felt like I was riding on flats, in fact, I kept looking down to make sure that I wasn't losing air. I was pedalling through sand, it was like I was always overgeared. In addition, the bike handled like a tank, slow turn-in, wandering, hard to keep a line, and, I felt significant gyroscopic force as I leaned into a turn. I just hope the: increased tread, all weather usability, durability, and enhanced puncture protection make up for the slowness and poor handling. I bought them to get through the Winter, if they do that well I'll be happy.

Oh yeah, saw a ton of cyclists this morning-very unusual. I was in a line of about 7 at one point, and this was before 6 am. I'll be curious to see if this lasts. My guess; New Year's resolutions. I don't begrudge them, in fact, I hope they keep it up. We'll see...

Good uneventful ride this morning, though I did pull the bike off the rack to find a flat rear tire. That confirms my suspicion that I have a slow leak back there (hadn't ridden this bike since the Friday before Christmas).

I got a new (used) bike for Christmas, a 2006 Scattante (see attached photo). It has very well-tuned Dura-Ace brakes and Ultegra geartrain, which made me realize just how craptastic the brakes and components on my commuter are. :(

Also, I finished 2008 3.8 miles short of 2k miles on the commuter. D'oh! Missed it by that much.

A good commute today. I think I've broken the "I can't do it" mentality that keeps me from riding everyday. I intend to start now. Expect to hear from me again with my complaining about wimping out. :)

Switching back to my upright bike has made a difference. I feel safer in the one area that really bothered me. I can turn and look so much easier on the upright. Yes, the recumbent is more comfortable, but the upright is more comfortable than it used to be.

Maybe I'll have to change my tagline.

Congrats on the new bike! I ordered a new frame for my commuter bike as a Christmas-Birthday present, but it probably won't arrive until mid-January at the earliest. It's a Bob Jackson touring frame, and I ordered it directly from England. It will be nice riding on a bike that actually designed for the kind of riding I'm doing on it.

Cold and rainy. My buddy called me at 6:30 to cancel our training ride. He'd rather ride his trainer in his garage. I'd rather ride outside, so I switched to the fendered fixed gear and rode anyway.