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.* :D

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]

Put out of commission due to the ice on the roads today. Started as rain last night and turned to snow by this morning. We have about 2" of snow on top of glaze ice.

I knew I should have purchased those Nokians before now! :rolleyes:


EDIT: For those of us hardcore winter cyclists, I did make the attempt prior to deciding it was to unsafe to ride.

My commute yesterday was awesome. Everyday is a better day when I ride to work. I just wish my wife could understand that. I fee so much better on those days.

I hadn't even thought about polar fleece on my legs. I bought some drifit sweats by nike. They fit nice and keep me just warm enough without over heating. I saw some drifit wannabes at Walmart by Starter. I bet they would work just as well until the real cold arrives. I could then make some fleece fittings or fleece sweats.

Socksshep, you're not crazy! If your lights are good and you're reflective, you'll be fine. And if you're 37 years old, you need to be doing it -- it's way too easy in the thirties to forget that the forties are coming. When people at work ask me why I bike in, I tell them I'm in training for getting old. =)

As for getting your wife to calm down... how about having her read the commuter forum here? Maybe if she realizes you're just one of many, it'll make her feel better. Or better yet - get her a bike! :)

Yesterday's morning ride was so awful I felt compelled to whinge about it in another thread here, but today was a bit better. The wind was on my side, though just barely. We've been having days and days of overcast and cold, plus probably I haven't been getting enough sleep, so things have been tough.

I'm still with it, though -- usually 4 days a week, but occasionally just three. I'm still working up to my goal of 5 days a week with zero motor dependence! (and saving up for my Nokians, so I can stick with it!)

I hear ya Merryish :p

A couple of days ago we had a stong head wind on the morning, shifted during the afternoon and had a front wind going home also. I pretty much crawled from Navy Pier to the end of bike highway up north which left me stiff -legged.
Today I took a break riding CTA, not as fun but will get me there.

I believe this comming weekend will be nice :D

43F & partly cloudy with a few stars peeking through at 6AM today. Just needed a ragwool sweater over my work clothes & booties over my shoes to stay warm. Met another commuter about a mile into my ride. He is a regular & it was nice to chat a little while we rode. Since I'm 64 & didn't want to slow him down, I took the lead & raised my speed when we reached Martin Way. This meant I had little breath left for talking so I just pedaled on my way. Still nice to have a companion to ride with. Don

Hardcore! Gotta love it!

Good ride to work and home. Rode the ss today.
Took the long way to work . Have a nice day ...

Warmed up a bit this morning. Low 40sF. I was very energetic for some reason, and was zipping along at a good clip for most of the ride. Must have been the lasagna I ate far too much of last night.

Excellent sunrise, too.

I've started wearing lycra tights and I'm a bit disappointed because no women have yet whistled, yelled, or otherwise hit on me. But then I realized... I ride so fast that they just can't get a good enough look! :p

I drove yesterday. I hated it. I'm riding today.

The Boston Red Sox took entirely to long to beat the Yankees last night… (Go Twins... er Sox!) :D 5 hours of sleep meant that I got out of the house 10 minutes late this morning. Then I hit the 10mph head wind! :eek: I felt strong this morning but you couldn’t tell by my speed. I feel GREAT now! It was a very awakening ride. :D

yeah, they wasted a lot of time scoring unnecessary runs.

another cool humid cloudy ride. these overcast skies of late are potentially depressing but i must say they are easy on the eyes - no squinting into sunrises, or disappearing into dark shadows.

77 degrees and it feels like 90! The weather forecast said it will be a humid afternoon. At 9:30 pm last night I was sitting outside and I was still sweating. For August this would be normal… but the middle of October!

On the way in this morning I saw a kid (good sized… 170-180lbs.) ridding a BMX style bike to school. He did a face plant on to the asphalt. He was ridding out of the saddle and his chain broke… sent him over the handle bars. Despite having road rash down one side of his face and arms, ripped palms and being mad as Hades… he was ok! Poor kid.

37F (3C) this morning. Ifind it so much harder now to maintain a good speed that I would on my road bike (i'm on an old mongoose hilltopper SX MTB with slick tires). I think it has something to do with positioning. I don't feel the same muscles working, and I just don't have the same power. My 80PSI tires feel like they want to hug the asphalt, and the clothing I have to wear feels very restrictive... Not to mention the inscreased gear I gotta carry because of weather.

Ah well, I guess I just gotta keep on riding, and try to adjust my position. Winter's going to be hard, but I'll keep on biking. I had a good workout, and that counts for something, right? :)

Today was 100% humidity and zero celcius. It rained a good portion of the night but most of it just ran off without creating a skating rink out of the roads. Part of me wishes it would have been slicker out because I just put a set of nokians and would have liked to try them out. Aw well, I am sure this winter will provide for many an interesting ride.

Have an awesome day!