Becca

It was COLD out this morning! First time this season I've ridded with the temp at 32 F (0 C). I'm pretty well prepared for it, though: I'm wearing stirrup pants under my jeans, A hooded sweater over my shirt and my Oarsman coat over that, a neoprene half-face thing I got from Nashbar for xmas a couple of years ago, my Joe Rocket motorcycle gloves, and I borrowed an idea from Sheldon Brown by using packing tape over the vents on my helmet. I kept roasty-toasty all the way home! In fact, I had to open up the coat to let a little cool air in!

One question: I think a windproof shell over each of the legs would help keep the legs better. Would it work to get some ripstop nylon (like for a tent or backpack or sleeping bag) and sew leggings from them to fit over my jeans, and then use elastic to keep them closed top and bottom?

Alphie

Cool ride in this morning. Nice with very little traffic though.

Had to buy a new cable lock today. I am in the "losing things" mode it seems. I lost my house and Kryptonite lock key about 10 days ago. No problem, I had backups for both at home. Went on a 35 mile ride last Friday and idiotically left the zipper to my seat bag open. My final set of keys, along with both my cable lock keys, bounced out somewhere along the way. D'oh! My cable lock was safely at home, with the lock permanently fastened around the cable.

Ride home tonight was wet, had a couple of smart guys blow their horns at me during the ride. I did get the satisfaction of catching up with one of them at a light.

Chris L

The obstacle course lived up to it's name this evening, the morons were well and truly out in force. A couple of kids on mopeds on the Sundale Bridge swerving all over the place -- good job my lane-splitting skills are still there. Some moron in Sufferers Parasite trying to squeeze me against the kerb. I just jammed on the brakes, then when he was confused I bolted around the other side and dropped him pointlessly in the traffic. 169% ****. And then in Broadbeach... Oh forget it. Let's just say that I might have been in trouble if I wasn't such an arrogant prick.

vtjim

My coldest commute yet. 14F (-10C), and I managed to over-dress for it. I thought if anything I'd be a bit under-dressed, but no, I got hot. Silk long underwear and fleece, plus thin jacket, gloves, balaclava, turtle fur around neck, and ski goggles to complete my hard-core look.

Jacket had a layer of condensation inside when I arrived at work. Big toes were cold but not uncomfortably so. Was wearing running shoes and normal socks.

Wulfheir

-19C (-2F) My coldest commute yet. There were some iffy patches of ice/snow but as long as you stayed away from the car tire tracks (which are extremely slick) you fair quite well. Luckily there was practically no wind.

darkmother

Mama! It was a fun ride this morning. First, I slammed a pothole and pinch flatted. Then it started to snow, hard. Some of the snow melted, then froze into a nice smooth sheet of ice. Very entertaining ride. I really should swap on my 38C nobbies...

billh

St Louis . . . dateline . . . it's like spring out there! wet pavement, 50's in the am, supposed to hit 68 F today!!! Woo Hoo! I totally overdressed but fortunately threw some shorts in my bag after I heard the weather.

traindabrain

Warmer ride today! My wife bought me new gel bib shorts, and a green flourescent long sleeve jersey for my birthday. Both proved to be very nice additions to the ride. Since I brought my laptop home for the weekend, I had to take it back, that along with my programming cert book. That thing is heavy. I'm not sure if it was due to the momentum once I started pedaling, but despite the extra weight, I really started moving, made it 3 minutes faster than usual.

Ahhh... what a nice way to start the week!

SaskCyclist

The first good snow storm of the year happened yesterday. Today it is -10C dropping to -15C as the day progresses. The ride in had a few tense moments with snow ruts and what not. It is funny how with the snow it is nice to have a distance with hardpack snow or ice rather than 6" of snow ruts and ice. All in all it was a pretty good ride.

caloso

Today I had to wear a suit and I hadn't had the chance over the weekend to bring in my clothes, like I usually do. So, I just wore my suit on the bike. It was pretty cool (39F/4C) so sweating was not a problem.

Near the office I saw my receptionist waiting to cross the street so I rode over and said "Hi" but it took her the longest time to recognize me. Seems she can recognize me on the bike in my bike clothes or off the bike in my suit. But a guy wearing a suit on a bike? Does not compute.

bmccarthy

27 F on the way in this morning. Absolutely beautiful sky. high clouds light blues and pinks, bare trees, breath.... abit of snow this evening I guess... Pink sky at morning sailor's warning, though most of the 2-wheeled land sailors on this thread here will take it in stride...
Riding back home the other night at a stop light in the pouring rain, I was drying my glasses on a base layer, I finish, put them back on my head. Things are blurred out of one side of my head. I scramble blindly in the headlights before the light changes and low and behold! A treasure more than the Holiest Grail! my other lens! I pop it back in, the light changes and away I thankfully go.

clevernamehere

I can identify... similar conditions here in S'toon (-13C, dropping to -18C this afternnoon) but I think you must have received more snow than us. I definately prefer the packed snow/ice to soft snow/ruts. I ride a hybrid w/ 700c x 38 studded tires. I was slipping around pretty good in the soft stuff! A few tense moments, but only had to put my foot down once.

bhchdh 

One question: I think a windproof shell over each of the legs would help keep the legs better. Would it work to get some ripstop nylon (like for a tent or backpack or sleeping bag) and sew leggings from them to fit over my jeans, and then use elastic to keep them closed top and bottom?[/QUOTE]


It would probably be eaiser and more effective to just by some wind pants from a sporting goods store.

Chris L

Beautiful rain this morning, and the temperature somehow managed to drop to 21 degrees C (I had the fan on most of last night because it was much warmer then). This must be the coolest December ever recorded... so far.

spidercyclist

Good ride to work & home . Had some fog on the way home .
But still a good ride . Have a good nite .

srddude

it was -21 C out my door this morning, hello winter!
the city was plowing my pathway this afternoon,

clevernamehere

-22C, no wind this morning.
This is the first Winter for me to try bike commuting (also my coldest riding temp. to-date). No problems really... my toes were starting to get just a bit cool by the time I got to work, my ski goggles fogged up at about the 1/2 way point, found it easier withouth them & just put up with ice on my eyelashes. I actually find myself hoping for colder & colder temps so I can achieve a new low each day (sorry, pun was actually intended)

michaellmn

Today (Tue, 12/07) 34 F/1 C - damp, foggy...drizzle was over. Wind from the North-Northwest 7mph

I was biking home on Friday after work, approaching a left turn. There was a Lexus SUV stopped at the stop sign. They had the stop sign; I did not. I was coming down a small hill some 50 yards back, so I was coasting at 15-20 mph. I signaled my intention to turn left in front of them. As I was completing my turn, the driver side window goes down on the SUV; two young guys (my bedroom furniture is older than these kids) scream, "sidewalk!". There was a look of anger in the driver's eyes...wow! I simply kept biking - half smiling. A part of me was simply thankful I wasn't run down or shot at.

Tree Trunk

Pouring rain this morning -- I let my wife talk me out of riding. She said it's hard enough for people to see me in the dark and the rain makes it worse. OK, she may be right. I reminded her that she's still freaked about last night. I got home so late she put the kids in the van and went out to look for me. They found me right after I had patched my punctured tube and left Walgreens. Yep, I made the mistake of bragging to a coworker yesterday at lunch that I hadn't had a flat on my commuter bike for over a year. That also means I hadn't check the patch kit I had in my commuter bag. The rubber cement was used up. I had to walk the bike 2 miles to the Walgreens and buy a jar of rubber cement. The rear tire had caught a large and sharp shard of glass. The cut was so fine that it took me 15 minutes of pumping the tube just to find the cut. My family and I missed our orientation appointment at the County Animal Shelter, something my daughter was really looking forward to (so was I).

Nice warm weather last night, though. I could have picked a worse night to get a flat.

nick burns

Steady light rain, not too cold. Still wondering what it is about rain that makes drivers act so strangely. I'm sure you all know what I mean.

Got my 7th flat of the year, but like the last one, close enough to work to get there before it was totally flat. Much easier to fix in the relative comfort of my office. It seems like there is so much more glass on the roadways this year, and when it's wet, it's very difficult to see. At least I'm confident that my spare tube, patch kit, and pump are in good order.

cicadashell

[esprit de escalier] you reply back "scrapyard!" [/esprit] i'm glad no collision occurred.

today it is in the mid-forties (fahrenheit) and raining cats and dogs. oh and rather windy at that. for some reason i experimented with wearing rain pants instead of just letting my skin get all wet. certainly it isn't cold; i will probably not wear them on the way home.

Map tester

Ah, winter in the southland: humid and warm (65°F). Thunderstorms today, hope they are gone before the ride home. Rode with my son ( he on his new bike, Giant Boulder SE) to his school. Life is good!

nick burns

I just don't get the bikes on sidewalks mentality. Luckily most people where I live accept the fact that bikes use the roadways. I feel for all of you that get harrassed about it.

balto charlie

Lots of rain this AM. Kinda sucked but it was nice to see the interstates look like parking lots.
Last nights commute was interesting. Had to catch the 5:00 train to meet a buddy. Ride time to train 23 min, gave myself 28 min to ride. However my bike had a rear flat before I started. Immediately went to work fixing flat...6.5 minutes, rode like a beast and pulled into my bike box as the train was unloading passengers. I was sweating like pig, light still on my helmet as I ran into the train. The next train wasn't coming for another 45 min. Sweet. Charlie

Hawkear

Chilly today, ~44 F. New gloves with full fingers made me super happy this morning.