mikepop

Snow on the ground but a good ride aside from a few hidden potholes.

tarwheel 

No bike commute today. We are having out first snowstorm in probably 5 years, and there is about 4" on the ground with it still coming down. I'm not equipped to ride in the snow, and not so sure about driving either. Might need to take a snow day.

knucklesandwich

Happy O-Day.

I live in Arlington, VA and ride West each morning, away from DC, so today’s commute was interesting. Anticipating the worst this morning, but I have never seen the roads as quiet as they are right now. Schools are closed, so I am guessing that most people who aren’t going to the Mall/parade are staying home. The bike path was busy however, with walkers and bikers- in my 11 mile ride West, I passed probably 4-5 groups of 3-8 bikers heading in to DC. It’s in the 20s here and I saw a ton of people without hats or gloves, etc.- gonna be a long day for them.

The Metros are jammed- I saw one train packed to the gills with people, windows completely fogged up. Sardines- steaming.

Bummed to be missing the inauguration but I am not much of a crowd person. Curious to see what it’s like going home. I am guessing once I get closer to my house, the bike paths outbound will be mobbed.

Brian T

After 24 days of vacation, I'm back to commuting. Great ride with a slight tail wind.

Doohickie

Windy windy windy!

Low 40s and a 15 mph headwind. I had to commute to a different site today, so the distance was twice my normal distance, 15 miles each way.

Hopefully that wind doesn't change while I'm here!

CjBad

Well, first, it was chilly in the teens but definitely comfortable, no wind. And second, while riding up to a stop sign, I saw a cop approaching from the opposite direction so naturally, I came to a brief halt. HE DIDN'T! WTF? He didn't even slow down!

-Below doesn't really have a lot...err... nothing to do with commuting, it's more or less an observance on my commute.

Today was funny to me because as I was riding the streets of Chicago, and maybe what I mention is popular among other cities too but I have noticed before, put some thought into it, though never really thought about bringing it up in a thread but.... what is with people thinking that they can "hold" their parking spots with miscellaneous household items when there is snow on the ground?! I see chairs, benches, stools, garbage cans, bins, strollers, etc, etc, and these are supposed to be obeyed? I don't own a car, my apartment is the best parking spot for my "vehicle," and it doesn't get any better than that. Anyway, I understand that the sides of the roads are a pain in the rear to park especially when there is a ton of plowed snow to get your car stuck in and that you put some effort in shoveling your car out to get it unstuck. When the car is free, you then decide to clear the rest of the spot for ease of parking later. I also understand that you don't want somebody else taking advantage of a parking spot that is free of snow so that you can park two blocks away just to get it stuck all over again. But still! How is a folding chair going to stop someone else, who put all that effort into their parking spot just to have it taken and they found your clear spot, from parking in it? So they move your chair and park in a public free spot..... now what?

Well, as I was riding along, thinking about this and appreciating the fact that I don't have to deal with this problem, I remembered that I will be passing by a police station and maybe I'll be lucky enough to catch an officer outside so I could ask him. Well, a cop happened to step outside and I asked him what is up with (the above mentioned) the parking situation? And he said, no, it is not a legal way to "save" a spot but you know the kinds of people that can be around here... and you probably don't want to find that chair that you moved to be in your windshield or something else to happen to your car. I said... ok, thank you.

I should've should've asked the cop about the stop sign and the police car goin through it and yatta yatta but that was after the fact and I didn't feel like turning around.

JeffS

First snow in about four years here. Rode to work in a couple inches, not because I cared to get to work, but because I decided long ago that I'd go riding if it ever snowed again.

Arrived at work feeling just a little too badass.

The ride home might be the tricky part as the slush freezes over.

caloso

Legs were heavy today after last week's intervals and training crit. Cold and clear.

T-Hussy

Great week to ride in Denver, great weather and should get even better throughout the week.

HardyWeinberg

28F and foggy. 1/4" of ice on the deck but OK after that.

scoatw

Jan. 20, 2009. Congratulations President Obama, I hope you do a good job!
Rode in this morning @ 4f-7f-0f. Which ever you go by. Those were the different ranges that I heard on the news. Someone at the BP in Linworh told me his thermometer in his car read 0f. So I'll go with 4f. Anyway, I was nice and comfortable except for the toes. I didn't wear the snowpants this morning because I didn't feel like putting them on. I wore workpants w/leg warmers. And half-way thru the ride my legs were getting cold.
I started out with some hand warmers tucked inside my toe warmers, not inside the boot like before. I had them in a re-cyclable bag and they were nice and warm when I revitalized them. But halfway thru the ride they petered out on me. The wrapper said they last for 8-10 hours. But heck! They didn't even last for 3 hours total. They kept my toes warm until they petered out. Fresh ones would do the job.
This aftn. it was 19f, and the 40 below socks I had recently bought didn't hold up. My toes got cold and clammy. I wear Snow Sneakers with toe warmers over them and gaitors covering the top of the boot. The gaitors work good. They keep the cold and snow from entering the top of my boot. But the cold goes right thru the toe warmers and the toe section of the Snow Sneakers. So I'm still trying to figure out the cold toe problem. My next attempt is to try Polar fleece socks. Everything else was good. I solved the fogging goggle problem by just covering my mouth and not the nose. My nose didn't fall off in the sub-zero temps. And I didn't suffer any frost bite, so that's good. So I rode with the balaclava just covering my mouth. The weather we endure here in Ohio is tolearable. Riding in these cold temps isn't that bad. By preparing for it makes the cold tolerable. So I continue to experiment until I get it all down. Winter riding is fun!
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fletchh

Not too bad today, started off at around 10 F (-12 C). There was still some ground cover from the 1/2 inch snowfall that we had yesterday. I was able to ride with white tires the whole way. On the
way home, it was 30 F (-1 C), and felt a little colder because of the wind. Other than that it would have been balmy. Yeserday, I rode out to do errands while it was snowing, and somewhere along the line, I
picked up a nail in the back tire. By the time I finished grocery shopping, my tire was flat. I hate working with tools in the cold. On top of that I didn't bring a pump, because I knew that I would be riding on the road. Fortunately, there is a gas station not too far away. Popped in the new tube, walked it to the
pump, and I was back on the rode again.

daredevil

I pass a limited amount of traffic on my 5 AM commute and I wave at everybody that I see. It's gotten to the point where the same trucks that I pass every day return my gesture with flashing clearance lights. It's a fun little routine. An unloaded logging truck this morning flashed some cool blue lights he had mounted on the back of the cab as he went by.

You can't be too friendly with truckers on the highway I say. You gotta know that they communicate with each other too so that everyone has a heads up I'm there not that I'm hard to see anyway.

Tobias Greenich

I wound up getting a flat just before getting to work this morning, had to carry the bike cross-style for a block. Even got a little jog in with it.

I rode home on a spare tire with was miserably underinflated, since my pump sucks the big one. I need to get a Road Morph, I'll be ordering as soon as I get paid this week.

KLW2

We're having a heat wave!!! Finally above 0deg F !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LeftinFlint

No biking. I had to go to our recycling center. The third largest city in Michigan can't manage curbside recycling. Ugh.

MIKEnDC

20F/-6 or 7C w/10-20mph headwinds.

With MLK and Inauguration Day as holidays--and with local temps only getting above freezing for a couple of hours here and there all weekend--I had a few days off of work and off the bike. Saturday morning the temps were right around 0F when I normally would have made my re-supply run, so I bagged it. That left me dragging in some extra stuff this morning against the wind. Not too bad, though.

And since I have no illusions of being one of the "legendary Belgian hardmen," I slipped into some mittens.

The ride ended up being both quick and uneventful--a nice return to the routine.

mickey85

First commute of the new year, and also my first commute colder than 40*! So...


13* this morning, and I'm sweating, but my legs are freezing (wearing long johns, scrubs and jeans) and toes went numb...I'll have to double up on socks when I go home.

Aside from that, it was also my first time doing the distance on my new commuter - a '93 Univega Activa Trail. Hands went tingly like I knew they would (flat bar - need to swap it out) but aside from that, it worked flawlessly.

In all - I'm a pretty happy camper this morning!

77midget

Fantastic-first bike commute in 5 months due to a number of reasons/issues. Also, my first winter commute-it was ~+8*F this morning. I spent the last couple weeks equipping the bike for winter commuting, and testing different clothing layers, and finally jumped off this morning. First impressions on the lights I bought (Blackburn X8)-very good. Part of my ride is a couple miles slicing through a state park on a narrow and winding road, and with it being pitch black, the lights were a life saver. Tires-great! I went with the Schwalbe Marathon Winters, and am very impressed. As they state, rolling resistance is noticeable, a lot more than my commute tires. With the additional clothing, load, and bike weight, I was not fast, and there are a couple long climbs, and I think my speedo sensor needs a new battery, but I suspect I averaged about 11-12mph while being cautious on my first winter/darkness commute. I need to improve my footwear situation a bit, but overall, no surprises. 8.5miles total. Now the fun part is getting back home.

sauerwald

Well, I usually don't ride when the temp is below 0F, and last night the weather report said that our min was going to be 10F, so this morning I hopped on the bike and set off on my 15 mile ride into work. A mile into the ride I look at my thermometer, and it is reading -2, as I continue my ride, the temp dropped to -10. Got into work with numb toes and fingers - reminded me of why I don't ride at below 0!

Thank goodness for the slush that makes the pedalling harder - keeps me warmer!

kgriffioen

Its been a couple of weeks but finally some fairly decent weather so I decided to go for it today. Glad I did. Was 17F when I left the house and it might hit 30 for the ride home. Also a first for me, I went clipless outdoors. I read and heard about others first time clipless experiences, but mine was uneventful, that is I didn't fall down!! Saw a couple of other riders out there as well.

Doohickie

High 30s, almost no wind. After the strong headwind I had yesterday morning, I overreacted and went with one layer too many. I probably sweated an extra pound or two off over my 7 mile commute.

Ran into another cycle commuter this morning. I'd seen him a few times before but never caught up to him. This time we were stuck at the same light. My commute runs in a northwesterly direction, his goes southwesterly, but our routes converge for about a half mile. He teaches at a private school. Riding a bike to work makes either incredibly cool or the ultimate dork to the kids I bet....

jconnwsu

Got drafted yesterday going across/up I205 bridge for about a mile and a half. First time I have been drafted. Guy finally passed when we were well off the bridge and didn't say a word. Didn't even really acknowledge me for that matter. I was a little frustrated by that. The least you could do is say hello to a fellow biker. Oh well. He got ahead of me by a bit when my front derailleur decided not to shift.

T-Hussy

They are predicting a high of 70 today in denver, commuters are coming out of the woodwork. Good to see them back from hibernation.

Alox

Got a dose of Karma this morning.

Vancouver has been wrapped in fog for the last two weeks, but last night's sub-freezing temperatures left a thick coating of black ice on everything.

I was biking along on my way to work this am when I saw a dog running toward me, as if to chase me. I lauged out loud as he rounded a corner, slipped on the black ice and tumbled into a confused heap, while I pedaled steadily away.

About 4 blocks later, I myself tumbled into a confused heap as I rounded a corner and my wheels slipped out from under me. I stayed clipped in, so I'll have a nice bruise on my hip, and slid about 50 feet before coming to rest in a snow bank.

I'm beginnign to think that karma really IS a (female dog)!