Ed Holland

It was nice and sunny for the ride today. One problem though, the bike made an unrequested shift to the small chainring during a small but steep climb. This took me by surprise and damaged the chain at one point. It would not have taken much more to break completely (and cause severe discomfort...) Fortunately, it will be possible to make some repairs to get home OK.

Cheers,

Ed

thechrisproject

Well, it started out nice and balmy... about 31 degrees. Then the rain came, hit the frozen ground, and turned to ice. I made it all the way to work and then ate it in the parking lot. Ow. Perhaps I do need studded tires after all.

tbr_mn

We're having similar weather in the Twin Cities today. I fell trying to make an easy, wide turn at 2 mph. I got my foot down and it slipped out from underneath me as well. I made the mistake of cutting through the fair grounds where none of the roads were treated. After that fall I got off the road and stuck to the grassy areas for the rest of the way through the fairgrounds. Hopefully it all melts by the time the afternoon ride home arrives.

Tree Trunk

What was it like for you later on? I rode later in the morning and sweat soaked my first three layers of clothing. Obviously, I was overdressed also. My ride wasn't a commute as I have the Christmas to New Year's holiday off. It was nice to ride my road bike. The roads were a little more treacherous than I thought they would be. The warm up caused the roads to be wet and a little icy in some places.

Gus Riley

They'd be less treacherous if you'd fix your bike so you can use your small ring! Sunday I was up at the Midway Airport, anywhere near you? It looked like it was going to snow, so I made a bee-line back to our balmy central Ill.

thechrisproject

Yeah, I'm hoping for that too. Wunderground says it's 41 out right now. 41! In December! This is craziness. But hopefully I won't slip. I'll have to stick to the roads/grass otherwise.

Tree Trunk

LOL Gus. Funny thing is that once I got back to Illinois there has not been any reason to use the small ring until yesterday. Yesterday was a good spin day!

I solved the big ring "problem" the hard/easy way -- by trashing the Trek 2300 I was riding. A kid knocked 4 bikes over on top of my Trek during RAGBRAI. The rear Spinergy was wrecked and it also exposed a small crack in the frame. I didn't have a rear wheel that matched the 9 speed Ultegra so I had to find a cheap alternative (i.e. borrow a bike). My current borrowed ride is an older Bianchi Campione D'Italia. It's a nice ride. I just offered to buy the bike for $200 and he is thinking about it.

Midway is about 30 minutes from me, depending on the traffic. However, Sunday I was in central Illinois!!! My parents live in Athens (about 5 miles from New Salem State Park). It was nice and sunny there. If I hadn't been stuffing myself, I would have grabbed my dad's bike for a ride.

It snowed here Saturday morning. My wife and I were singing "White Christmas" to the kids all morning! That was the best way to drown out the sound of the Gameboys they got for Christmas.

Gus Riley

Athens is closer to Lofter by far. It is oh maybe 50 miles from here. Looks like a pretty nice place to ride. Too bad about that ugly green 2300! May it rest in peace. Since this is a commute thread, I won't change the subject...the wifey and I are commuting RAGBRAI on the tandem this year...see you there? Don't let us pass you on the dirt sections

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!!

iceratt

I just came home from work, avoiding as many drunk drivers as I could by taking side roads and the path around Lake Hariet. I thought that I might walk across part of the lake, but 51F temp yesterday did weird stuff to the ice; it was very slippery had many irregular angles mashed together. I had to crawl back to shore, and I wasn't even drunk. Congrats to all those who have already commuted by bike this year. It's a good way to start '05.

ollo_ollo

Am I really the only one who commuted to work today? 26F @ 6AM but warmed up to 42F by the afternoon. Lots of frost & ice out as the roads had been wet yesterday. Proceeded with caution on my Grand Jubile & got to work & back just fine. Side note: I commuted so regularly by bike lat year that I just discovered my drivers license expired last August. Went down to the DMV at Noon & they had mercy on me, just checked my eyesight, took my money & gave me the new license. Be careful out there

Jean Beetham Smith 

No, but mine was so routine I didn't want to bore anyone with the details. So far we have had an unusually warm winter, only 2 single digit (F) rides & only 1 heavy snow (>10 inches/25 cm).

spidercyclist

Lots of rain today on the ride to work and home .
But the good thing was no swow . So it was a good ride .
Have a good nite .

clevernamehere

1st day back to work in '05
-34C (-29F), -43C windchill, clear sky... finally got to test myself out at sub -30C!
Beat my previous record by 10C! I was pretty nervous starting out, not sure what to expect at this temp. The ride went well though... very little traffic (passed by 2 cars), stayed warm except toes (toes got very cold last 10 min. of ride). Goggles started fogging up last 1/4 of trip, gave up on them for last 10 min of ride.

Wulfheir

First Ride in Oh-Five!
-24C/-11F
Was out of town for a week and came back to hard snow-packed and icy roads. There is an empty lot I cut thru on my commute, and it's almost unrideable due to the snow. Going to go the long way around on the way home I think.

madhouse

My lovingly concerned wife is afraid that I am putting myself at risk by biking in the extreme cold. There is some validity to her concerns as I don’t have a refuge from the weather between point A and B, nor do I have the ability to catch a bus or call a cab. I made a deal with her that I won’t ride if it’s 10F or colder. That being said, I wasn’t able to ride yesterday and today I have an appointment for my car to get some work done so I drove in. (Before people jump on the “cars are evil” bandwagon… I have 230,000 miles on that car. It has cost me around $0.10 per mile including purchase price, tax, license, insurance, repairs and gas… I can’t say that for my bike and commuting gear… yet!) According to accuweather.com I probably won’t be riding this week.

KingFoo

Beautiful morning, gorgeous day! Going to have a high of 74F today...
Took the long way to work... yee haw!!!

caloso

First commute of the New Year. God, have I fallen this far out of shape in just two weeks?

PaulH

It was 56 F / 13 C, so I was a bit warmer than I would have liked. So far, I have yet to wear my coat this week, and, if I do, it will likely be as a result of rain. I grew up in New England and find it hard to deal with mild winters. Too cold for the beach -- too warm for the ski slopes-- this weather is good for nothing. Other than that, a nice ride in.

Paul

EnigManiac

I decided to leave my cruiser at home and try the 20 minute commute on my new Stiletto chopper. Due to the sitting position, I found a bit of a strain on my lungs and it required a little more effort, but I managed the commute in exactly the same amount of time as I usual do. It was about 0c and I was still sweating buckets. The only disappointment was finding ice/snow sludge and sometimes large mounds still clogging the curb lane and forcing me out into the middle of the lane. Sitting as low as I do on the chopper, it was a little disconcerting at times, considering I was riding a busy route during rush hour. While I tried a nearby parallel street that has a bike-lane in the morning, snow made it unusuable. The reason that was disappointing was that we haven't had snow for two weeks and enjoyed warm temperatures that should have melted what we had or at least made it easier for city crews to remove the offending clumps of ice, but they obviously haven't even attempted to remove it. I made a call to the city but doubt they'll act as there is now a winter storm warning in effect. They sure didn't sound anxious to, in any event. Sheesh, what were they waiting for, spring? Guess my councillor will have to hear from me.

balto charlie

Warm warm warm, but I ain't complaining. Rode to work in shorts and a poly top. Wore the wind vest on the way home. Can't beat that for Jan 5. With hunting season over I can ride my single track and cut 3 miles off of my commute.

ollo_ollo

23F & clear 6AM: due to the cold temp & reports of ice, I overdressed with wool sweater, down jacket, insulated booties & a wool cap under my helmet, then I got pretty damp under all that during my short 4 mile commute. Rode my mountain bike & despite the frost & ice, didn't experience any slip or slide situations. This bike is really slow compared to my road bikes but it sure handles slippery conditions. The few cars I encountered were driving very slow & carefully. We all got along today! Don

spidercyclist

Nice ride today . But the weatherman said bad weather for wednesday . So I hope I can ride wednesday .
Have a good nite .

vtjim

My morning commute today was transcendent.

20F degrees. It was snowing and the trail was covered with a layer of dry powder. Enough to cover the pavement but not enough to have to push through. I left just after sunrise and made first tracks. Very, very quiet and relaxing. I stopped once just to listen to the silence and look out over Champlain.

I ran into (not literally) a woman walking her dog. She told me I was brave. I told her I have studded tires. That seemed to subdue her fears. (Not that studs do anything on fresh powder, but The Uninitiated don't know that.)

clevernamehere

-31C / -44 windchill
3 degrees warmer than yesterday, but felt worse... had a hard time the last 3km - felt exhausted.
I might wimp out & take the bus if it's -30 tomorrow. Just feels like my body needs a break.

The toughest part is we got a fair bit of snow recently & the city hasn't cleared it so much of my ride is over frozen bumpy ruts... it's quite a workout. It's not as bad in the mornings as there's almost no traffic & I just stay in the tire tracks. In the afternoon I end up riding on the rough shoulder (frozen bumps, often covered with soft snow).

jharte

What an awesome ride! Freezing rain, sleet, and snow on top! I put my studded snows on this morning and headed out. Thanks to the weather stations who pleaded people to stay home, traffic was light. Temps: 27F w/wind chill at 17F. Not really too bad.

The cool things about the ride:
Listening to tree branches break under the weight of the ice,
My new Power Grips,
My newly rewired dual headlights,
My environmental chamber/dehumidifyer. I can put my wet gloves in it and dry them out!
The look on everyone's face who saw me pull in!

The not so cool things:
The idiot drivers who can't drive while talking on the phone when the weather is dry! They still can't drive!!
The ice pellets hitting my face,

It was absolutely worth it. I like this weather.