This was a bikeless day so I could bring food to our office christmas luncheon but tonight my wifey asked me to find something to do in the garage while she cleaned house for the weekend. No problemo, I & my 2 dogs found my Bianchi was sorely in need of new bar tape & I had some Torelli chunky cork tape. I think the orange really sets off the Celeste. Don

Cool but beautiful when I went in at 2 p.m. Cold but no wind when I left around 11. One interesting bit of driving by a Benz propelled cager going in to work: I was easing in to a left turn decel lane when this Einstein whips around me on the right then back left in front of me to make the turn arrow.

Good lord. 30+MPH quartering headwind. At least it was above freezing. Barely. Supposed to drop into the teens (F) before my ride home. I brought cold weather gear to work.

At least I get to look at this when I ride. (Image is "live" so it might not be as nice when others view it.)

This is my first post here. I've been commuting about 2 years, but this was the second time once the temps dipped below freezing. I ride 25 RT in northern IL. It was a beautiful cold morning with light winds. Nice sunrise view of Venus and Jupiter.

On the ride home wednesday, I left one of my pannier zippered compartments open and lost my new balaclava and helmet cover. On the ride in this morning I found the balaclava. Yay! The forward to the arctic cold and snow on sunday. Winter in the south!

rear blinker fell off this morn. stopped and threw it in my pocket for the rest of the commute, i felt naked without it behind me. it definately give me security, or at least a sense of security.

low 20s. decided to go with balaclava and regular bike helmet, no ski helmet or goggles. eyes watered a bit, but otherwise just fine. nice sunrise, too.

Super foggy and cold, like a Jack the Ripper movie. I rode in wearing regular clothes but I put my bike clothes in my back pack if I get a chance to take a long detour home tonight.

Rather pleasant, since there was no wind, temp in the 30s. There was a layer of frost on the golf course and ice on the swamp! My brand new u-lock (thanks Kryptonite) fell off of the bungee strap on my rack trunk. I need to find a new way to hold it on.

I keep mine under the rack trunk. My trunck attaches with 4 velcro things, so I set the ulock with the large straight part at the end, and then set the trunk on top. The straps for the trunk hold the u-lock in place. This is the best way I've found to carry it to minmize wobbliness, noise (my u-lock rattles a lot with bumps and stuff) and convienence. Also, any time I'm going to lock my bike, the trunk goes with me, so it's not inconvienent to have it under the trunk.

My ride was a little chilly this morning, 39F. Cold ears and fingers, but not too bad. Legs still a little weak from my ride on tuesday and a mild cold.

In SoCal Western Sycamore seed pods are all over the road -thanks to a nice Santa Ana! :) Now if all those seeds would grow. :)

I just saw a picture on the front of the LA Times where the Santa Ana blew a big rig right over on its side. Scary! I hope none of you guys were trying to ride through that.

Hmmm, orange with Celeste. That sounds cool. My Bianchi has white tape right now. I might have to try that as I get that bike ready for the Spring.

Got my butt kicked last night. I skipped the commute yesterday to opt for a night MTB ride on the local rails-to-trails path ("Prairie Path" for you Chicago area people) with some friends. I had not been out with them since September and that was a road ride. I kicked their butts then. Looks like I need to concentrate a little more on my commute speed. Either that or just relax and concentrate on keeping my base until Spring. To make excuses, they were riding slicks and I was riding knobbies. I was wearing the boots I wear for my commute without clipless pedals and they were wearing their cycling shoes with clipless pedals. Excellent ride, though. I needed a bit of humility.

Welcome to the forum! I ride Warrenville Road into Downers Grove most days. We aren't too far apart. Enjoy the forum. Keep up on this post as it's a lot of fun.

44F at 6AM today with no rain & heading for 49. Made a couple false starts on the way out: Had to come back for my thermos, headed back out & only got about 1/2 mile before I realized nothing on my noggin but a cap. Returned to the garage & found my helmet on the workbench right where I left it. Finally got on the road & had a nice ride in on empty roads. Tree, I'll try to post a picture this weekend so you can see the orange bars. I like it, my wife thinks garish; time will tell. Don

There were a lot of rec riders out today. I rode the last three days, no problems except a few bike lanes were blocked with branches. The wind has been strongest in my parts during the night.

I can't wait to see the orange with Celeste, Don. As an Illini backer, orange is always a cool color for me.

Awesome trip to work today! I ran in to a pack of roadies and actually had some company today, which was nice. They were on a casual ride around town, and I helped them find there way back to the park they started from. I work at a cafe in said park (Gene Coulon Memorial park in Renton), and told them to follow me.

Had to take it easy though, seems my early 90's trek 820 was too fast for them ;)

Chilly this morning, about 20 with winds at my side/face 18-24mph. Snow pellets were falling, and there was already a crust of snow covering the ground. Was tough to pedal and break through the crusty snow, and found that following the car tracks was an easier way. Amost no traffic, which was nice. Took and extra 15 minutes to get to work, and the ride was gruelling at points, but a nice ride anyhow...

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...612140023&e=15

this guy's: not so good.

I had a great commute this morning! My first sub-zero (F!) ride. No mechanical issues. It's snowing pretty well too.

I overdressed. Not sure how I did that, but I stopped twice just to cool down.

The best part of the commute was when I was next to Lake Champlain and something in a tree caught my peripheral vision. It was a very large bald eagle. :eek: Gorgeous creature. I stopped but it was shy and flew away. That's the first one I've seen in the wild.

Nasty head wind this am, 30 gusting to 50kmph (9-25mph) - slowed me down by a good 10 minutes. Was wishing I was riding a road bike so I could tuck easier. Nothing quite like 50kmph frozen snow pellets being driven into your face! :)


Pretty good otherwise, +1C, roads pretty slick, but very little traffic.

The ride home should be interesting. It's supposed to drop to -16C (3F) & winds picking up to 50, gusting to 70kmph (25-35mph). The winds should be at my back though :)

Today was cold (-35) with a honkin headwind. Biggest problem was feet chilling. I need better socks, or shoes or something. Also, rear derailleur cable would not pull, so I couldn't downshift.

Looking forward to the wind at my back tonight. I'm going to get some hot chocolate and warm up.

10 F / - 12 C with wind chill to -9 F / -23 C. Wind at 22 mph / 33 kph with gusts to 29 mph / 46 kph. I put my glove liners into my ski gloves -- good move!. Beautiful sunny morning; very little traffic.

Paul

Brrr! 11F and very windy. Mostly a tailwind coming in so the ride home is going to be a challenge. Got to ride my new winter ride Motobecane Grand Touring with Conti Country Grips for the first time. Nice & cushy on those fat tires, but the reduced speed is going to take some getting used to.