First commute in a few months with my old bike. I just set it up with a rear rack and a pannier. I was excited to give it a try, as I've always used a messenger bag to haul around my work clothes and lunch. 1/2-way between the office and train station I had an epic failure which could have been really bad. The nut came loose from the bolt which attached the rack's left stay to the braze-on near the hub. the rack stay came loose, and my pannier got sucked in between the seat-stay and the spokes!! Fortunately, it didn't seize up and the friction just burned a hole right through the bag. The rack-stay was a few cm's away from diving into my spokes which would have shredded the whole back-end. A few of my spokes loosened up but no major damage. I bungeed the bag and right stay to the top of the rack and proceeded to the office.

Finding a nut at the office which will fit the bolt I still have will be a fun lunch project. Maybe a zip-tie will provide a temporary fix?

Those nuts do come loose - you gotta use a lock washer.

Maybe 2 zip ties. Too bad about the bag.

I found an almost new set of bushwackers bags on craigslist for $12 so not a big loss. And, I can salvage it with Duct tape.

I will put a lockwasher on when I get home, thanks!!

I'd go a step further and use a lock nut w/ nylon insert.

There ya go and that might save some bolt length.

Just could not get my legs to wind out this morning. My heart and lungs are good, but my legs felt like logs.

from -5 F the previous commute to 30 today, I thought I was in the tropics. :)

ouch!:(

that was my route in this morning as well. Fortunately, I'm riding 1.9 studs so the ice is more manageable but it has been a mess lately in Boston. My concern is a car sliding into me on that kind of ice and there isn't a lot of room to maneuver with all cars parked 3' or so further into the streets.

My 1.5 mile commute felt like about 15 today. The sections of packed snow were fine, but the 3-4 inches of half-packed, slushy, chunky stuff made going in a straight line impossible. Eventually my rear axle slipped slightly under power, causing the studs to start scraping the frame. I bummed a ride home.

Coming in this am was ~39F like 1F colder than yesterday but it just felt a *lot* colder. Verified that w/ other people. Not really windy, just blustery. I did wear sunglasses today so there was that amount of ambient light at least.

Rode in for the first time this week and it felt good. Dark as always and cold. The weather report said about 20 degrees. Nothing exciting to report.
Ernest

20F/~-6C with light wind (of the head variety, of course). A sunny, near 40F day yesterday cleaned up the cleared roadways pretty nicely. Still some icy bits here and there, though. I was watchful on my way home yesterday to see where they might be this morning.

Could have easily done without the studs today--but I took my slower, less-clear alternate route and was glad to have 'em. I do believe they will come off for the weekend, though. Supposed to be pretty nice. At my job I perform best when I am most cynical and suspicious--so when I see a forecast high of near 50F for February 1, my instincts tell me to look around for the other shoe to drop. Maybe next week when the ingredients may be in place for a nor'easter. Those are the storms which can really dump some snow on DC. They aren't rare, per se, but they are infrequent, and it's been a couple of years since we had a real good one.

Uh-oh...:D

We've been in a weather pattern since December where fronts come through the area midweek, bringing cold rain or snow for a couple of days. So I haven't bike commuting more than 3 days a week since early December, sometimes only two. We had the usual pattern again this week, so I rode Monday, Thursday and Friday. Fortunately, our weekend/holiday weather has been relatively nice although cold. As a result, I've ridden considerably more mileage on my days off this month compared to commuting -- which is unusual for winter.

I might try my first fixed/single speed commute next week. I just had my regular commuter bike converted to a SS/fixe since I'm getting a new touring frame for commuting. The touring frame is supposed to arrive any day now, so I went ahead with the conversion. Just picked up the new single speed last night but didn't have time to ride it yet. Will get it all dialed in this weekend and perhaps ride it to work some days -- which should be a real workout since my commute route is very hilly.

Great day for riding in Philadelphia. I was running late by 20mins and had to drop something off before I could get to work. So that was me riding like a bat out of hell up Broad St. It feels awesome to whip around city hall when the lights are red and it's just you. Shaved a few minutes off my usual time in the process. Have a great weekend, everyone.

Gorgeous morning for riding here in Austin. High 30's, clear, little traffic (on the route I took). I made probably my best time this morning. I finally passed the other bike commuter on my route (mostly luck). I've seen him twice before and he left me in the dust both times, but not today, hahahahaha! (maniachal laughter)

Sucked, Muggy low 80's upper 70's sprinkling rain, but now it's cooling off thanks to the cold front blowing in.

It was a typical commute into work, 20 F (-6 C). The roads were pretty much dry, a couple patches of black ice, but not many. The few bike lanes were either partially covered or iced over, so most of the
trip was in the road. The landscape is all iced over and somewhat pretty. The only place to ride
or walk is mostly in the road. The ride home will be warmer 30 F (-1 C). We hear Sunday is going to
get up to 50 F (10 C), then back to snow and ice on Tuesday.

A great ride in this morning. I finally got my 160mm crank arms installed and it just feels so much more natural than the 175mm. If you're a short (or short legged) guy/gal I recommend finding some shorter crank arms and trying them.

My second 5 day bike commute week.

How long did it take you to work up to 5 day a week commuting? How far is it?

Chilly, about 30 degrees, wind was almost calm. My core was too warm but my extremities were too cold. I would have been better off wearing one less layer but putting on heavier gloves and headgear.

32F, pea-soup fog. Lotta fog-colored cars driving w/ no lights too.

It took me about 10 weeks. My commute is about 9 miles each way (tho flat) and I was a bit out of shape (probably 10-15% overweight). I also didn't have any rain gear or fenders until about two weeks ago.

January (my first month going to work completely by bike) was rainy here in Italy. I get a lot of rain one day, but now I have a good poncho to protect myself in rain cases. Today was sunny, and it is a pleasure to use bike to go work.
I start from my home on the bike, after 2 km I catch a train (a very slow train, but I spend my time reading a book or using my eeepc to see an episode of battlestar galactica). When arrived at my station, I mount my bike (ok, it is an electric folding bike) and go to work, with a 4 km trip including a 12-15% hill.
The evening I do the return-trip.
It is interesting and at the end relaxing to use the bike to go work...
maurizio

Supposed to be 60 in denver today, 25 this morning. Would have had a 5 day commute week but had to see the doctor and drive to an out of town meeting.

Very mellow. 39F and sunny. No jacket, just a wool sweater and cotton pants. Cool but not cold. Probably goiing to be 60 or so this afternoon.