Been off the bike for the last couple of days so it felt good to ride in. Interesting weather, big clouds kind of layered, with bits of blue sky and some sun poking through. Warmer than I would have expected for this kind of weather. Lots of people were out, walkers, joggers and bikers all represented. Made good pace today (especially for a Monday) and arrived at work to find a few other bikes in the bike room. Good to see a few other people still riding in the winter (quite a few do in the summer)

Saturday, on my "fun ride" my Motobecane grand tour flatted on the rear 5 miles out which made me late getting home, it was 36 when I left, 41 when I got back home. Monday: I rode my Centurion rain bike but it was dry, 38*F at 6AM, no wind, 43*F at my Noon roundtrip. 43 again at 3:30 in the afternoon. On my trip home, traffic on Martin Way was at a standstill due to a 2 car injury accident near I-5, there were several police cars & an ambulance: I rode on past all those poor souls trapped in their cars & got home at my usual time. Don

The bad news, more idiot "traffic controllers" today, and stupidly high temperatures and humidity. The good news is that I only have to endure another three days of these conditions...

Warmer day today than yesterday - no frost. I took the scenic route again and really enjoyed it. This provides a more interesting ride and a better workout than the fast route. Only problem is that there is some traffic congestion near the work end of the ride which today was compounded by a minor accident.

Cheers,

Ed

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

Cheers,

Ed[/QUOTE]

Yeh! I had the same problem unlocking my outhouse door yesterday morning.Ed.

Not much fun fiddling with keys at 7.30am and the thermometer reading 7 cg below here in the Northern Dales.

But once I got over that it was a fabulous ride in, with everthing covered in a mantle of hoar frost and the sun just beginning to rise, almost tempted me to forgo work and continue ny cycle ride....

I was over dressed this morning, it was warmer then they said it was going to be. The temps were in the mid 40's (deg F). The ride home is supposed to be in the mid 50's. Not bad for December!

Left the house this morning the temp was 4degrees F, that is the limit for the MXZ-300 lake shoes, I was just starting to feel the cold when I got to work. Everything is crisp on mornings like this, lots of ice, you can tell because the Nokian tires are quiet when they roll on ice. Call me weak, but any colder than this and I'm in the car.

Nuts you-are

Great ride it has been a week or more since I rode. Started to go through withdrawl, so I rode today, life is good

Warmer today (just above freezing), so I left my gloves in my pockets and didn't use my hood. I enjoyed riding on ice with my new studded front tire -- the ice patches are so much smoother than the road surface. A lot of the snow is gone, as has the feel of winter. I'm hoping for a white Christmas.

Paul

PaulH said "I'm hoping for a white Christmas."

I don't think it will be a dream here in Minnesota, we've had snow on the ground since before Thanksgiving, I awoke to about 3 inches of new snow this morning and they are talking another 3+ today... I wimped out, I'll be back on it tomorrow. It's suppose to cool down for the remainder of the week with highs in the teens Fahrenheit... well, at least it's suppose to be sunny.

Rodehome last night through a very thick fog which was lit up by the full moon. At points, where these was a minimum of sodium street lamps, it was like an unearthly glow-in-the-dark blanket covering the ground. Toward the end of the ride, near Woodinville, the fog on the ground and on the valley hills looked like fluffy covering of now. Stunning.

Today it has clouded up again, but after the clear night was about 10-15 degrees (F) colder than yesterday. And that pretty much eliminated all the other trail users I saw yesterday. Frost ont he ground and high thin grey clouds. Wool socks and my rain jacket kept me warm enough, plus I nearly made my summer average in.

Late last night, I walked my 2 dogs, just a few wisps of fog with the full moon above, a hooty owl & coyotes called across the lake: a perfect Winter evening. This morning it was warmer & eerily quiet as I rode off to an uneventful commute with not much traffic. Rode my rain bike but it was dry both ways, the afternoon shower was over before I left. Don

Got my exercise today shoveling snow (three times, in addition to the two times other people did it), and left the bike in the garage. There's such a thing as too deep.

I disagree that today was too deep.

If I can make it through today on a road bike, it is not too deep.

I road 7 miles each way throught the snow, with my sled on the trailer. On the way home I stopped at a hill to go down a few times( the slope wasn't groomed well enough yet, for good sliding ). The ride was very slow and a lot of work. I used to ride through all this because I had no other option. I'm glad I rode, but tomarrow, I might drive.

Then I'll feel bad about myself, and ride for the rest of the week.

Did my best to look like a christmas decoration this morning!

The delights of 10.5 miles through freezing fog. After mile or so I noticed condensation on my gloves, then realised it was frozen. A few miles further down the road I looked down just to check which gear I was in and noticed that the frost had collected on the hair on my legs. By the time I reached work I looked like a snowman!

Must dig out those legwarmers....

Cheers,

Ed

Nice ride home last night. I the traffic was light so it was easy going. Cloudy and misty at times.

No ride in today, rain showers all day and I have a meeting after work.

I've kinda been going through a little withdrawl myself. I've had several interviews and open houses recently that have prevented me from riding. This morning was wonderfull though. It was about 38/39 degrees and clear along the Mount Vernon trail. I wore a heavy jacket and cap under my helmet for warmth in addition to my full-finger gloves. This combination worked great. I'm also discovering that in order to stay warm one should strike a balance between spinning and speed. My typical commute is to speedball it from door to door which gets me to work in 30 to 35 minutes. This morning I decided to slow it down a little and concentrate on spinning (the handfull of ice patches along the way encouraged a slower, more careful ride as well). Of course this generated quite a bit of heat and lessened the chilling wind affect on exposed skin. I'll soon be changing jobs and hope to land one in the DC area so I can continue to ride into work. My recent Metro and car commutes have really sucked so I'd like to continue to have an option.

About 36 F/2 C in the DC area this morning. I kept my gloves in my pockets again and didn't wear my hood. Halfway there, I unbuttoned my coat.

I had to work a bit harder, as I was pulling a trailer for taking my daughter back from school at the end of the day. I hadn't realised it was 35-36 until I got to work.

Paul

Well, I got home last night and blew out my driveway (5-6 inches) only to wake up this morning to another 3+ inches. They haven't plowed my roads so I drove to work again today. I use to ride through it but it's so slow it's just not worth it to me. I hope to be back on it tomorrow because I'm already starting to go through withdrawls.

39F & raining at 6AM, got a little wet on the way in. It Rained all day & on the return commute @ 43F I made good time, the steady rain let up just as I arrived home. The dogs appreciated it & had a good run around the property while I chatted with my new neighbor. Don

There was pouring rain first thing today, but it seems to have stopped now. Not a particularly pleasent journey, but I still appreciate the workout.

Cheers,

Ed

Man, did it feel good to be back on my bike this morning, they did a good job of plowing the snow (we got 9 inches where I live), it's all hard pack snow/ice and it was 1F/-17C. I like the snow texture when it's cold like this, it's almost adhesive. Of course it helps to have a studded tire, I just cruised right in. Beautiful sunrise with the smoke from all the chimneys. I stayed comfortably warm, it was great!

wow....I needed a boat today not a bike...last night several inches of rain fell to melt the several inches of snow that had fallen recently

Rock Creek had burst it banks in at leats 4 different places necessitating much clambering, walking and detours on my part - its quite disconcerting to be booting it down the path only to see it become one with the river 30 feet in front of you

winds are picking up also so should be a tough ride home