Great ride home tonight. The forcasted 40MPH winds did not materialize! YEA!!

The last 1/2 mile of my commute home is a steep climb. Tonight I was able to make it up in the middle chain ring! I have been forced into the 'granny' ring previously.

I've been fighting a sharp pain just above my left knee-cap. Not sure what is going on. It hurts on or off the bike. Been wearing a neopreme (sp) knee brace which seems help.

Steady light rain and an uneventful commute today. Just a peaceful time to be alone with my thoughts.

-4F/-20C when I left this morning. First morning this year that I've bothered with the goggles. Unfortunately, about a third of the way to work I felt my helmet strap pop open. I think I must have caught a bit of my balaclava in it, so I stopped to refasten. Of course leather choppers and wool mitts aren't very dextrous so I had to take at least one off to be able to refasten. But when I went to reglove I discovered that the wool mitt had pulled out of the thumb of the overmitt and I couldn't get it back in. I wound up riding with a liner glove inside the wool mitt. Object lesson, leather overmitts work well, but I need to sew a loop on them so I don't have the same problem again. Hands were fine for the trip. Returning this evening I should have left off one of the morning layers, I was sweating too much.

A little drizzle this morning - unfortunately not enough to cool down much.

Nice commute today. A nice -28 C on my way to work, but fairly dry and calm air. I found it so nice I added a 6-km detour on the mountain.

Way home was much warmer: -25 C.


My engine started this morning, but the transmission slips sometimes. Best to continue pedalling at all times.

Regards,

my route isn't too bad (16 mi RT) for now (trying to get into shape for the STP in July). Anyway, there's one area that I'd had a couple near misses (almost getting hit by a car) and had another one my first day after a while. Its hard to understand too, I've got reflective clothing, front and rear beacons, and a helmet equiped with a powerful beam. Go figure!

Not such a good commute today - Managed to crash after skidding on some "black" ice while turning into a side road. Luckily There is not too much damage to the bike, but I have a few extra bruises to the left hip and ribs. Loss of pride too, as there were a selection of bemused, but kind & helpful onlookers. The frightening thing is that there is no time to react, once that front wheel breaks away - Boom! As I was recovering, several cars came around the same turn and almost lost control - the ice was really bad.

Apparently it has been chaos on the roads this morning everywhere. The cause? a light frost. A forecast was given in plenty of time by the meteorological service and completely ignored by the road services . Unbelievable! It used to take at least a cm or two of snow to bring this country to a halt, now we have managed same with a cold night.

Careful out there!,

Cheers,

Ed

Wow! Another nice morning! Temp was 40F/4C with 15MPH/24KPH CHINOOK winds. Only one pannier this morning seemed to make the ride a little easier.

Nice commute today, bright & sunny on the way home: I had repaired the tube that went flat earlier this week & reinstalled it on the Centurion. About 3 hours after arrival, the tube detonated with a loud report. Scared the be$%#@! out of my co-workers since I park my bike against the wall outside my cubicle. Sounded just like a gunshot. We were cautiously exploring our end of the building for the source but found nothing, I noticed the rear tire was flat & fessed up to everybody. One more chapter in the book of life. Don

commute home last night was wet and miserable (weather wise) actually quite enjoyed it... this morning was windy (quite gusty) with a bit of light wind propelled rain chucked in for good measure....

and of course it was a head wind... bet the direction changes before the commute home tonight

Off to a conference in Florida. Going to miss all this cold new england commuting for a week. Poor pitaful me.

Here in DC, it was 15 F / -9 C. Not terribly cold by the standards of where I grew up. I pushed a bit harder than normal, so I was warm and comfortable even before the big hill near the Navy Annex, which it my usual warm-up point. Beautiful clear weather -- I was easily able to see Jupiter right before sunrise.

Paul

Oh wow was it windy this morning. A couple of sections of my ride were head-on into the wind and in fairly open country. In these sections I had to change down a couple of gears and still push like crazy to make 12-14 mph, where normally 20-22 is the norm!

I'm a bit stiff from yesterday's crash, but not as bad as I'd thought - just hope that the ride home is easier...

Have a good weekend,

Ed

The ride home last night was a bit on the windy side. Other than that was pretty neat. I was running a bit later than mornal as I had some errands to do before heading out of town. Twilight over the frozen Missouri River was nice.

Typical Sacramento January morning: 46F and foggy. Bleah.

Really nice ride in today. Mostly clear with some high thin clouds and fog on the valley walls. Temps were nice for such a clear day: upper 40s(f). No weirdness on the road and to top it all off I think I have (finally) got my Brooks adjusted to the right tilt. Maybe just raise it up a half inch or so and it will be "there".

Nice day down here in Olympia also. So nice at lunchtime I rode back on my Specialized Expedition touring bike. Its one of my favorites but doesn't get much use in the Wintertime. The city finally swept most of the gravel off the bike lane on Martin Way so things are getting back to normal. Don

Had to work today but the ride in was great. Partially sunny, and since I didn't come in til the middle of the day it was warm enough to forgo the rain jacket. The trail was the busiest I've seen it in a long time, people must be eager to do some exercising after the last few cold, wet weeks. At the point where I exit the trail for the detour, I chose to take an alternative route. This route has a steep and long climb, tough but rewarding. Interestingly enough this turns out to be the shortest way to work, almost a half mile less than more normal route. Takes a bit longer though due to that long climb.

The commute was OK, but I took the salt-covered main street instead of the hockey-rink bike path. Over the weekend, we had rain, followed by freezing rain, snow, more freezing rain, and more snow. The main roads are clear, but salty.

I don't even want to try to get on the bike trail, which is probably a snow-covered ice-rink. And I'd have walk my bike down snow-and-ice covered side streets just to get there.

Still, it's better than the bus or a car.

Had a pretty uncomfortable ride today - After crashing last week, I thought I was recovering well, but last night the pain in my bruised ribs suddenly got much, much worse. Had a really uncomfortable night's sleep and still feel a lot of pain today. I made it to work OK this morning but think an appointlent with the Quack is in order to check things out.

Cheers,

Ed

Yeh! get it checked by the doc Ed , you may have fractured a Rib if it is still paining...

back on the bike after an enforced two week absence - wow it was cold today - I'm guessing in the teens with wind chill bringing it down to single digits - I was bundled up nicely though

all in all a nice ride although there were some icy patches

You guy's are crazy, I'm thinking this mornings calm 38 degrees is cold...

Past two months have been darker in the morning, my small cateye headlight only helps w/ others seeing me. The rear red light does more for cars at my back. But by the time I'm almost to work it's light enough outside to not need them...

I can't wait for the warm mornings that I don't need multiple layers, lights and ear warmers...

Rained last night then froze solid by morning. Light dusting of snow and its like a skating rink. Tried to ride but it just wasn't happening. So, drove I did, Master.. yes drove I did...

Wow, that is only 6 months away...