Ed Holland,

I'm really glad to hear you are bouncing back!

You guys got me beat. I think it was about 30F this morning, with a headwind of about 10 mph., not bad at all. But being Friday, my legs are ready for a rest.

Happy riding!

Going in: Temperature mid-twenties, not the 19F they forecast.
Makes a difference. Clear and dry.

Going out: 41F (rather pleasant), N-NW 12mph headwind (tolerable).
Dumbass index unusually high. Friday PM I reckon.

I had a friggin' blast of a ride to work today. I took a chance and did something I've wanted to do since winter started, and the snow flew, and the lakes froze. I went out on the ice with my studded tires, on the way to work. It was a great ride, and I am looking forward to going home with the wind at my back, and a light snowfall. I'm pumped.

Naisme...Studded tires..Does the ride seem pretty stable..Seems one could really go flying,maybe into a fishing hole through the ice..Used to like doing donuts in parkinglots sort of the same thing...

Amazing - closer to 41 C here, and it was saturday, but the other factors were remarkably similar.

see my post under winter cycling. I did slide. The studs lost purchase, the bike went down and I slid 5 fett on my butt. Still a lot of fun.

Didn't ride to work all last week for 1 reason or another. Woke to heavy rain Saturday morning so I planned an inside day but when the sun came out this afternoon, I had to get in some "saddle time". Took my Motobecane Grand Tour out on the Chehalis Western trail & rode about 6 miles. Bright sun, 41F. A bit windy but Quite pleasant once I got the juices flowing. Not many others out in spite of the good weather. I only saw 6 or 7 walkers/joggers & two cyclists ( a girl on a road bike and a fellow riding a Mountain Bike very slowly accompanied by the worlds fattest Chesapeake Retriever). Don

Thinking I was tired after the ride in Friday and that I'd really have to take it easy on the way home, I had to push it Friday afternoon to get home in time. That night, I really had plenty of energy! Go figure...

(Today, Saturday, I really want to sleep. )

On my last day of commuting, Wednesday, I was making a turn at close to top speed and as I straightend back out from the turn "The Bus" bus pulled over accross 3 lanes of traffic and stopped 10' in front of me so I had to hop the curb and then ditch my ike into the ditch to avoid the bus and then the tourists waiting for the bus. I doing so I bent my front wheel and put a 4 inch by 3 inch bruise on my right knee, the one that already has soem good damage to it..........but I did make it up the hill with only one stop when my gear bounced off my rack, and If not for the wheel damage i would commuting more often.......More later when the bike is out of the shop.

good thrash to work this morning, took 2 minutes off my pb and my HR was done on normal, guess using the weekend to recover helps... just have to hope we don't get the promised snow so i can commute the rest of the week

Brrrr. winter is coming. Although it was above freezing this morning, there was a cold north wind and grey skies. Apparently we are in for some really cold weather and there is a chance of snow this week. With this in mind, I prepared our folding mountain bike ready for action. Hope we get some snow - at 33 I'm yet to grow out of the excitement....

Cheers,

Ed

It's 18 F (-8 C) here in the Washington, DC area, with about 6" (15 cm) of fresh snow. There is freezing drizzle falling right now.

The main roads (like Columbia Pike) were fine. A lot of secondary roads are unplowed or poorly plowed. The poorly plowed areas are much harder to ride on than the unplowed ones.

I'm very glad I have front studs. I wish I had been able to get my rear studs mounted as well

However, it is beautiful out there. The unplowed snow areas are light and easy to tide in. There is a soft "whoosh" and not much pedaling effort.

Paul

I didn't ride this morning although I wish I had, I love riding in the snow. I thought we'd have off today but of course the Fed Gov't didn't close. You guys be careful on your evening commute it looks like ice is on the way.

Paul, you're a maniac! No biking for me today regardless of the weather as we stay at my in-laws in Germantown on Sunday nights - worried that the ice may mess with my commute tomorrow though

Lost my blinky on L Street, sprinting for the light at 21st Street. I heard it crack on the asphalt behind me but there was no going back for it. Dang. I lose/break more of those darned things.

40F intermittent rain, not bad at all & traffic was very light. 3 bikes were in the office today: my 6 speed Moto Touring, Brian's single speed & the new guy's mountain bike. Don

Back in the saddle after 2 weeks of driving and I picked a beauty of an evening for the ride home last night! An east wind gusting between 32-39 mph, temp of -7C, 20F for windhill of -18C, 1F. Blowing snow as well, had about 4"- 5" druing the day. Had the studded Innovas on, was a great ride except for the wind. A lot of the ride was semi-sheltered so it wasn't too bad. The wind and snow accumulation combined to enable a new record for the ride home - 51 minutes, for an average speed of about 12 kph. My legs were telling me I shouldn't have taken 2 weeks off riding about half way home, but I persisted and managed to ride the entire 12 kilometres.

This morning's ride in was much more tame, -5C/24F, east wind of only 22 mph! Legs felt allright, it only took 38 minutes today. (it's a 22 minute ride in the summer!)

The seat was comfortable, the lighting good and it was warm and it took me 20 min longer than it does when I ride. The only good thing about the train is that I can read. I can't wait for the snow storms to stop so I can get back on my bike.

We had freezing rain in Atlanta yesterday, or at least it was forcast with a BIG warning. Since my front steps had some ice on them, I knew it would be best not to ride (I'm not sure I would have wanted to in that stuff, anyway!)

Today, it was slightly warmer with a light drizzle and fog. I didn't ride today, either, but only because I haven't waterproofed my bike's electrical system, yet.

(Do those sound like pretty good excuses?)

If practical, tie a piece of old tire tubing around an appropriate place on your bike. Make sure it's very tight--you can tie a knot in it and it shouldn't come apart without lots of effort. Next, wrap the clip on your blinkie with more tire tubing, secured with cable tie(s.) Then, clip your blinkie to the other tube (if you can get it on!) This has worked for me.

I didn't ride yesterday either. I fell for the bad weather hype but I should have just ridden because I didn't see any ice on the streets.

I did ride today though. Drizzly and foggy, it rocked!

Not a bad ride this morning, despite the cold wind. However, my bike's front hub started making horrific noises again, just over a week after a complete overhaul. Checked things over during my lunch hour and on one side 4 of the ball bearings had significant amounts missing - more than just flat spots! On the other side, water had got in again and everything was a nice rusty red colour. I am trusting my luck that I can re-pack the hub with one ball less on each side and take it easy on the ride home...

My new wheels can't arrive soon enough.

Very cold night and possible snow forecast for tonight and tomorrow which could make things interesting tomorrow. Perhaps even the unthinkable - me on a mountain bike, a folding one at that!

The roads were clearer today, so I made the commute in close to normal time. It was 24 F/ -4 C in light freezing drizzle. Yesterday, my coat had rime ice; today it was clear ice. In fact, I could hear the ice crackling on my overcaot as I locked up the bike.

Paul

It's a strange sensation when that happens, your coat is stiff and the ice cracks and breaks as you bend your arms. You also get allot of funny looks as you come into the building... at least I do. Thanks for sharing.

I took the last two commute days off as I have been feeling strangely exhausted and needed the break. Today was a nice day to reconvene the commute: mid 40s(f) temp wise and partially cloudy with sun breaks. Additionally the trail closure has finally ended. So I biked up the trail to the underpass where it was formerly closed and discover that they were putting down asphalt and delaying all trail traffic for half an hour. So I could either wait for 30mins or ride around. Needless to say I chose to ride, and enjoyed the extra miles. I will be glad though to ride home on the trail tonight.