Somehow my morning headwinds seem to always reverse direction by the time I'm heading home. funny how that works.

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Today was a real struggle, legs were weak, sore, and stiff, I was moving really slowly. Temps were comfortable at 34F but the headwind was a real pain. The storm that was predicted largely missed DC, we had a little rain and some snowflakes, but nothing accumulated. I guess I have to, once again, find the time to fit in some stretching routines, my legs really need it.

Something funny happened today. When I was returning home, two cyclists passed me, and the second turned and asked: "Hey man, you are the guy who goes the other way at 7 AM?" I answered, "Yeah". And he, "Whoa, I see you every day. You got a pair". I laughed.

Since I learned to stop worrying and love the commute here, I think I got my pair from all you. I'm rather proud to get a little recognition from the local sports cyclists.

:thumb:

Apparently, a foot of snow managed to do what the Luftwaffe couldn't: shut down the British transport system.

As for my commute, it was glorious. 43F and calm. Eerie beautiful mists rising out of the American River.

Night riding is starting to bug me
 

I'm getting faster despite the heavier tires I put on, so I made it home with an average including stops of 10 MPH and not including stops of http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3010/...8b8f3418_m.jpg 11.7 MPH

but my inability to tell cars apart at night in my mirror is beginning to bug me. I ought to clean my glasses before the trip home, but this corner is (Bollinger to Williams, heading East) has me at the point where I'm thinking of crossing on foot & walking to the corner where Williams branches away from Moorpark. The traffic in & out of the shopping center there is *murder* at night.

I can't even imagine what riding with raindrops on my glasses would be like at night. No mudguards & I'm thinking I'll just drive on the rainy days of which there aren't many in this area.

That's not all that the snow shut down. Record London snowstorm defeats the surveillance state. Has a lovely picture of a CCTV camera defeated by snow and ice.

The commute was cold, not too windy. There was a thin layer of slush, but nothing terrible. The 16" Michelin knobbies work very well, particularly considering that they're kid's tires. Little Red is drying out in the bathtub.

Great Commute today!
 

I've been bike commuting for about 7 months now, lost over 75lbs and all is good in the process. I 'm in the East Bay t[in Nor Cal. (Danville -Pleasant Hill ride) it's about 30 miles round trip. Today was very cool I left alittle later 8:15 I'm Riding up danville Blvd and across the road come a large Red Fox He trotts across the road stops about 10 yards from me, hears me finaly and scampers dow to the creek. It put a smile on my face. Something I would have never seen in the car.
Mike Mac

Headwinds + snow in the face + 20" wheels + unplowed greenway = 2 hours to get home.

2 hours on a bike! It's a good day.

Getting hit in the face by razor sharp ice crystals that hurt the faster you went sucks. However, today's snow/sleet/slop was perfect for testing out my new Showerspass Elite 2.0 jacket. It worked. Looking down at iced over and snow covered handlebars while commuting is cool.

I swear, this Thermos the best thing I've bought in months. Stopping in the snow after a few miles and popping open a hot beverage is a little piece of the afterlife right here on the greenway, with no ghost bike or nothin.

Commute started about 9:30 a.m. I noticed my rear basket was quite wobbly, and realized that the right screw had fallen out, so I had to zip tie one side of the rack. Picked up about 90 dollars of groceries. Filled my backpack, then tied the rest to the rear basket. The Zip tie held out all the way home!

Then began my long day of running errands -- PO, bank, then Dittos to make copies, then back to the bank. Road all the way across town again to Wal-Mart to buy several money orders, then went to the fitness club. Next to Home Depot to buy replacement screws for the rear rack. Finally, rode back into town to meet with my son's psychiatrist. This was our last meeting, so we had to say good-bye!

When I arrived back home, my odometer said 21.041 miles! Good ride today, and even though I'm still very ill with a terrible and painful cough, very congested, stuffed up, I felt great while riding around.

I stopped and chatted with several bicyclists. One of them had been a professional boxer! He knew several famous boxers -- the Brown Bomber (Joe Louis), and Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr). Had a good long chat with the elderly man (nearly 80 years old). He still rides his bicycle all around town! And he is blind in one eye.

Your commute is 10x mine so you need the thermos. I could use the thermos for the next time we do one of those random nighttime rides around NYC. Or the Times-Up rides.

Had a great ride home today. 63F and felt great. I was amazed how few people were on the MUP compared to Monday. I guess everyone gets themselves amped up for some working out over the weekend, then get lost in the shuffle by Tuesday.

Shaved 3 mins off my ride. Not sure how, I was even telling myself not to push but just enjoy. Felt great. I love Southern Utah this time of year!

today I worked from 11am til 9pm. So I ended up leaving this morning just as the snow storm hit with a wind right in my face for the roughly 10 mile ride in. As I left tonight the storm was being blown away off the coast by a wind that blew right in my face on the ride home. Just couldn't win. But managed to safely maneuver through some pretty ugly mush both ways.:)

Nice Feb ride: 27F/-3C with a few flakes flying and just enough headwind to make me wish I was turning a 12-27 instead of the 11-25 in a spot or two. What's not to like? :D

No ride today alas. 15 degrees with 0 degree wind chills is just not my cup of tea. not prepared for that range. can deal with teens for wind chill but not the low single digits. brrrr.... Atlanta. If I were up north and really setup with proper winter clothes for riding I'd be out in it though. It's not the riding it's the wait at the shuttle bus station that does me in. Warm while on the bike but standing waiting for the bus drains that warmth right out of me. Never know if the bus will be on time or not. Lately more not than on time so we get to stand in the cold for an extra 15 minutes unexpectedly. nasty. wait 'til next year when I am up for the long ride all the way into work. am getting myself in shape. the terrain between home and work is very hilly and I'm not in good enough shape yet, getting there but not quite there.

Tough ride in, my legs seem to be failing me. They, again, were tired, stiff, and generally uncooperative. I don't know if it's over training or something else (diet, tires, cold) but, it seems to be a recent trend. The bike feels like it weighs a ton, even the little hills were tough, I don't know what's going on. Other than that, it was cold with flurries, I guess they're calling for an inch or so today-could make for a fun ride home.

Rode my first single-speed commute today. I converted my regular commuter bike to a SS/fixe last week, and I'm still getting the hang of it. Decided not to risk death by riding it fixed, but wanted to see how the hills worked out with one gear so rode SS. It was surprisingly easy on the uphills, but frustrating on the downhills. With my freewheel gearing (42x18), I spin out about 21 mph, so I pretty much coasted down all of the hills. Several hills on my route I can easily top 30 mph coasting, so that's why I rode SS rather than fixed. I've only rode fixed once so far, and don't trust my skills for riding in traffic yet.

Weatherwise, it's a good day for riding SS. It snowed last night, but it was just a dusting and the roads were clear. The temperature is supposed to get no higher than the mid-30s, so I don't have to worry about changing my clothes for the ride home. Plus my legs were fresh after driving yesterday due to rain.

Temp was 27 this morning when I set out. I took no chances and overdressed a bit- full gloves, four layers, long undies, balaclava. I didn't feel like I was moving very fast but it was a very pleasant ride.

That's cold weather, in my experience. I feel like I'm standing still, my legs just don't wanna go. It's worse when I wear long underwear; I can feel the drag on the movement of my legs. When it's like that, I just try to do it as a "stop and smell the roses" kind of a ride- change my mindset from getting there as quickly as possible to just savoring being out in the weather when few others are. So my commute takes an extra 5 minutes... so what? I just try to enjoy it.

The thermos is my favorite piece of winter equipment, I don't think i'd ride without it. Doesn't take a very cold temperature to start the freezing process on an uninsulated bottle esp. any drips left in the spout.

The commute was pretty warm this morning. The computer says the temp here is 1C already and we're heading for a high of 6. These icy roads are going to get wet.

Very chilly today, about 27-29F. I can report similar feelings to mjw16's--legs felt tired and slow and I just couldn't catch my breath. I think the 15-20mph cross-wind wasn't helping my breathing.

20F and windy this morning so I put on a silk undershirt, wool tee, cashmere sweater and fleece softshell plus a shemagh to cover my face. It was overkill and I was a bit sweaty. Also, the streets were pretty clear despite the slushy snow and overnight freezing temps yesterday.