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...

https://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. 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.

Good Ride this morning. 0C with a 45Kph headwind. It honestly didn't seem that windy. It is supposed to drop to -20C by this afternoon. That'll be cool.....but the wind will be behind me so how bad can it be.....

Make it a great day!

The first real frosty morning here in Oxford today. Lots of christmas-card type scenes along the country lanes. Despite the sub-zero temperatures it was a beautiful and exhilerating ride.

Cheers,

Ed

Really icey. Slicker than dog snot would be the proper term...

As the fall started to roll in and things cooled down, I set a goal to ride in (all the way from home) at least once in every month of the year. December is good and I'm still on track. This morning it is warm, temps were in the 40's and windy. The gusts are 50+. The wind seems to be swirling around, though it was predominantly a head wind. It will be interesting to see how it progresses throughout the day.

There were 7 other people out on bikes this morning.

I usually only post after my ride in, but today I'll talk about my ride home. It was a strong headwind until the sun went down. I didn't see my speed exceed 10 mph for this whole time, not even on the down hill stretches. I would have bailed for the bus had I not gotten occupied with thoughts of "how much more wind can there be". I'm glad I stuck it out.

Five of my last 6 miles are on the Highline Canal and Big Dry Creek trails, dont' worry if you've never heard of them. Anyway, those five miles were some of the best I can remember in all my time riding bike. Parts of it were peaceful quite, just me an the trail with my light showing the way. Other parts of it were down right tough and a challenge, there has been enough melt to make mud and there were ruts from horses and other bikes - it was like my own little singletrack in the dark. Top it all off with the temps being in the 20's and it was an absolute kick in the pants.

Coldest day yet this season: -24C (-11F) -38C (-36 F) with windchill. I was actually pretty comfortable out there, except I could have used some ski goggles. The bike didn't do as well, my cassette body froze up, and wouldn't engage, so I had to walk the last 2 Km.

I'm new to the site, and to commuting. I've been pedaling in for almost 2 1/2 months now. I only have about a 2 mile ride, but it was pretty frosty at 5 degrees -2 with windchill. How far are the rest of you riding in? What do you do about the salt? I store my bike in a shed overnight so I haven't been rinsing it real regularly.

I thought somebody might get a kick out of the crazy weather we are getting today. Last night at 8pm it was 7C. This morning at 8am it was 0C and quite a nice commute. Three hours later the wind is gusting to 60K and -11C.

It's about 15-20 F here in Maryland, but dry as a desert. There was some rain-turned-to-snow last night, but barely a half inch all told. So other than a bit of black ice, the cold is the only thing going on.

Today's commute was not so great. The temp was about 12 when I left home, and it was really windy. I had to stop after a few blocks and reinforce my head. less than a mile later my chain comes off and gets all twisted up. That was no fun and I think I chipped some paint straightening it out. Then around the lake... huge headwind the whole time. I was spinning in my lowest gear for a while.

I'm still glad I didn't drive, though. Driving sucks.

Check out this thread. https://www.bikeforums.net/commuting/78849-how-far-do-you-commute.html

48F and VERY windy this morning. Temperature due to drop after this cold front passes through! Glad I got my battery powered heater socks!