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!


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

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

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!

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!) 5 hours of sleep meant that I got out of the house 10 minutes late this morning. Then I hit the 10mph head wind! I felt strong this morning but you couldn’t tell by my speed. I feel GREAT now! It was a very awakening ride.

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!

Man, it stays dark for a long time in the morning! It will change some when we go to daylight savings time but that will mean I'll need lights for the way home. I still had a great commute, it's a balmy 45F and over cast (what's new, it's been cloudy for the last two weeks). The paving crew was out paving the new section of the Midtown Greenway this morning (for you Twin Cities folks), I may give that a try on the way home tonight even though it's totally out of the way. Hey, what's the hurry anyway, right?!?

NOAA says, "Dense fog. Visibility 1/4 mile. Mostly cloudy becoming partly cloudy. 84F. 20 chance of rain."

Sounds like an adventure to me!!!

You've gotta be careful. If you're slow enough for them to get a good look, you look like a poser. It's a fine line to wal^H^H^Hride. Try crashing. Then maybe they'll notice the lycra and comfort you, at least until you start bleeding. Ha ha ha ha...

That's nice to hear. It's scheduled to be done by the end of the month. I maybe-possibly know of someone who maybe-possibly once in a while road through it already. It looks like it'll be a nice path. It's too bad it won't get anyone anywhere until something like 2008: until it goes over Hiawaitha, it won't really be open any new options that 28th St. couldn't provide. Once it goes over Hiawaitha and the river, then we're really set.

It has been pleasantly balmy lately. Not too bad at all for October.

good ride home last night if not a little short (4 miles). But every mile counts, I'm trying to keep track of mileage and rides now that I've signed up at activebody.org. I saw the link in N7CZinMT's sig and decided to give it a shot. I'd seen it before, so I knew what it was all about, and that it seemed like a hobby site of the author. I was really surprised at how robust and functional it was. I'm tracking cycling and weight now.

Ride in this morning was mid 40's F, I rode the good MTB to work today, cause a coworker and I were going to cut out early to hit the trail, but he just called and said he wouldn't be able to make it today. Oh well. My legs weren't feeling very strong today anyway. Plus my employer is serving free beer this afternoon (we were going to pretend that we were drinking beer at the company sponsored slush-fest but ride instead).

For the first since ...a really long time i could not shake a guy off!!

I came up on this dude halfway in on my commute, wheelsucked for a couple of hundred meters and decided to overtake and drop him up this small hill. I thought I did but downhill he passed me(!) Again i placed myself in his draft up until the next hill where i again decided to overtake. That didn't happen, yet again as we came down the hill he passed me! By now the race was really on and the pace was high. For a while i layed behind him but soon he waved at me to pass and take the lead. So i did and i had to dig deep to keep our pace. we shifted like that for a couple of kilometers. When we arrived at work (apparently we both work in the same high tech park suburb) I pedaled up beside him and said: "Well done! Great job man!!" and gave him a high five. He looked just as beat as I felt and I think we both had to pull really hard. Neither one of us wanted to give away to the other.

Great fun!!

27F and VERY ICY. The bike went out from under me 3 times before the first intersection. So, back to the house and jump in the car.

A gorgeous morning: calm and cool with mist rising off the American River and blue skies above.

(Why don't I ever remember to bring the camera?)

Bob, sorry to hear about your mishaps. I am assuming you did not get your Nokians. If you want a temporary fix just in case you become a weather snob soon, try a pair of Innova's. Although not as good as Nokians, studs are better than no studs especially in the front. Hope your ride tomorrow is better.

Btw - I drove to work today too. I had a couple of things to get and it is my turn to babysit the little one.