Nice ride in today, mostly overcast but fairly warm (after a very clear and cold weekend) When I set out (about 15 min late I might add) it was very grey, with a bit of sun poking out of a corner of the sky. Not long into the ride the clouds cleared around the sun so that about 1/4 of the sky was blue and streaked with thin clouds. Then it clouded up completely. These weather changes occurred all within the 1st 10 min I was out, and I'm happy to report the wind moving those clouds around were all above ground level. It had rained overnight and everything was dripping wet, and glistening while the sun was out. It was warm enough I took off my rain jacket half way through. Looks like rain for the ride home tonight, which of course is always better then rain in the way in. December riding, gotta love it

Winter temps finally arrived. 14F/-10C coming home, with a 17mph/27kph wind. That was considerably cooler than when I left in the morning. Fortunately I brought extra liner gloves and my balaclava. In one sense I was dressed perfectly, not a drop of sweat. On the other hand, I was quite aware of heat oozing out of the seams. Not one of the venting zips got opened. Tomorrow I break out the full leather boots. Good thing I spent time Sunday polishing the cleats, resealing the unused cleat holes and adding fresh waterproofing to the uppers.

WTF is up with GCCC deciding to close the Esplanade in Surfers the last couple of mornings -- both of which forced me to take an alternative route that is shorter in distance but considerably longer in time (thanks to a couple of "Halley's comet" Queensland traffic lights).

To suggest Traffic management here is incompetent would be an insult to incompetent people. Grrrr!

Chris: Traffic management - isn't that an oxymoron?

We awoke to thick fog here this morning so the watchword is visibility. I decided to run the complete after dark setup:- High visability jacket, headlamp and steady and flashing rear lights. In the end it was a good ride, though the jacket always makes me warmer than I would prefer.

Front wheel bearing on the bike is starting to make angry noises, so I think some overhaul is needed...

Cheers

Ed

A little chilly at 25 F, but not the 15 F that was predicted.

Today was the symbolic start of the DC icebiking season for me. I rode over a 20 foot frozen area along Route 27.

There is even some tentative use of the "S" word for this weekend.

Paul

I hate ice -- do you use "clipless pedels", if so do you clip out when going over it? Or just track a straight line and hope that all is o.k.? (maybe my fear is caused by the "slick" road tires I ride).

I use platform pedals. In this case, the ice was on an easy, level portion, so I just tracked straight over it. Piece of cake!

There will be ice there on every subfreezing morning this winter and this is my 6th year of riding on this ice patch. I'm used to this ice patch.

If there is a chance of less benign ice (like on a steep downhill), I will usually ride with the seat about a half inch lower than optimal. This allows me to slide a shoe (or two) on the frozen surface for better control.

If you track straight and don't use the front brake, ice is no big deal on slick or semi-slick tires.

This winter I have Nokians, but have not yet installed them. Perhaps in a week or two.

Paul

Sunny today burning off a lot of moisture from torrential rains last night (just light rain while I was biking home I'm happy to report) It was pretty cool, but I chose no rain jacket and extra effort to warm me up -worked fine The fog streaming off the valley walls was really cool looking and there wasn't any at ground level for most of the ride. The last mile or two was pretty foggy, but not enough to really impact visibility. Everything looks a little different in the fog, and I like getting to see things in another way.

Light rain this morning. Took my old bike out for the commute as my spanky one is getting some new cables and brake pads for Tasmania. By about Broadbeach I noticed a worrying bulge developing in the rear tyre - just in time for it to be too late to turn back. Somehow it survived (that old bike is the toughest piece of metal in the universe!).

Supposed to be a "wintery mix" tomorrow -- rain, sleet, snow.

Windy today, a chilly, gusty wind from the north that demanded a fight to keep up a reasonable pace, but not the sort that seems to stop you dead in your tracks.

Cheers,

Ed

More rain this morning, just beautiful. I would have liked it a couple of degrees cooler though - the puddles I rode through were warmer than what I showered in before I left. In saying that, I don't even want to think about what it would have been like without the rain!

Snow this morning in the DC area! Well...not much snow, but the world is white, even though the roads are mostly not.

However...there was one stretch of snow along Route 27, and I got to make my first tracks of the season!

Paul

I got in a little later this morning, and it was just cold, nasty rain. Wish I could have gotten out the door a bit earlier to enjoy DC's first flakes of the year. Maybe it will change back over by this afternoon.

Been warmer this week, even tho a little bit of North wind has appeared.
This morning was 41deg, coldest all week.
What happened to Winter in Southern California?

This week: Rode my wet bike 4 days 6AM-3:30PM Temps 38-48F, light to no wind, intermittent light to heavy rain showers. Wednesday only, dry pavement 38F in AM, 53F at lunchtime & partly sunny: rode my Bianchi Trofeo with new sewups & got away with it! Don

Hi Folks,

Ooooh what a great ride this morning. I felt like a change of route and so tried, for the first time an alternative that has been beckoning for a while now. What a treat! Lovely country roads and beautiful sunshine. It was also the coldest morning of the winter so far, with temperatures well below freezing when I set out. The wind chill at speeds of 25+ Mph was.... interesting

Only real problem I had was... getting the bike out of my garden shed - the padlocks had frozen

Cheers,

Ed

frozen ice balls all over the sides of the road, i hit anumber of them on the way in, temp was 16 degrees, black ice everywhere, the Nokians held fast. They don't do much for you when hit snow with any depth to it. If this is a preview of what's in store for the winter it should be an interesting one.

No commute for me today, I'm home waiting for the plumber to come fix our furnace and the town to restore water through our temporary water supply. Right now our temporary water supply is running down the street on top of the snow pack. 24in/60cm to 27in/68cm of snow in our back yard, 24F/-5C now that the sun is well up; definately not the time you want your furnace to die. Oh well, at least the DSL works and I can whine, and Christmas shop.

First time riding on Nokians (W106). They are gratifyingly thick and substantial-looking. The puncture resistance is certainly a significant virtue. I don't notice any difference in rolling resistance. What I do notice is the sound that the studs make -- rather like sausage being fried in a pan.

As I crossed one of the large (30 ft or 10 m) expanses of glare ice on my route, I started exploring the envelope, making gentle turns. Amazing! For the first time in six years of winter commuting, I can do something besides track straight ahead while on ice.

There's just enough snow about to look cool. At 27 F/-3 C, it was somewhat cool -- just right for what I was wearing.

Paul

Ah, great ride in this morning. Balmy by winter standards (38F/3C). I took the long way in, saw a beautiful sunrise. I'm taking advantage of this because the temps are suppose to drop drastically as the week progresses.

Had my first fall in a long time this morning: I was going too fast around a bend covered in wet leaves. The wheels just skidded out from under me and I was on my butt before I realized what'd happened. Skinned my knee and tore my leggings but I'll live. I think my derailleur may be a little bent, but I'll give it a little tug with a vicegrip when I get home and it should be okay.

Oh, and the lock on the bike cage was broken so I had to stash my bike in a secret indoor location. Not a good start to the week, but it's better than driving.

edited for spelling and grammar

so all of the days to forget my helmet I picked the day with a ton of half melted icy snow on the roads - because I had my balaclava on it felt like I had something on my head

nice brisk ride in - got my first thumbs up of the year from a somewhat disbelieving motorist

You guys (and gals) in the East (the UK, & "others") really amaze me.

Another "cold" morning for us in SoCal (well - 46 degrees is cold for us!)
So what's the sound of rubber (frozen rubber?) on the ground? Crackeling ? Crunching? Man, I really can't see myself riding my short commute in below freezing temps...
You all need to be committed