Dumb@$$ me, left my shoes outside to get soaked in last night's downpour. My wife brought them in and offered to drop me off at the Metro, I don't think they could have been more wet. I dug out my road shoes and used them instead. While not as comfortable, I can tell that the increased stiffness really helps. I also stopped to raise my seat about 1/8th of an inch, I guess it sunk recently explaining the unusual leg fatigue and inability to maintain normal speed. The trail was wet and it rained here and there but my reward was a nice tailwind-I flew in. The tourists are a constant challenge this time of year so my ride home will be another challenge.

We've had a lot of rain lately, and coupled with lousy weather forecasts, that has made for challenging commutes. The forecasters called for heavy showers all day on Wednesday, so I drove, but we ended up getting just a trace of rain. Thursday the forecast was calling for light rain and perhaps none at all, so I rode to work and of course it rained all day and I got soaked on the way home.

One good thing came out of my drive to work on Wednesday, as I finally broke down and bought a rain jacket at the bike shop. I got a good price on a Craft rain jacket, and I've had good luck with their products in the past, so I bit the bullet. The jacket got a good workout yesterday and performed well. My big problem with rain jackets in the past -- which is why I didn't own one -- is the lack of breathability. The Craft jacket has pit zips, a liner and breathable outer fabric, so I was very comfortable in temperatures ranging from about 60-65 F. It probably would be too warm for anything over 70 F, however. If this rainy weather keeps up, I'll probably be in the market for a warm-weather rain jacket.

My other big problem with riding in the rain is the mess it creates. I spent about 15 minutes cleaning my bike after getting home Even tho my fenders did a good job keeping most of the crud off my bike, the wheels were just plain nasty. Also, it's a steel frame and I didn't want to leave it wet.

The temp was very nice 50 F (10 C), but it rained the whole way. My outer shell held up nicely with only my lower sleeves getting wet. My shorts got soaked, but it felt good to be bare legged. One of
my paniers, the one with my work clothes did not make it too well. I am trying to figure out if I didn't close the zipper all the way or whether water got in some other way. The outer roll of my pants and shirt were soaked. The way back will be interesting, thunderstorms and wind gusts up to 30 mph ( 50 kph). Wind gusts have a way of unnerving me, when I get slammed the first time during the ride. It's difficult to create a small profile on a bike.

Wet wet wet! Well, damp. Had to lug in my laptop, and I have clothes to bring home, so I have a trunk bag and a backpack today. I feel a bit like a pack mule.

Lotta wind and drizzle today, but temp was 58F. First time that I ever had to ride on my middle chain ring... I couldn't "work it" against the wind!!!

Thank you to the drivers in my area... they were really friendly the past two days... maybe we are learning to coexist. One dude even knew that I had to cross traffic to get into a left turning lane and he held traffic up behind him so I could get over. Awesome dude! He was a Navy guy in uniform.

Yesterday, gave blood, commute home I had a "bad feeling". One minute in, a bungee cord I use on my panniers fell into my drivetrain and wrapped itself around my cassette while I was on a major thoroughfare. Close call, took some time to untangle, no broken spokes.

This morning, rain...saw another commuter, probably the same guy I saw yesterday, attempted to pursue, couldn't close on him. Feel weaker after the donation. Warm rain, but not pleasant like it usually is.

Pouring out and 30 MPH winds, decided today was driving/clothes day.

Last night ride though had best time of the year and got below the 4 minute mile for the first time on the MTB.

Brisk. It's been in the 50s and 60s most mornings lately, but this morning if it was 40, that was it. I saw some frost on the odd roof here and there. I wore jeans, long-sleeve t-shirt and Canari windbreaker, which was about perfect.

It was a killing field of deer out there today boys and girls.

Last night's ride home was basically the opposite of my ride in... while the ride in felt good and I spun most of the way in, the ride home featured a lot of mashing, a very gritty chain, a stop to true my rear wheel, terrible pacing and too many stops for my liking. I was asked to pick up a 9 volt battery for the smoke detector, so a stop at the pharmacy on the way home was necessary. However since there are no bike racks to lock to (and since I didn't have a lock with me) I rolled my bike into the store, grabbed the battery, paid walked out... only a couple weird looks.

Cold and rainy. My makeshift rear fender worked okay for back splash but the backsides of my calves took a beating. Maybe I will just get some real fenders. Wintery snow is in the forecast so should be an interesting ride home. I'm glad I had my waterproof "pants in a bag". Oh yeah and my Achilles tendon was nice and muddy. Besides that highly enjoyable.

Light rain this morning, but a good ride. In my random thoughts while riding, I realized that rain actually bothers me more in a car than on a bike. Rain doesn't really bother me much when riding a bike, in fact I don't even think about the fact that it's raining. However, when driving, I never feel that I'm being as safe as I should be when it's raining. The limiting of visibility makes a lot more difference at 50 MPH than at 20.

You guys are really making me appreciate California weather. No rain again, warm enough to wear a t-shirt before the sun came up, and I got a friendly wave from a pair of bicycle police officers on my way in.

You didn't to begin with? What're you soft or something?

On a different note, I was thinking yesterday how lucky we all are to actually have a job to commute to. Nice!

Downpour in the 40s today. I averaged somewhere around 15mph over 13 miles, which is a little faster than I was taking it a few months ago. My first 200K brevet is a week from tomorrow, so I've been pushing harder on the commute, especially the hills. Hopefully it'll pay off.

I used to drive my v8 Datsun, where the exhaust exited right under the doors. Nice weather was the difference between having the windows up or having the windows down and smelling like exhaust all day. It didn't seem all that great. Now, nice weather is the difference between carrying a change of clothes on my back or not. I definitely notice.

And you're absolutely right, we are lucky to have jobs. The economy hasn't gone down, we've just stopped overextending ourselves. It's nice, if you ask me.

0 F here, had to deviate my route because of a moose in the trail! It's nice to have the sun coming up at 6:30 AM instead of 9:30 or 10:30 like in the winter.

Damn. The internet ate my homework, I mean my post. I wrote a long and interesting story, and I don't feel like retyping it now. Grr.

I'm originally from Southern California. The weather is the main thing I miss--though if I moved back, then I'd miss bicycling in blizzards.

Huh. Apparently I'm fickle.

I moved out here from New England a year ago. I feel for you, trust me. I know what I'm missing :-D

Going to be a ***** of a ride on the way home. Wind advisory & rain. *sigh* Wish me luck.

Well, for being 10 to 15 degrees below our average temps all week I still had a great week of riding to work and back. The roads and trails have been in good shape. By the time I get home from work today I should have just under 140 miles on the week in commuting and feeling great. Now if we could just get some warmer weather.

It's really encouraging reading these posts, sometimes you feel like your the only one living, riding and dealing with cold, rain and strong head winds.... I guess you get it pretty much everywhere. Thanks

Sorry, my commute today was sunshine and blue skys.

I totally thought this would be my first full week of bike commuting, but the radio came on to wake me up predicting hail on the way home.

So I said "hail no!" and hit the snooze.