Congrats on your first bike commute and welcome to the forum.

Commute in this morn was uneventful. I've got a hill I always just downshift and spin up slowly, today I left it in gear and got out of my saddle and did it. It's over a mile into my commute so my legs have warmed up, I think I'll make it standard practice barring any ice or snow.

I just got back from riding home for lunch and I want to say thank you Cobb County PD. They were running traffic enforcement on one of my favorite roads. The speed limit is 35 but people often do twice that and I was glad to see the police out there trying to slow things down.

I'm impressed. That's tough going.

By contrast, I rode in on dry ground today. It was a glorious 26F sunny morning.

I would love to do that myself, but my weapon of choice (road bike) doesn't permit that. Besides, it's a big enough challenge to dodge the potholes, cagers, cabbys, buses, trains/tracks and the "head down, walking right at you" foot traffic. The evironment is a major determinate in which conditions we choose to ride.

I was half-dreading my commute this morning, because it was pretty cold (20s F) and there were pretty strong winds with some big gusts. But then I got outside and had a tailwind for most of my ride, so it wound up being a pretty good ride in! :)

2 things I've learned from this thread... Close up the messenger to avoid cat hurl delays in the morning and periodically run the car :rolleyes:

Lovely day here in SE FL. decided to do a little diff route... MISTAKE! lots of angry traffic had me a lil :eek:
Made it in one piece though, whew. Think I'll try the ride N up the beach, A1A, homeward :)

Ride in this morning was nice, 42 with a 5-10MPH crosswind. Ride home this afternoon was awesome, 59 degrees and a 5-10 MPH tailwind. It was nice to ride home in the daylight for a change. I took it easy both ways because of a back strain, but at least I'm released by the Dr.to ride.

first commute of the new semester, and first real commute with the new bike

I didn't get much sleep last night so I was tired this morning but not so tired I couldn't ride in... a powerbar and some energy vitamin water put me in good shape to ride in

the ride in was good... it was fairly chilly (around 38 degrees) and windy... there was an unusual amount of traffic on one of the main roads I ride on for some reason... was tempted to filter but didn't

on the way back I had a brutal headwind (weather.com said it was 25MPH) in my face for pretty much the entire ride home. that sucked.

Good ride this morning. 37 F Sunrise as I was getting to work.

I was able to get back to the office and ride for lunch.

Now for the ride home it is 63.

Fast ride home today I shaved maybe 8-10% of my time by pushing myself the whole way.

Two incidents of note:
1. Cars, if I'm going the speed limit or above don't feel like you have to pass me. I'm doing an indicated 28 in a 20 zone and this truck has two squeeze around me.
2. Real pucker incident, going down a big hill the truck that just passed me 2 minutes before slams on it's breaks hard. My rear tire locks up and slides me sideways before I back off the brake and correct.

ride in this morning was cold, still slow but pleasant enough.

An environmental success story: When I first started riding the MDC bike path along the Charles in 1980 the river had a pretty bad smell to it, I would see very little bird life along the Charles, no one fishing, and the river really had a kind of "dead" look to it. I have watched the effect of national and regional environmental legislation as this river has slowly come back to life over the past 25 years. Due to the plethora of creatures along the river now (and the reduction of pesticides like DDT) red tailed hawks have returned in abundance and some of them are just massive from the volumes of squirrels, rats and pigeons they consume. Sometimes I'll be startled to see one sitting at eye level on a post or in a low tree branch. Today I heard the call of a hawk and slowed enough to look around and see one of these big ones gliding low in the air pursued by a coven of crows that must have numbered two dozen. I wondered who the hawk would have been calling to, or why?. Maybe the crows were actually making the call in their attempt to announce the presence of this hulking predator, hmmm, don't know.

the ride home was really windy, right in my face, really windy. I was going very slow, again.

-49F (-45C) ride this morning (late night actually) with lots of ice fog. That extra
layer on my legs sure helped.

A little under 20 miles round trip. I have 3 layers under my coat, 3 layers for my legs, 4 pairs of
socks with reflective foil in between 2 of the layers, bunny boots, face mask, head band, and helmet.

brrrrr. I amend all my previous posts please replace the word "cold" with "toasty".

Learned some things on my first homeward commute this evening. First, it's definitely more uphill than the way in (funny how I never noticed that in my car...) Second, I am definitely more like a sail than a wing with winds coming at me! The MTB and fat backpack certainly don't help there - no practical way to get down low without the pack swinging to one side or the other. But wonderful to be riding nonetheless, and I'm doing this in great part for the exercise, so no complaints!

You can just leave off the F's and C's when it's that cold. :eek:

Had a fairly strong headwind on the way home. Not the usual direction of the prevailing winds. Can't complain, though because it was warm. Have not seen those dogs in a while. They must be spending more time indoors.

maybe they read BikeForums and figured they'd give you a break.

I picked up a nail on the way back from lunch. Walked the bike about 1/2 mile to the office. I didn't have time to fix the flat at work, so I had to have SWMBO pick me up.

Cold and foggy going to work. Needed my lights to ward off cars for half the trip. The drizzle on the way home was bearable thanks to the fenders.

"Finally - 2 weeks of lurking, and I can finally post to this thread! First time in on the bike today. Drove halfway, parked the truck, and road the last 7+ miles"

Congratulations! That's how I began way back when. Drove 1/2 way in my Suburban, parked & rode the other 1/2. I got a lot of ribbing from the other bike commuters at work but really, I was saving lots of gas & it was a good way to get in condition for the full commute. Don

Streets have been dry in Minneapolis for a better part of January and the temps are warm. The commute across town on the new Greenway is desolate since commuting hasn't taken off here. The Cedar Lake trail is always beautiful running for awhile through an urban forested strip. This too is wide open. My take on this is enjoy it before the biking thing gets popular. My winter bike is a 1 speed freewheel 26" Rollo with fenders,brakes and lights. Low maintenance and just enough gear for a ten mile commute. Most riding in this city is on alternative routes through neighborhoods with a very light mix of traffic. Minneapolis really has yet to be discovered by people who want to put a little adventure into their day with a bicycle commute.

past 2 or 3 commute days have been eventless, love my commutor road bike and the responses i get from my input (crank energy + effort = speed). i am really exited about new lights "Planet Bike Sport Spot 4 Headlite" and felt lit-up on return home tonight. with headlite, sportlite, and 4 blinkies, I am spinning and visible!

Back to commuting after taking most of January off. New Job is about 1mile closer and 1 less hill! 41F and misty on inbound route. Steady rain on the return trip. It's good to be back in the the saddle.


Good show! Working up to the full commute a little at a time is the way to go.

This is my first post in this thread today. Have looked a few times.

My last 4 days have been sunny and about 4C(40F) on way to work and about -4C(24F) on way home. First couple of days felt quite cold but have got the hang of it now. Also did a couple of training rides in the day, seem to ride better in the cooler weather.

Keep up the commute and pass on the word. I've almost converted 2 people at work to commute.

Sweet. ;) Is that the coldest report of the season so far?

Great ride today! Dodged most of the traffic lights and no car doors to speak of. Roll off temp was about 22°F and because most of the lights went my way, I was able to ride faster without overheating. One glance at my covered riding shoes sparked the "It's really cold outside" comment from one women to another on the elevator. I was completely unzipped, trying to cool down :rolleyes:.

Low 20's and a colorful sunrise greeted me on my ride in today. Little wind. Not a sole out on the bikepath. Serene and inspiring come to mind. I love it when my lungs get a good workout in the cold. Feels great most of the day.

Had a nice, cold ride in this morning (low 20's). I think this might have been the coldest morning of the month so far. It has been unseasonably warm here, something like 7-8 degrees above normal for the month so far. Yesterday I had to drive in since I was going to a job offsite. The UPS guy came in to deliver a package and asked where my bike was. He thought I might have not ridden because of the cold. Told him I had to drive for work and he told me he biked to work for 11 years around here before getting married and having kids. He said he doesn't ride too much due to his wife and children anymore though, but said he really enjoyed it when he could :)

Normal ride in (39°F) except for the guy in the Lexus who first honked at me to move over, then racing his engine, passed me on the right and then immediately had to stop because of the red light. He rolls his window down and yells "you're not a car!". :rolleyes:

I told "you're right, I'm on a bike, but I have to legally act like a vehicle. Have a nice day, be good, we all love you, bah bah bah.."

I am working on not losing it when some joker can't drive their car intelligently. :p