fletchh

It was an easy ride, but the temps are getting old 30 F (-1 C). I rode out into flurry action, which didn't do much other than wet the road. But it all begs the question, "When will this winter end?" It is true that 30 f in January is balmy, but in April it is downright annoying.

vtjim

Snow! Well, just a little bit. Mostly wet pavement. Temps in the upper 20sF. No wind.

I saw a flock of geese in the air this morning. Yesterday, on my ride home, I saw two loons floating in the lake. Birds, I mean. Not crazy people.

neilfein

Took the long way home yesterday - Train to Dunellen, then a 9 mile ride home through Dunellen and Piscataway.

No bike this morning - I'm taking the train to a seder after work, and getting picked up from the station. (Tomorrow too.)

mjw16

Unexpectedly fun ride this morning. After another night of little sleep and having to be at work super early, I was dragging. In addition, had a head/cross wind for the majority of the ride. I don't usually expect to see many cyclists at this time (about 5:15) but, I was passed by someone as we neared the airport. I could tell he was a strong rider and I tried to keep up for a while. I had been averaging 20/21 mph but he pulled away hard. I put on a good show for a little bit then, dropped back, couldn't hang. I kept him in sight for several miles but didn't have the steam to catch him. I finally got my chance at the 14th Street bridge. Luckily, I could take advantage of the tailwind at that point and put out about 90% effort and had nearly caught up by the end of the bridge. I was able to (finally) get around an obstanent jogger and make a pass. I put the hammer down but, he caught me in the S turns around the Jefferson. I stepped it up even more but he was glued to my rear wheel until we hit the light. He said "you caught me" to which I replied, "yeah, but I didn't think I could" as I huffed and puffed. We chatted as we waited for the light, discussing commute distances, etc. We were both exhausted, he with a newborn and me, with my 12 month old. When the light turned green we both started up, he went up 15th street, I stayed on the sidewalk (over-geared) and watched as he pulled away, I caught up just as we crested the hill, he waved and turned right on Independance. He was a surprisingly strong rider, it was a lot of fun to race with him (I'm just surprised that I was able to hang at all). The ride home promises to be much slower, especially in DC, the tourists are wall to wall.

Pig_Chaser

Yesterday's afternoon commute was sure fun. Firstly i tried jumping a gaping pothole by leaping and lifting up on the handlebars and pedals. It's a technique that works great when wearing clipless, but thanks to my new minimalist approach, i was wearing regular shoes. It was not cool. On the bright side, i didn't go down.
Then i had a motorist express his disapproval of my lane position by pulling up beside me and yelling at me. I can kinda see his point, the lane is wide but the right half is covered in sand from the winter. Although if he was so hard pressed to pass, how is it he could pull beside me and drive at my pace? So i took the moral low road and flashed him the finger. He sped off to the red light and i gave chase, but then i hit a pothole (they're bad this year) and it sent my water bottle flying. By the time i picked it up and got back on my way he was gone, and i was cooled off anyway. Perhaps it was a good thing i lost my bottle.

The commute this morning was awesome: Tailwind. I took the major roads because they've already been cleaned.

mjdwyer23

This morning's commute to work was excellent -- uneventful, chilly, liberating, fun. I can't wait to get out of here and do the long road home.

noglider 

Today was my FIRST TIME riding in two days in a row, and I'm proud of myself!

It was even slightly colder today than yesterday. I wore more clothes, so this time I was overdressed but not miserably. I went a little harder and am glad I did. It even snowed a bit! I'm in NJ, and snow is unusual in April. No worries that it will stick, even for a minute, so it was only amusing, not at all a hindrance.

I gotta say, I'm pretty lucky that I have various routes I can take, and none of them has bad traffic or bad drivers. NJ is famous for bad drivers, and rightly so, but they don't seem to be bad to me as I ride these routes.

Neil, happy Passover! My ride only "costs" me an extra 30 minutes compared with driving. If I drove, I'd head into the city to pick up my father and stepmother. Since I rode, I'll ride home, pick up the car, then drive to Manhattan. From there, we'll go to my uncle and aunt's house in Westchester for the seder. Looking forward to it. Passover is a wonderful holiday.

rumrunn6

CONGRATS on consecutive days! Great source of pride isn't it? Every milestone should be acknowledged and rewarded. 3 days ... 4 days ... & even 5 consecutive days ...! Last year was the first time I did 5 consecutive days for a total of 170 miles. That was pretty cool. I only hope I can do it again - and who knows maybe more than one ...

Great job!

drummingpariah

Congrats, man!

I had a reasonably good commute this morning, despite some California rain and absolutely no rain gear or fenders. I just pumped through it and eventually got back to dry pavement. I was dry by the time I got in to the office.

teleroller

Good for you! I'm doing 1-1/2 hour yoga class two evenings a week, I just can't quite get the gumption to ride home after that...So it's just 3 days a week for now.
Yesterday was +10F in the morning with nice crunchy trails. +40F after work with slush mud and ice on the roads and trails were challengingly punchy where the sun was hitting them, but still crunchy firm and fast in the shade. Spring has arrived, I'm going to have to start cleaning my bike now

noteon 

Leisurely ride in this morning. My knee's got a little twinge and I didn't want to push it before my upcoming long-distance ride on Saturday. (Though I did blast past some little snot on a BMX who thought he'd cut in front of the old slow guy on the funny bike.)

Yesterday's the one I'm kind of proud of, though. I forgot my winter gloves and it was a little too chilly, so I made pogies out of my ankle gaiters. They worked, too.

caloso

A bit of rain this morning when I got up at 5:30, so I got back in bed and hoped it would pass. It did. Nice.

Itsjustb

The wind gods smiled upon me last night; I had a tailwind for nearly the entire ride.

Alas, this morning I had a doctor's appointment this morning which took me another 3 miles in that direction. This meant my return trip to work increased from my usual 4 miles to ~7 miles, all of it into a headwind.

HumdrumPG

Today was my first time commuting to work. It went really well. The only kink in the plan is that the bike racks where I plan to lock up my bike are of the sucky, wheel bender variety, and they were pretty full. I ended up putting my wheel over the top of the rack with the fork or downtube resting on the top rail of the rack. Now I'm worried that that was a really bad idea. Hopefully next time I'll get there early enough to lock up to the outside of one of the racks so as to avoid the wheel bending bit.

Anyway, I'm thrilled that I finally did it! Something I've wanted to do for at least three years.

mjdwyer23

Heh -- that reminds me of something from this morning. I get to work, shower, and park my bike in my cube. A plant-wide email comes out reminding "all associates who commute via bicycle" to park their bikes on the rack outside! Funny, considering only me and one other guy ever ride in. No way am I parking my nice bike anywhere other than my cube!

Itsjustb

Congrats Humdrum and noglider!

Humdrum, I park my bike that way all the time when the rack is crowded and have never had a problem with my wheel getting bent or anything like that.

noglider 

I get back home from the Passover seder late tonight, so I don't know if I'll feel fit to cycle in for a third day in a row, but I might!

HumdrumPG

Thanks! You've alleviated some of my concern, then. I'm also a little worried about bike rack etiquette, since now I realize there really isn't that much room for a lot of bikes. I hope I'm not taking up someone's "reserved" space. I guess I shouldn't care what other people think, though. The point is, the bike rack is there for me (and others) to use. I definitely wish the building management would let us bring our bikes into our offices, though. The security guard told me this weekend I can't do that.

Anyway, I'm off in a little bit for the return trip. Should be facing more headwind and it's uphill, so that's not fun. But overall I'm just thrilled.

luketg08

It was ok, was dressed fine for last night, mittens, baklava, and a jacket, but the ride home today was a bit warm. Also my bike has been creaking for the last few weeks. I try to avoid it by going a bit slower, so it is taking part of the fun out of it.

stevemtbr

First ride home this year that I could wear just shorts and a jersey! I damn near felt naked! 68 degs when I puuled out of work. Went home the long way and enjoyed the two ride out in the country.

BikeSaginaw

First day riding my new bike, an '82 rusted LeTour I sanded, suckered, and slowly finagled back into riding condition (thank you Sheldon Brown--it was a learning experience). 20 miles without a problem, except one venerable female member of the greatest generation honking for at least 10 seconds (no joking) to let me know she was behind me and was planning to overtake me in the next quarter-mile (most slowly I've ever been passed). First time on drop bars, and I'm torn. I was faster (two mph, with wind harsher than normal, but my body aches). Other ride is a Trek Allant. I would have been slower on it, but I do like the upright position. Either way, a good commute, although my kid's preschool teacher laughed at me when she saw me with my safety vest, reflective bands for my pant legs, helmet, etc. Told my boys to tell her it's not nice to laugh at people, though (she should get a kick out of that). She's a good teacher and meant it well.

chimpo

I lost my wallet on my commute this morning. "Stupidly", I was carrying my wallet in my back jean pocket during my commute and it dropped out of my pocket sometime during my commute. I didn't realize it until I arrived at work. I immediately backtracked my route all the way home in hopes that it had slid under a car or was in a place which could be missed by someone. I assumed the worst. I arrived at home and it wasn't. I considered it lost for good. I canceled my credit card and ATM card and ordered a new ID card and rode back to work. When I arrived at work, I had a voice mail from an incredible good samaritan who had found my wallet on the Queensboro bridge, where it apparently had fallen out of my pocket. I rode back to Queens (I live in Astoria) and picked up the wallet and offered a reward. It was declined. I rode back to work relieved that I didn't have to remember my wallet inventory. Lesson learned. Wallet is either kept in my bag or in one of my zipped pockets in the near future. Also, this advice may help anyone who carries a wallet, if you have a business card, it is a good idea to keep it in your wallet just for these type of emergencies. Not for vanity My total commute is usually around 4 miles each way. I can multiply that by 4 today.

BikeLover1989

Getting to work was a breeze, getting home was a battle of me vs the wind.

MediaCreations 

The ride to work was interesting.

A guy jumped on my wheel and sat there for several kilometres so I pushed the pace harder than normal.

About 500 metres after he turned off, and I started to ride a little more sedately, another guy passed me. I then jumped on his wheel and pushed really hard for a few more kilometres.

There's nothing like having other cyclists around to keep you sharp.

buzzman

So why was today's commute different from any other commute?

Well, on such a commute as this I rode 10 miles into work with 2 bottles of Kosher wine wrapped carefully in my rain gear and a change of clothes. Then I raced the setting sun about 20 miles west of work to a friend's house- thought I'd be the last one there and everyone else got stuck in traffic- so I was early! Had an amazing seder with a great group of people and then rode about 8 miles home under a moonlit spring night on quiet roads.

Sweet.