You're not crazy for riding to work, even in the dark (in some ways dark is safer than light because your blinkies give you very different visibility to other roadway users). There is a possibility of something bad happening to you, regardless of car, bicycle, etc. You could slip in the shower and I'm sure no one wants you to stop taking them to avoid the risk. I'm sure you've already gotten reasonable life insurance and so on to care for your family in the event of a major life change, so bicycling shouldn't be an issue. I'm more worried about cancer, heart disease, and diabetes than I am about getting taken out on the roads.

A pleasant 40 F and drizzle in Minneapolis this morning. I towed three weeks of food and clothes to work so the seatpost rack comes off the Steelman tonight for some proper unladen commuting. Excellent I say (drumming fingers ominously).

My first ride in the rain as well, a real baptism for us NorCal n00bs. Saw a suggestion here to put plastic grocery bags on the feet, that worked pretty well until they settled and exposed my socks.

Caloso, I'm 40 and a new dad also, congratulations!

When I came in the door at work, the security guard said, "Hardcore, dude, hardcore."

I must admit that felt kinda good

Dude, you and I are twins. Thanks and congrats to you too. Anyway, the Raleys bags that I duct taped to my feet worked for about 5 miles and then they just trapped the water that had seeped in. I may have to break down and buy some booties as well as fenders.

Fenders are a MUST. But that is a topic for another thread.

I commute daily on my MTB Trek 800. It as raining on the way back from the grocery store so I decided to take the trail home. It's not a bike trail it's really a dirt road that leads to the locals mental hsopital's graveyards. It's a short cut through the woods Part of the way had newly been paved but the people that paved it put part of it in lumps which made the dirt road much more rough. Long story short I hit one of those bumps and went over rthe handle bars. I was only doing about 6-8 mph.

That's it. I'm building this trike. That's the 2nd crash I've had in 2 weeks. If I had a trike I wouldn't have had balance issues to deal with.

Another damp dreary commute in South Jersey. Traffic wasn't too bad, that's the good thing about rain- for the most part it makes people drive slower and with caution. Had a nice little eye opener yesterday when an SUV sailed through a stop sign at about 30mph just about 50 feet in front of me. It was a pretty blind intersection, so I would've been creamed if I got there just a little earlier.

Man it is ugly in NorCal today. It's almost 3:30 PM, people are asking me if I need a ride home.

Funny thing is today a woman was driving behind me obvioulsy pissed because I was doing 12mph in a 15mph zone. So, she started honking and yelling, "You see the side walk get on it. Bispite there is a policy on campus that makes it illegal to ride bicycles on the sidewalk. So, I just signaled a right turn and got out of her way. 100 feet down the street a construction crew had stopped all traffic to load something onto their truck so she had to wait anyway. Go figure

The overcast dampness cleared an hour before I left. It was partly cloudy, dry roads, 50F with a 3mph tailwind. I had the right combination of clothing and made great time. Much better than this morning

I’m a 36 father of 5, I commute 13 miles one way and leave at 5:30 in the morning. My wife thinks I’m crazy (based on the weather conditions), but I remind her that I was that way when she met me!

I suggest you stay off the sidewalks, to many unknowns and traffic cannot predict your actions.

IMHO it is safer to ride in the dark than daylight. The respect I get on the road with my blinkies is much better than I get during the daylight.

Every situation and spouse is different, but I think I can speak for the forum members here that we support your idea. Along with other health benefits, I read in “Bicycling” magazine that every 10 pounds of weight shed increases the length of a certain male organ by ½”. Maybe that bit of information will help!

Past month has been very depressing, they are tearing up the street in front of work, but with the still heavy traffic and terrible street condition (no pavement) I've had to take an alternate route to work. It's OK, but I miss going over Moose Hill in the morning. Alternate, alternate route is even less interesting, and the Eastern approach is impossible because it puts me on even worse streets.

Well for me, today was an amazingly awesome ride. Its been raining intermittently for the last few days, and I happened to get a window where it wasn't raining, and it felt great!

I don't have fenders and am not sure its worth it, considering it rarely rains here (though I think we're due lots of rain this year, we'll see). To any effect when it does rain the air quality greatly improves and today I felt like king of the road! Riding a bike is far superior to driving a car, you can manuever so much more effectively and actually enjoy the intervening scenery. Yeah all I get to see is Pasadena and South Pasadena before I'm back in LA, but still, its kinda nice.

Its also nice to be able to kind of take in the whole day before getting home. Anyway, bottom line, today was awesome.

Woke up with some kind of congestion in my ears, could hardly hear out of my left (traffic side) one & there was heavy rain so I drove. Felt a lot better by lunchtime & could hear again. The rain had stopped & there was a hint of blue sky & sunshine so I rode back to work after lunch & felt better for it. It was just beginning to rain during the commute home but it wasn't bad at all, refreshing really. Don

Nice ride today, little rain on the way home.
Had to work with my boss today and had alot of work .
But still had a nice day . Have a good day .

As Ice Cube would say, 'Taday was a good day."

Heavy rain riding to work*around 11:15 am. Thought about donning the rain jacket but it was so warm it would have created a sauna. Big roll of thunder just as i pulled in to work. Went sockless at work to avoid wet sock foot rot. Beautiful and cooler coming home tonight.*********

well....no rain on the way home like i had hoped....oh well, maybe tomorrow.

Anyway, this morning it was pouring rain, and it was great. Made me realize that I really want to commute every day, year round no matter the weather.....it also helps that i live in one of the mildest climates in the world. oh well...point is i can prolly justify a new bike now!

Hooray for new equipment!!!

What a beautiful morning, I took all back roads this morning, they were still wet from the night rain, they were also covered with wet leaves. My total milage for the trip to work was 22, my average speed was slow, the morning was cool, calm and there was very little traffic. I saw no wildlife or human life for that matter. For 22 miles I was in a perfect world, then I arrived at work and got slammed back to reality. Thank god for the bicycle it's one of the few places I can really experience and enjoy the world as it was meant to be enjoyed.

Amen brother!

Oh! How many times did that happen to me!!!! But I think it's nice, because even though my work often shucks, I still look forward to my day because I know I will be riding in. Those ppl in cars don't know what they be missing.

It was a very miserable morning - so much so that I overslept because it was so dark. Had to take the shorter route to work to save time and it poured with rain for the whole ride. Mmmmm.

Cheers,

Ed

My morning rides keep pushing the freezing point. There was a bit of light frost on the bridge over the (Winooski) river but none on the trail blacktop.

Wore tights for the first time. Kept my legs warm without overheating. Yesterday I wore polar fleece and my legs got way too hot.

Wet and warm, about 65°F. Of course I had a flat, but at least it wasn't raining.*

Everyday as I ride I think about how we (our society) has disconnected from the natural world. People can get so isolated from what is happening around them--the sky, the rain and the sun, the plants and all the life that is there if we but just look. I think we are the forunate ones because we get to re-connect for at least part of the day.

(now getting off of soap box...)

* From the movie Young Frankenstein:
[Froederick and Igor are exhuming a dead criminal]
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein : What a filthy job.
Igor : Could be worse.
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein : How?
Igor : Could be raining.
[it starts to pour]