Kodama

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.

PaulH

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

willic

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

Kodama

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?

mjw16

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.

PaulH

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

Kodama

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.

Mtn Mike

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.

bradw

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.

streetdog

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...

Kodama

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...

tchazzard

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.

Ed Holland

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

PaulH

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

Kodama

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.

caloso

Clear, calm, and ccccccold! (At least for NorCal: 32F/0C).

Jean Beetham Smith 

Wow! Caloso we had the same temperature, but we also had a little sleet to sting our eyes, and a lovely grey wash to the whole visible world.

jeff williams

ice,ice baby..-7? @ 3 am. in Victoria- A temperate rain forest-covered in snow-wild.

pinerider

This morning's ride was a character builder, no coasting allowed!!! (woulda been going backwardsif I stopped pedalling) -2 C, with a 40 kph (25 mph) NE wind (head wind first half of ride, cross wind for the second half) for a -11 C windchill. Got about 3" of snow overnight, so it was slushy and salty, but not too slippery. I think I set a new record for the longest trip yet - 39 minutes for the 12 kilometres (did it in less than 22 in the summer)
The ride home was a little quicker, wind had switched around to WNW, so it wasn't as much of a push as I would have liked.
First trip with new Axiom 40 L panniers on the bike - had the rain covers on to keep the salt off - they're great so far.

ollo_ollo

Just thought I would report in: haven't been commuting for a while since we went down to Salem, OR to visit my son & grandchildren weekend after Christmas, they got 6-16inches of snow & my car mysteriously died. turned out to be failure of several electronic sensors & systems. Left my car there & got a rental to get back to Olympia, WA. Went back down New Years Day & got caught in another snowstorm, the 2 1/2 hour trip turned into a 5 hour ordeal as traffic was really snarled up. Very wet, slippery snow. We got to see a Toyota Sequoia SUV with chains on all 4 wheels cartwheel down hill (a first for me). Finally got to Salem, paid the bill & picked up my now purring car & headed back home. Since my wife no longer feels the car is trustworthy for trips, I had to do the new car shopping trick. Took 2 days to find something which satisfied us both. I get to keep the BMW, just can't travel in it any more. This morning the weather service had forecast 1f (that's right, 1 degree), so I was pleased it only got down to 21F. Much to cold & icy for my old bones so I drove again. Forecast is for more snow tonight then gradual return to rain so I hope to be back on a bike by Wednesday as all this driving is gettin to me. Don

Simon Ed

I have just noticed that if I head out 10 mins earlier than usual thechance of being killed is slightly less than a junior officer in WWI . Well the idiots are back behind the wheel after a nie break from them over the New Year its a tad depresing to have to deal with them again.
Nice and clear in Tokyo with no wind to speak of. I just came back from the gym and its a crying shame to have to be kooked up in the office

My upgrade to road components on my MTB are just starting to skip a few so I guess a trip to the LBS is in order to get them set up again now that the cables have settled in.

brennser

back in the saddle today after a two week break - felt great - lovely crisp clear day - will bike again tomorrow and then off to Miami for a few days

did 2,300 miles in 03 so my goal for 04 is 3,000

Paul L.

Just thought I would pipe in. Have been commuting continuously through the holidays, just haven't been on the computer as much. Mornings are getting down in the 20's here. I know that is not cold for most of you but here in the desert that is bone chilling cold! Think I am going to go shopping for a neoprene mask if we get too many more mornings like this. It is amazing how much fitness can be maintained just by commuting. Managed to have my first commute averaging 20 MPH last week. It was the last day of the year and it put a bright finish on the year of commuting (not much wind either!). Anyway, just wanted to sign in and say I was still at it!

Kodama

Snow Day!
Snowing here at Noon (PST) couple of inches on the ground and very slippery. Based on my biking experience last night (see below) I decided to drive in. Went about a mile and decided that wasn't safe so I went back. Got a mail about an hour later from the Boss advising us to stay home! Sweet! I'm going to at least take a walk in the snow, or maybe drag out my old MTB for some ice biking Remember anything can happen on a snow day.

So last night in temps in the low 20s (F) I had to ride the alternate way home, due to the trail closure, and it was no fun The cold and dark was the main problem. I had ridden the route before (in much heavier traffic) but doing it at night made it more difficult and the cold made it extra stressful. There were several points where the entire shoulder was covered in a sheet of ice! (like someone had hosed down their driveway during the day) Being in that precarious situation with 40mph traffic was unpleasant. Also my lights were insufficient for unfamiliar terrain (though perfectly fine for the trail) The temps are supposed to rise and days of rain will end the ice but I don't think I'll be taking the alternate route in these conditions.

streetdog

[QUOTE=Kodama]Snow Day!
So last night in temps in the low 20s (F) I had to ride the alternate way home, due to the trail closure, and it was no fun The cold and dark was the main problem. I had ridden the route before (in much heavier traffic) but doing it at night made it more difficult and the cold made it extra stressful. QUOTE]

Not really bothered by the snow but I would kill for temps in the 20's. It is getting down to -1F (-21 windchill) at night just now. I will ride in almost anything but that is just too damn cold.