ET_socal,

I'm in Alexandria, Virginia-about 7 miles south of DC right along the Potomac river. I ride into work on the Mount Vernon Trail which is sandwiched between the river and the GW Parkway, it's like a biker/jogger highway. We've had unusually warm temps these last couple of days, in fact it's currently a balmy 53 degrees with light drizzle-which evidently won't last long. The weather forecaster are predicting a cold front's arrival and a drop of about 20 tonight.

All,

Another great ride in this morning. The trail was almost deserted and the warm weather was very welcome. I'm riding into and out of the city now in complete darkness and realize the my lighting system is really inadequate. Coming home last night was a little nerveracking as I could barely see the trail in some places. Other than that, it feels great to be riding again (even though it's been somewhat sporadic). Happy Holidays to everyone.

School is out, so I attached the trailer to my bike and brought her to work with me. As ever, it was a bit of a workout. I could have done without the warm temperatures.

Traffic was light, to say the least. No other bikes, and few cars. Quite pleasant riding with my daughter, nearly alone in the mist.

Merry Christmas to all!

Paul

MJW,

I have a Nitehawk sytem with two lights, one a 10 watt halogen and the other a 20 watt. This system works very well and has a rechargable battery which fits into one of the bottle cages. I highly recomment this system.

Gus

Paul-

Wasn't as nice for those of us DCers getting a later start to the day. This was the worst morning downpour I have hit in awhile, but I guess I will have the next four days to dry out!

-Schiek

Gus,

I'm considering that system, it's reasonably priced. I'm curious as to how you mount the lights. Also, I noticed that you're the self-proclaimed brewmaster. I just got into homebrewing last spring. I love it. I just finished a London Porter that may well be the best beer I've ever had. I like a cold one when I get home from my afternoon commute. I'm actually sneaking out a little early so that I can pick up my new brew kit.

Cheers

The NiteHawk setup I have came with two mounts for my handlebars and one for my helmet. I don't use the helmet mount. Each handlebar mount can actually handle both lights; one on top and one on the bottom. I use both mounts, one on each side of my HB stem with the lights below my handlebars. Works well.

I am "a" self proclaimed HomeBrewmaster (one of many) :D . Yes, a brew after a ride is not only "GREAT!", it's a tradition for me (maybe that's one reason my weight doesn't come off as fast as it used to!?). My favorites are a good Dunkle Hefe Weizen (7%, makes your face go to sleep after just one!) or a regular Hefe Weizen (5.5%, more thirst quenching). My bier is brewed from all grain, so I have the most control over the process as possible. It's hard to keep any surplus around! :beer: PROST!

Heard of 'um all!

Update your profile to refelect! ;)

Wussed out yesterday, was raining pretty good at 4, so called the wife to pick me up, but the rain cleared up overnight and the streets were 1/2 dry this morning, so had a nice clean 50 degree ride in this morning...
So guess what - It's raining again :mad: Will have to wait a few hours and see if I wuss-out again :rolleyes:

I have the same system. For the money upfront ($120 three winters ago) it has served me very well. Unfortunately, the wiring harness seems to have failed, but the replacement is less than $20. The first battery lasted 1 & 1/2 winters, the 2nd only 1/2 a winter because I forgot to unplug the lights when I parked at work & the switch accidently got flipped on. The batteries are a little expensive, but the lights themselves have a very long life. I did have to replace one when I dropped it, otherwise these are the original bulbs. I use the lights on a 40 to 60 minute commute daily from October to April. I've never had any problems with them being affected by cold weather, down to 5F/-15C. It is adequete for most commuting purposes, and affordable.

It was beautiful this morning at 6:00 AM, 43F & stars bright above & not much traffic, threatening to rain at lunch time & Noah's Ark downpour conditions on the way home at 3:30 PM plus auto traffic at a standstill due to fender benders.
Don

So good to be able to ride again. Once again, the effects of a long lay off are mixed. 3 weeks is time to decondition, but I was well rested. It was really nice this evening, almost took my jacket off. But the drivers were scary, rolling stop signs, right hooks, unsignaled lane shifts. I might as well have been in Boston, not the suburbs.

It was 29F at 6:00 AM, my wife was worried there might be ice so I agreed to drive in. Glad I listened to my sweetie. South Bay road was so slippery I could only drive 20 mph. Only saw 1 bike commuter & he was walking his bike very carefully & deliberately. By lunchtime it was 40F with some sun so I drove home for lunch then rode back to work on Motobecane Grand Jubile. Fenderless in December, yee haw!

Rotten luck! I had a similar experience about a month ago.
Looking for a safer way into work I decided on a 20k ride along a river then a 20k train ride in. The river path was under construction, there was a fiendish head wind and about 17k into the ride my tyre wall blew out. Scrambling around at lunch I go a new tire and tube (the blowout trashed the tube too). I was looking forwards to flying home after the head wind only to discover it had changed direction and was fighting me once again! Ack! My average speed along this route is around 35Km/h. I was lucky to maintain 20 :(

Today was a different story though. Nary a car on the road (comparitivly) I made the normal 50-55min commute in 45 :)

Man this is one long thread. Was great going in to work but coming out was cold and I neglected to bring my 2nd layer for my legs. I ride single speed and my knees hate the cold!

Cold this morning. Frost on the cars and ice covered puddles, probably around 29-30 degrees. It felt really good to ride today, especially after all the junk food I've eaten over the last week. I hit the trail at my normal time but somehow managed to get to work about 10 minutes later than usual-I'm not sure how or where I lost the time. Afternoon highs should be around 60 degrees today so I'm really looking forward to the ride home.

Gus,

I gave away almost all of my 2 1/2 cases of London Portor and Bavarian Gold as Holiday gifts. I hate to part with them but it will have been worth it if everyone enjoys it-time to start another batch. I'm thinking about a weizen...

:beer:

First day back on the bike after a week off and I was feeling sluggish. Also my tires may have been a little under pressure, I need to check that when I head home tonight. The weather today was absolutely clear and was freezing (literally, 32f on the thermometer) making everything super icy. The lawns and fields were super white with thick frost even in the direct sun. The asphalt trail itself was visibly frost covered in many sections and all the dips and potholes were frozen over. An interesting thing about this was I was able to see tire tracks from people who had ridden the trail earlier in the day. Looked like about 10 others had ridden before me, but only one had taken the street off the trail which heads to the various office complexes in the area.

I've got a slow leak in the rear tire. I pumped it up yesterday and found it would hold air for about six hours -- good enough for me, especially since I was pulling the trailer to take my daughter to vacation day camp, which meant plenty of room for a floor pump and spares in the trailer.

Unseasonable weather, warm and clearing -- 54 F/12 C. I pine for snow. On the other hand, it was nice to leave the rain pants and overcoat on the rack and ride unencumbered.

Paul

Well that was my last commute for 2003......
And what a freezer it was, numbing cold,freezing fog and not sure of the temp,but on the Radio before I set out they give it as -6 I think it was even colder because I can rarley remember arriving at work feeling so numb.

The pain when my hands defrosted had me hopping about (arrrgh).

We could do with a smilie of a face with Icycles hanging from all parts,as that was me when I arrived.

Anyway Happy New Year to all my fellow commuters, be ye Lads or Lassus...

Regards Willic :)

Colder today, with no sun, but the high thin clouds didn't seem to hold in the heat. 29-27degrees F on the old bike thermometer. Clearly was less moisture in the air as the frost, while thick was confined to unpaved surfaces unlike yesterday. Made up for the colder air by pouring it on a bit, and came in about 3min faster than yesterday.

On a side note I was thinking my rear tire was a bit below presssure, so I decided to add some air and discovered that my sidewall is cracking! I figure it will last today and tomorrow, and I'll replace it on New Years day. I'm thinking I'll swap out my Conti Town and Countries for Top Tourers. The T&C's have lasted well (about 2600 miles) and my front one still seems fine. I wonder if the rear is failing now due to an excessive number of rear tube replacements over the summer?

Cold again this morning, low 30's. I moved pretty slowly, didn't have much in the tank. Dinner last night consisted of only a couple slices of pastrami and cheese and some bread pudding-not many calories so the ride was a bit of a struggle. I just took my time and spun all the way in at a slow average of 14 or 15 mph. Other than a few runners, I was pretty much the only one out there-only two other riders. I enjoyed the slow pace and stopped to watch a plane take off at National and appreciate the sunrise over the city. We should reach the low 50's this afternoon so I'm anticipating a great ride home.

I left my gloves at home, figuring it was another warm morning. Surprise! I later found it was 30 F / -1.1 C. However, I felt great once I had started up the long hill by the Navy Annex on Columbia Pike. After dropping off my daughter at the Jefferson Center, I discovered a bike/pedestrian overpass over Route 50 that allowed me to avoid the interminable traffic light.

My daughter particularly enjoyed the ride in the trailer. She sang all the way. Not a bad way to end the year

Paul

Snowed last night around 11pm and woke up to more snow this morning. My first biking in snow ever! Well I did bike in that earlier snow we had in late Oct/Nov but there wasn't any on the road. This time the Sammamish River trail was covered in an inch or so of snow and was fairly slippery. There was tracks of 5 other bikers (a sixth latter joined) In an attempt to get some untracked snow I went off the edge of the trail and fell as I tried to get back on. First time falling from a bike in snow! It was very low speed and no damage or injury. Not even much pain, kind of like falling while skiing. The places were I turned onto the actual roads were very slippery and my back tire slid around. Everything was so beautiful covered in snow and it was actively falling during my ride. Very scenic and lots of fun. It was much more effort to pedal through even this small amount of snow, and it took me about 5min longer than I've been averaging this winter (or 10mins longer than the summer commute).

Work is totally dead today, so I'm bailing soon and gonna get some extra riding in.

Now I have two different jobs, so I have two different commute routes. The shorter commute is only 1 mile :(, and the longer commute is 5-7 miles depending on the route. For the last month or so, I've been driving more on the longer route because of the poor road conditions in the city when it snows. I know, thats no excuse, and I hope to be on the bike more in the new year.

I haven't been riding much lately, as it usually is fairly cold in St. Louis, MO this time of year and the cold weather is hell on my sinuses.

But today it was 55F at 7:30am, with a projected high near 70, so I put on my cycling shorts and pedalled in to work.

Next week it's supposed to be sub-freezing again.

I kept listening for the fog horns. You could have cut it with a knife. I went in early today, 5:20 AM, the fog was everywhere, it was dark and no one was on the streets. I felt like I was in a low budget horror flick, just waiting for the undead to turn the next corner...

Pretty crazy ride in this morning. Yesterday (New Years day) it rained all day washing away most of the previous days snow. Cold though, barely above freezing for most of the day. At night The temps dropped and it snowed for a few hours around 9-11pm. Then it cleared up and got real cold. So today there was incredibly thick fog in the valley, totally clear skies behind the fog so that the sun glowed through the fog. The trail was crunchy with ice where it was clear, and crunchy with a thin layer of frozen snow in other places. Seemed to have snowed heavier the further east I went. This was probably the most stressful riding this winter especially when I was on the road. The shoulders and bike lanes had crunchy marble sized globes of ice on them, but the fog was so thick I didn't want to ride in the clear streets. There was evidence of only three other riders on the trail. The ride was a lot nice though as I had gotten my rear tire replaced yesterday -that cracking sidewall really caused a lot of drag it turns out.

When I got to work (which is nearly deserted -slackers) the views into the snow covered and fog filled valley were pretty incredible. More snow supposedly this weekend...

I finished 2003 and entered 2004 with no snow here in Maine...well we had two storms followed by rain and warm temps. Mother Nature is playing a mean joke. Our temps are supposed to be around freezing this time of year, yet they have consistently been well into the 40's F.

No sign of cold weather in sight, but lots of good riding in the Mango. I finished 2003 with 724 miles or 1165 km.

Happy new year folks!

Well, back on the bike after a week's break and it feels good. I got one "proper" ride in over the holiday, so feel the need to start pushing the miles again.

This morning was dull and wet, not the best start back to work, but it is good to catch up with everyone again.

Cheers,

Ed

This morning it was 44 F/ 6 C and light rain. It was a great ride to work -- for the first time in nearly two weeks, I was not pulling a 20 lb trailer with 40 lbs of daughter and backpack. It seemed that I was flying up the hills.

We finally have some seasonal weather set to return later this week. There's even a forecast for possiblre snow.

Paul

How was the commute today, you ask. In a word: Cold. 25degrees F was the max temp on the ride today. Highs of 29degrees F projected for the day. Snow projected for tonight up to 6" in the lowlands. So it is winter for sure. Anyway adding a face mask an extra shirt and some extra vigorous peddling kept me warm enough in the ride. Plus this was the first day of 3 weeks of the hillier, longer detour route, as they work on trail.