wet snow, and windy. was hard, but now I feel nice! :)

This is good excercise. I'm so gonna fly when the sumer comes, on those slick tires.

How was the commute, you ask? I'd have to say beautiful. Sunny, crisp, cold, pale minty blue sky. Frozen ponds in the park glistening in the morning sun. Quiet. The sensation of flight, floating in the air. In short, beautiful. I'm at peace with creation.

OK, winter in California is not so harsh. But, it's been cold, wet, and dark enough to keep the posers inside the past couple of months.

Now, they're out, like the two who almost knocked me over on the trail this morning.

Granted, I wasn't focused enough, drifted left on a very steep grade... but they could have said something on their approach, instead of slamming through the slot and bumping into me.

Note to self: Spring is almost here. Be on the alert for candy-ass roadie posers.

My commute home this morning was very interesting. Within the first 1/4 mile I almost got hit by a mini van. Another 2 feet and I would have been wearing a Dodge symbol on me. Then about half into the commute I was crossing the Interstate bride when the lights, sirens and bells started to go off then the gates closed. All I could think was oh no I am on the wrong side and the bridge is going to lift and I have no wear to go. Thankfully the bridge operator seen me and opened the gate just before lifting the bridge. The second half was not as exciting but it was clear and in the upper 30's F.

"candy-ass roadie posers" . . . I love it! I will have to work that one into my daily vocab! :)

Big crash this morning! It was 40 F when I left my house, and I could feel it getting colder as rode south. There is one house on my route that I think has a water leak on their property because there is always a 15-foot wide puddle of water in the street in front of their yard. I guess it was colder than I thought because I was riding around the puddle (like I do everyday) and it turns out that it was icy and hit the deck before I even knew what was happening. My bike went sliding and I followed it, sliding on my side right into the middle of the puddle. I ripped the palm of my glove, but that was the only damage that I can see. My brake hood was bent over a little bit but can be easily fixed. Mirror, lights, pannier, jacket, and tights were all ok. I was wet and the last 3.5 miles into work was a little cold, but it could have been much worse.

There was a car behind me at the time and when I went down, it stopped in the middle of the road. When I collected myself and moved off to the side of the road, the car proceeded and just drove right by without asking if I was OK. Some people…..

Supposed to get to 55 F this afternoon, so I won’t have to worry about any ice!

Scary, rainedon! I had a similar fall last winter on a patch of wet leaves. Man, does that get the adrenalin flowing! Glad you're okay.

I was able to get out of the house a half hour earlier this morning so I had a nice detour that added 10 miles to my normal route. Used to be that I wouldn't even bother unless I could get in a "serious training session." Now that I have kids, every mile is golden. And I'm still on track to get 100 total miles for the week. A mile here and a mile there, and pretty soon you're talking some serious distance.

the only problem with mild february weather is that it spoils you and when real the feb weather returns it seems colder than it is

mid 20s this morning and windy - the commute home last night was hellish with the wind

30F. Frosty black ice, white ice, and green ice (frozen moss Seattle-style). Misty pink sunrise.

31F at 6AM today, tires felt a bit soft so I pumped up to 110# just before I left. The roads were dry but there were some foggy patches, which felt quite cold. I only encountered one car as I rode along South Bay road & later I stopped at Top Foods to pick up a Danish & newspaper. About 1 1/2 hours after arriving, there was a tremendous BANG as my rear tire blew out. Startled some of my colleagues but it was still early enough that no suits were around. Hopefully there won't be any static about bringing bikes into the building. This happened to me about a year ago, hope its the last time. The afternoon was 52F & sunny, can't be Spring yet but sure feels like it. Have a great weekend.

High, 30's when I left this morning. I got my Carradice Longflap yesterday, and it definitely helps
to be able to carry everything I need for work (clothing, food, a book to read during lunch) without
worrying about cramming it into a too-small handlebar bag. I've now got to put my new front brake pads on, along with the Armadillo tire I bought for the rear, and I will be prepared for another few thousand miles. :)

Air expansion with the warmth, I imagine?

Balto /DC area: snow changing to rain made for for a sloppy commute on Valentines day. Snow looked pretty nice though.

This morning is -7 with a slight headwind for part of the way. For the first time since fall my ride was mostly in daylight. Earlier sunrise (compared to early last week) combined with being 10 minutes late makes life pretty grand. What made the ride even better was the two White Tail Deer (no antlers so I guess that would make them Does) that were standing in the middle of my path looking at me like I was the stranger. What magnificent animals they are. That made my day; the rest is all cream. Our public auto insurance company in Saskatchewan has a slogan for reducing accidents with wildlife...."go slow and save a little doe". While it may not apply to me it is still pretty cool.

Have a great day.

First leg of my first commute in a good six months. woot!
One way is less than 8 miles. At work now and I'm bouncing of the walls. :)

The challenge of this ride was the frozen mud ruts of the weekens riders. I was cursing as my tires are too narrow. (I ride on a gravel/hard packed trail.)

Order of the day: replace handlebars. My frankenbike was recently put together and I find my bars too narrow and too think for my hands.

Here's hoping the headwind is not too severe today!

Hmmmmm... bazaar, we have the same weather situation here in the twin cities... we got three inches of slush (started as rain). I had a great week last week ending with 96 miles commuting. It helped having all the mild unseasonally warm weather.

It was 33F at 6AM today but we are on a small lake & sometimes its a bit warmer in our neighborhood. This was one of those days. About 1/2 mile into my commute, my headlight began to reflect glistening ice. I rode on slowly & carefully...especially when turning but did go down once on a turn where the road was crowned away from me & I was instantly down. I wasn't hurt except for a bruised hip/leg (next time put keys in jacket pocket!). As I rode off, the weird feel of the left pedal tipped me off that something wasn't right but I was able to ride ok. When I arrived at work I found that of all the bike commuters I was the only one to ride in today. We checked out my crank & pedals. The left crank arm was visibly bent out of line. After work, I took the left crank of a SunTour Cyclone that hung on my workshop wall & swapped it for the damaged SR crank on my Centurion: A short ride around the neighborhood & I approved it as good enough for a rain bike. I felt pleased with myself for saving that left crank all these years. Don

Rain all the way to work and alot of mud too.
But I rode the ss and it was a good ride .
On the way home it was just wet and cold ,still a good ride . Have a good nite .

Chicago Valentine's Day midnight ride home from the library. Warm and wet out, tires made that beautiful song spraying water. Calm, no wind, veered off Lincoln going north and hit up beautiful sidestreets and then alleys that stretched far. Sped along, floating, going ways I'd never seen before. Wanted to keep going once I got home...

40Fish, nice, a little foggy. Rumors have temps hitting 60F for the PM ride home. Is winter gone?? One could only hope. I actually prefer super cold to super wet.

Wow, what a beautiful day here in the good old flyover states. Silly me, I started out this morning with a hat, gloves and coat, but after the first hill, I shed all three. Boy, that felt good!!! Sunny, warm, glorious!!!

Frosty, clear and beautiful. My speed is improving inspite of the hills, ice and cold.

Glad that I spent 90 seconds reinstalling the raceblades this morning. No rain on the way in, but it's pouring now. Even if it stops by 5, the streets will be sopping wet.

It was a pretty typical February ride today, a high of 28F... at least the sun is shining and roads are clear.

28F, clear & dry at 6AM today but I had a lunchtime meeting across town so had to drive in. This afternoon it was 47F & sunny so on the way back to work I grabbed my Torelli for a nice ride. Local critters are getting active with all this good weather: saw a racoon today, Sunday there were 7 deer in our neighbor's field, then Sunday afternoon, The Eagle that has been hanging around, lowered the local Canadian goose count by 1! Awesome! Supposed to be clear weather through Friday. Don

It snowed about 4 or five inches last night, looked like the plow guy for route 30 slept in late, so the first 7 miles was of one inch thick packed snow/ice all cut to pieces by the plow in the a.m., kind of like riding a sloped washboard with the soap still on it, thankfully the temp was 35F so the snow/ice was kinda-sorta not rock hard. The 5.5 mile descent on Rte 11/30, which usually is much worse than route 30, got salted last night and was essentially clear, wet but clear. Oh, yeah, a couple passing trucks (on route 30) did a really good job of plastering me with slush, salt and sand, at least they were giving me plently of room. The ride home was beautiful 35F +/- partly cloudy, light breeze, and clear mostly dry roads.

It has a warm ride in today 50f and about that on the ride home .But it is going to snow tomorrow . I hope it warm this week end . Have a good nite .

Didn't ride today. First time I didn't bike commute in over 2.5 weeks. I feel like somethings missing, like I didn't take my morning dump! Looked like a good morning to ride.

Riding the past two days has been wonderful, with clear cool mornings. After a host of mechanical problems it was nice to get back on the road. Yesterday for a few hundred yards I rode along with a group of road bikers ... running with the big boys. Given my physique and riding style it was like a dachsund or maybe a bulldog running with a group of greyhounds for a couple of hundred yards. Oh well, its just the morning commute -- not a race.

That's a hoot!!! :roflmao: You made my day! We are having typical February temps. 18F this morning and a high of maybe 25F, but at least the sun is shining. Very nice commute this morning, it's nice to see the sun rise finally instead of darkness all the way in.