Today was the first clear sky day of the week. It made up for the downpour 2 nights ago, the rain yesterday, and the wind. Hopefully, the worst of our scheduled yucky week-end will be confined to the week-end, I still don't have a rear fender on my new commuter and along with a split saddle that leaves are very damp rear end to start the day with.

All week, my commutes could have been described as cold, dark, windy and not much fun.

Today I had some moonlight, but when I reached up to wipe the fog off my glasses, I scraped off ice instead. The scarf I breathe through iced over, too.

I think I'm pretty nearly ready to hang up the bike for the year...

Ink, you can't hang 'em up yet!!! All right, so I'm in balmy San Jose. I have no room to talk, I realize. But there have got to be others here in BF that commute in cold weather beyond this point. Maybe they'll talk you into hanging on for a while longer.

My ride tonight was along a different route so I could meet my wife for dinner. She brings a change of clothes, I jumped in the back seat, peeled away all the geek clothing, and mere moments later emerged a regular human being.

A little cold and wet. Kept shaking off my glasses and the shoes were pretty much soaked when I got home. Overall, not too bad.

Tonight we received the first tropical downpour we've had in almost two years. :D :thumbup: :)
And more is apparently on the way!

The downside is, I'm going to Victoria for two weeks tomorrow, so I'll probably miss most of it.

Bah, Andy. :D Not worth getting hypothermia and pneumonia if I break down on some cold, empty stretch of back road.

Nice ride in this morning. A nice treat with the weather; it was 45F when I left. I actually started to overheat a bit. (We deserve this weather for the snow storm they're forecasting this weekend!) Felt a little low on energy, and it probably didn't help that I waited to eat breakfast until after the commute...

VERY light traffic today. I counted: 45 cars passed me on my 22.3 miles. Only 2 passed me during the first 30 minutes. It'll probably be 10x that on the way home.

Last night, a guy about my age came up behind me on his Trek 5500 half-way home. He insisted on passing me, so I let him. He looked pretty unstable on his shiny new bike. I was tempted to give him a little race, but I contented myself to follow him; he was going about my normal pace. I'm usually super-competitive, so I'm surprised I didn't pass him. Maybe I should have; it would have been fun to see me with my big old backpack drop some skinny kid riding a bike that cost over 4x as much as mine. Maybe I'm just too competitive :)

Tim

It was nice and sunny for the ride this morning, but not before a heavy shower of rain had made the road all nice and wet. Sometimes there is no escape from getting a soggy bum.

Have a good weekend,

Ed

cold, damp, but no wind and one of those days when I just felt strong. no tiredness in the legs and going up hills on my outer chainring, at least a gear higher than usual.

Don't know if that's because I had a day off the bike yesterday (gales)

Less than ideal weather this morning, +3 C (37 F) and steady rain, into a light headwind. Was a little overdressed temperature wise, but rode a little slower, had a comfortable ride in. Only missed 1 day's commute this week (drove home 1 night due to working until 8:30pm). Weather has been warm (+10 C) and damp all week.
Mid November and still riding daily!! Who'da thunk it???

Good to hear about the rain Chis.

This is a pre-commute email, because I know if I commit to riding here, I'll do it ;) I am in no mood to ride today, probably whatever was lingering from yesterday is telling me to stay home. So now that I said I will ride, I guess I have to.

I'll confrim the story once I get to work.

Another birght day here in Maine. Temps were once again in the upper 40's F. My trailer was virtually empty today, as compared to the approx. 65-70 pounds I was towing yesterday, so I made really good time.

Headed home to grab my car in a bit. Temps now at 54 F and not a cloud in the sky. Gotta love it.

I had a great ride in this morning, the weather man was wrong again, I dressed for 20 degrees and it was 40, I kept the speed down and dry from the inside. All in all it was a nice morning with light traffic and no wind. Looks like the weather road is going to get rocky this weekend, this may be the end of the clean roads and time to put the good bikes away till spring.

My thoughts exactly. Going to mount studded tires on the front of one of my two commuter bikes this weekend.

Snow tires go on the car next week....ski season is almost upon us.

My thoughts exactly Tim, the snow tire go on the commuter tonight, I hate the thought of all that salt getting into my drive trane, this may be the last winter for this drive line, it's do for a rebuild in the spring. be carefull out there.

My lunch time ride home went OK. Temps were and still are very close to topping 60F, which is likely to set a new record for this day. My legs took a little longer than normal to get pumping and the wind had shifted so that I had a moderate head wind to contend with. It was a wonderful ride just the same.

Keep the rubber side down!

Okay so I made it.. VERY HAPPY I DID!.. Best time again, and unbelievably warm weather. I actually felt like I was overheating when stopped, and I didn't have any winter wear on at all.

tchazzard The temp is already falling here it should be close to you soon.The forcast of a noreaster on sunday or monday will make for a hard commute.I'm ready for it, Be safe and ride warm.:)

I'm still enjoying the wonderful, clear fall weather here in Washington. This morning, I caught another commuter as I passed the Navy Annex on Columbia Pike. We rode along together, and he thanked me for providing him some "inspiration" on the hill. I assured him that he would pass me on the downhill, and he did. It was fun to have company for part of the trip. I look forward to the waxing silver moon on my trip home tonight.

Paul

Again, awesome ride tonight. Getting out on the unmotivated days seems to be the way to go ;)

Yes indeed...the temps were just about freezing this morning and it is spitting snow. Unfortunately I will be unable to ride on Monday, as I will be at a Board of Directors meeting at the Sugarloaf ski resort. Life is grand!

No bike for me today, deep puddles of water with loads of salt and sand and 2" of fresh heavy snow, I just can't do that to my bike. Tomorrow the puddles will be gone but the salt and sand will be there, I will do that and the bike will like it. All you commuters that live in the south where snow is not an issue, enjoy your commute, wish I were there.

5" of snow yesterday, nice ride in this morning. -3 C, roads just wet mostly, some were almost dry. Had to "take the lane" on a 4 lane part of the commute, not enough road had been cleared for people to get around me. No complaints from the motoring commuters today. Actually saw 2 other bike commuters on the way in this morning - 1 smart (helmet & lights) 1 not so smart (no helmet, no lights, no reflectors)

Not much in the way of slush or slush splashing today, guess it's my lucky day. Had a short 2 block trip through deep snow and slush near my house, wasn't pretty with slicks on the bike. The back wheel did not want to follow the front. I need 1 more bike for commuting!! Payday Thursday, Police auction Saturday, could be my lucky week!!

I decided to go in a tad late this morning. It was still freezing rain when I woke up, so went back to sleep. Finally headed out a little after 9pm. It was 33 F, but the weather station said the feel's like temp was around 21 F. It was plenty warm on the ride. A lot of fallen trees, slush and water. The worst thing was the wind. I was met with a steady 20 PMH head wind, which gusted to over 30 MPH. I think it took about 80 minutes to get to work. Felt good just the same.

Brilliantly sunny today in SJ. A little brisk but it's supposed to get to low 70s by this p.m. Took a different route that included a ride on SJ's notoriously slow bus-n-wheels -- the Light Rail system. I used to take this a lot, so it was like deja vu all over again.

Only 7 miles biking, but my knee feels fine. That's the important thing.

It was cold this morning, no ice but it couldn't have been much above freezing point, set off as normal and everything was okay but when I got to work found that my back light batteries were nearly dead, lucky I had a flashing light on my backpack.

the batteries are recharging right now in readiness.

Very nice ride this morning. I was thinking that to myself when I was almost flattned by a minivan backing out of its driveway. Sprinted a bit and got out of the way.

With perfect weather Saturday, getting in some sailing time w/ friends, and then the nice commute, the week has started nicely.

What a difference on the ride home. I had 20 less pounds in my trailer and the 20 to 30 MPH head winds were now tail winds. I flew home. And thankfully I installed a studded tire on the front. All the water from this morning's commute was now black ice. And the cream on the coffee was the bright moon. It was truly a ride to remember.

Wonderful ride in this morning. Dry, not too cold and dawn was just about to break. I had the added pleasure off my road bike which was back from the LBS. :)

Tough commute into a stiff headwind, wet leaves on the road. Took a different route home yesterday, more climbs but a better road surface and not as much traffic, made a pleasant change.