Like others, I had a wicked headwind yesterday. At a couple of points I was down on the granny chainring up front, and in 2 in the back. I don't normally get that low even on big hills! And even at that, I was not doing well.
I learned years ago though that I had to either learn to live with headwinds or just stop commuting in the winter.

But it doesn't spell very well.

rolled in this morning with some gusty winds mostly in my favor. The afternoon ride home was a bit more of a challenge and I took the bike path along the river. Still a few very icy spots on the path but overall quite lovely and certainly all to myself.

Yay! We finally have more snow!!!!:D Nothing on the roads this morning, but it's been snowing all day and there should be around 3-4 inches on the rode by 5pm. I put the studded tires back on this morning in anticipation... Perfect weather, really.:lol:

Doesn't need to because IT is IT"S own excuse.

Oh, yeah! The weather for the ride in last night and the ride home this morning were within the most comfortable temperature range. This morning was especially smooth sailing since there was almost no one on the road.

This week I've been really moving; somehow I suddenly became more comfortable in the largest chainring and I'm now topping out the speed of my current bike. w00t!

I'm annoyed by the fact that I had to commute in today. But I had an awesome commute as my route takes me down the final 1000 m of today's ToC Prologue. I wore my team windvest and I have my backpack filled with clothes and my lunch. I just rode through the barriers at 15th Street like I knew what I was doing. When I got to 12th Street, a cop held open one of the barriers for me. Then a fan stopped me and said he was having trouble with his folding chair and did I have Phillips screwdriver?

I guess he thought I was a mechanic! It was awesome. And then I just rode into the parking lot and locked up my bike and came into the office. When I got in, my support staff supervisor said she said hello to Phil Liggett in the coffee shop in our building!

It is it is own excuse? OK then.

Commute today was 10.6 miles. Had to run lots of errands. Picked up groceries ($48) from Cost Less. Dropped off the stuff, then rode into town, and bought more groceries from Save-Mart ($35). Had a strong head wind riding home.

Picked up a headlamp from Big 5 today -- 60 lumens. Will test it out tonight around the neighborhood ...

No way, there is no way that that super casual, super easy, barely-a-sign-of-sweat, barely-a-few-minutes-out-of-breath commute was mine. AAAND there's no way that it took me only 43 minutes. My Sunday morning commute zen must have done something weird to time because I've never had any exercise that felt that easy in my life. Ever.

It's like it wasn't me on that ride or something. I'll let y'all know if I figure out what's going on...

Had my first 4-day commute of 2009 last week, and I'm starting out good this week with my first ride in the snow. It was just flurries, but I deserve some brownie points for not wimping out. The temperature was about 35 F when I left home, so I wasn't worried about ice. It was nice seeing all of the snow flakes in my headlight beam.

I've been piling up the miles lately and could top 600 miles for the first time ever in a February. I rode 174 miles last week and 150 miles the week before, including metric centuries both weeks. My legs were surprisingly fresh this morning, so I must be getting used to it. The weather has been very dry here lately, so that has not been an issue at all.

27*F, no wind, kids are all off from school, so traffic was light, it was a nice ride in.

Surprisingly cold this morning. 8F. Had to have the full warm weather gear on. Beautiful morning though, with the sun coming up over Lake Michigan, no wind, not a cloud in the sky, and light traffic (Presidents day related I guess). Should warm up to the low 30's for the ride home.

Saw a couple of dogs chasing a deer through the woods, the deer was toying with them I think!

Back in the saddle again for a mid-20's commute after a week in Mexico. Nice to be back on the bike. The cold weather on the other hand...:(

Just got back from today's commute of 13 miles. Strong side winds going into town, blowing both east and west! Sometimes the wind was so strong, it nearly knocked me over! Rain finally let up when I left home! I lucked out, as it has been raining nonstop for two days, with high winds. Averaged about 11.5 mph going into town, to WINCO. Bought $65.00 in groceries, then headed back home.

Return trip was a bit slower, riding into the wind ... Could really feel all that extra weight in my thighs, then after about a mile, my knees started hurting, so I had to drop to granny gear the middle chain ring several times on the way home. Only averaged about 8mph going home.

Oh yes, I packed 4 1/2 dozen eggs in the rear basket! Last time I bought eggs, broke a couple. Today, no broken eggs! I packed each carton of eggs on top of something soft (soft bag of pancake mix, hot dogs, and lunch meat).

I live in a rural area in southern Michigan. This afternoon I rode within twenty feet of a small herd (I counted ten) of whitetail deer on the way home.

Pretty cool.

Moved up in the world. Picked up my first set of Brifters and got them installed this past weekend and did a 9 speed upgrade in the process. Basically somebody's cast offs when they moved up to a 10speed. Still not sure about the 11 x 26 9speed cassette and 26/38/48 combo. I had 11x28 7 speed and 22/32/44 crank. Hated I was topping out but now I am worried I don't have enough crawl for packed touring. The new cranks are wider as well. The old cranks may go back on. Love to find something like a 22x34x48.

I do love the Brifters though. It was nice not having to move off the hoods to grab a lower gear on the hills. I was warned I would get spoiled and I can see why.

Ride was pleasant and uneventful other then upshifting when I wanted to downshift a couple of times.

Great commute this morning since there was almost no traffic due to President's Day. Ride home had a little more traffic. Getting excited to ride tomorrow morning, we are expecting a good sized storm over night.... I love riding in the snow....

27 or 28F/2 or 3C this morning with a very slight headwind.

I took a couple of days off riding and was a little tentative at first. I also dressed more for the afternoon than for this morning and was a little chillier than I needed to be, but a nice ride through a nice clear pre-dawn nonetheless.

Coldest commute in a while after several weeks of unseasonably warm weather. The low dipped to 23 F but it didn't feel that cold to me, probably because the wind finally died down. Yesterday's commute home was difficult because my legs were tired and I was riding into a stiff NW headwind much of the way.

My legs need a day off, which they will get tomorrow since it is supposed to rain all day. I've ridden six days in a row, totalling 175 miles and including a metric century on Sunday. My average speeds are dropping day by day, a sure indication that I need some rest.

I almost got right hooked this morning. It was at the corner of Comm Ave and Gloucester. The motorist was second in line waiting at a red light, and I was right behind her. Light turns green, but she's digging through a bag or something on the passenger seat, so she doesn't see it. After a couple of seconds, I start to pass on the right, and she starts going too. Just as I'm at her right front end, she starts turning and comes within inches of hitting me. She never signaled her turn.

I yelled and raised a terror, and she continued onto Gloucester St. Normally I'd be going straight onto Comm Ave, but I gave chase. she turned right again onto Newbury and I finally caught up to her at the red light at Mass Ave. Since I was sprinting I was pretty out of breath, so I think my verbal barbs were less than sharp.

She said to me, "I'm sorry, I didn't see you." I wonder how she didn't see me when I was at the right side of the front of her vehicle when she made the right turn. Where exactly was she looking?? Just absent-mindedness I suppose, or bicycle blindness.

Lessons to take away from this: Her burrowing through her bag at the green light should have been my first clue that she was less than attentive, and I should have passed on the left, even though she did not use her turn signal and there was no indication that she was going to turn right. And since she was totally unimpressed by me catching up to her and yelling at her, it probably wasn't worth it.

Yep. You gotta be careful!

My ride was pleasant. Temps in the 50s = wear shorts on the ride. :)

I stopped by the credit union to make my car payment. I went through the drive-thru on my bike; the teller got a kick out of it. This is the credit union, by the way, where I pulled my current commuter bike out of the dumpster at the edge of the parking lot, so my Dumpster Queen has gone full circle I guess.

Great ride, starting to see the rest of the bike commuting croud get out in this nice weather. Wind blows!

Darn near balmy this morning. Mid 30's or so, but almost seemed warmer. Wind started kicking up at the end. Seems like the wind is a never ending deal anymore.

Awful commute this morning. I was trying to hurry to beat the rain, but my frame pack had come lose so I spent 10 minutes fiddling with it and still couldn't get it right. Then when I finally got started, I encountered the wind, about 20mph blowing straight into my face the whole way. And it rained most of the way.

I ended up being 17 minutes late.

I hope the wind is still kicking the same speed/direction on the way home. I'll be able to zoom!