Today's ride was great. First really cold morning of the season -- 38F (3C). It seemed kinda strange to see my breath when I stopped at a stop sign or trafic light.

I'm hoping the afternoon temperature will get as warm as the weather guessers are saying -- 63 and sunny. A ride home in bibs and s/s jersey will be nice.

36 F on the ride to work this morning and it helped me realize that my old tights need to be replaced. They are getting so thin in some spots that I am close to looking like a member of The Village People. Looks like I might have to visit Performance this weekend. Those Triflex tights I see some people talking about in this thread sound nice.

It was nice, 33 and cloudy. Ran the headlight almost the whole way in. Time change will help. Not a soul on the "bike freeway" Cedar Lake Trail except for some runners until I got closer to downtown. Thought it was nice to NOT have to have the foot covers on yet.

I just got new tights and I can highly recommend the REI Powerstretch tights for cold weather riding. They're warmer than most tights and really comfortable. And no I don't work for REI!

Gloves. Too. Tight.

it was peaches and cream this morning until i came tire to tire with an impossible female SUV driver!... i'm very close to my building when this SUV catches up with me and stays close behind me. she doesn't pass me although there's nobody else on the road. because i work at a hospital, i decide to give her room to pass me in case she's in a hurry. so i mercilessly shove myself close to the gutter and the mud and the dirt, still wet from the rain that's just stopped. she finally makes up her mind, catches up with me and passes me ever so slowly, taking her sweet time. and because half her SUV is in the opposite lane, all the mud and dirt from the middle of the lane is splattered all over me along the way... aaahhh

I took a lunchtime ride from midtown to the Wall St. area to buy Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition (yeah, I know, it came out a while ago, but I been busy trying to get 100% on GTA San Andreas) and it's cagerrific! Also a good ride down along the FDR MUP to South St. Seaport and back although some parts were muddy as my pants can testify.

Ride home was jam packed. Traffic was wall-to-wall and I actually came to a standstill a few times and had to squeeze through a few places to get around the cars, trucks, buses, cabs, etc. I even followed another cyclist across 6 lanes of traffic just to get around it.

Cold this morning but not unbearable. Nice this afternoon.

it was raining again and the coldest morning yet (35 I think) when I left the house, but when I got to the park-n-ride there was no more rain. Not a drop the whole 15 miles on the bike, wind wasn't near as bad as yesterday and the cold wasn't an issue after the first mile. Had some deer run alongside me about 20 yards off the parkway for a bit. I watch em close for two reasons, because their pretty and in case they decide to cut in front of me to cross the road. Nothing worth commenting on for the ride back to the truck...just a nice ride.

I caught up with a friend who commutes to work as well for the ride home. Had a pleasant conversation and a pleasant ride home to close my first day of bike commuting.

Ok, the last few days have been rainy days which, of course, did not deter me from bike-commuting. However, I haven't bothered to lube the chain because what the hell, I figured, the lube would just be washed right off it the next morning. Except: it didn't rain today. So what do I hear as I start pedalling this morning? The most god-awfully loud squeak I've ever heard from a bike chain!

Unfortunately, I slept in today, so had no time to go back and apply lube... In fact, I slept in so much I didn't even have time for any breakfast! These two factors combined (with some headwind thrown in for a good measure) accounted for my slowest commute since the start of the school year: an abysmal 20 kmph (~12.5 mph) average.

Luckily, there is some WD-40 in my office - not a very good chain lubricant but did do the trick for the return trip (which therefore was much more pleasant for both me and the bike).

Still cold & wet , But it was still a good ride to work and home . I hope it clears up . Have a good nite .

yay, at least one hoopy frood who got it. now i just need me some red dwarf people, and i'll be almost reconciled to the end of baseball for 2005. oh, the nights will get long and dark now until spring comes around.

amazing terrific morning ride in, in spite of 14 innings robbing me of some sleep last night. cold cold - eh, not really, but cold enough to have that wonderful inside-of-a-freezer smell that is one of my favourite smells in the world. i forgot to check the digital signboard but it felt like about 3 degrees. got passed (on the left) by someone else quite early; i heard his gears clashing so had lots of warning. he said hi as he went by and i said 'nice shirt!' to his back - which it was. neon green is the next colour i want; i could see him in front of me all the way no matter how far ahead he got. actually, he never got very far, just far enough to push all the slow light buttons for me at intersections. i followed in his tracks for the approach to the bridge and was emboldened to do what he did and see if it works better than what i do (it does). seemed like the nice kind of commuter, so i didn't think he would mind me picking his brains like that.

the only other feature of the morning was that i made my first try at the second-last remaining logistical trick: crossing the exit lane off the bridge and taking the next lane over, which is the first one that goes straight through at the light. as opposed to just continuing from the mup to the sidewalk until i get to the light and then turning pedestrian to get across and waiting for another light cycle until it's clear to merge back off the sidewalk into the road. i think the only one left now is merging over into the left-turn lane a mile or so further on. i'm giving myself lots of time for that one.

coming home was different. stayed to watch game 4 (break my heart) at 6 pm and didn't leave until 9:15. tired and hungry by then and been working on automation tools all day in the area that's super-air conditioned for some stupid reason, so i type with one hand with the other one shoved underneath me. not really in bike mode too much by the time i left. but it was nice in spite of being harder than i'd wanted it to be, and so traffic-free that i had patches where i could just watch the sky in between watching the road. i like that a lot. think my tires need air.

my brain thinks it's thursday. feels like another cold day tomorrow, but ahhhhhh. i bought myself thermal socks.

Was it a figment of my imagination or was I dreaming? Maybe someone is lurking in the boards. Up at the top end of the sewage treatment plant, it was lit up like Times Square (ok not quite). The whole circle up there was able to be navigated easily. Was this a one day thing? Is work being done?

Chilly this morning, but bearable. Have to start covering my feet better. I found myself hunching my shoulders to keep my gaitor properly placed.

Was that a turd on the Manhattan side of the Manhattan Bridge?

Oh yeah, something else. Not part of the commute, but when I got to work. My actual office is across the street from main building. My usual routine is like this- I ride past a cop who checks badges. I lock my bike to sign in front of the building I work in, run upstairs and grab my backpack with clothing, go back downstairs, unlock the bike, ride down into the garage of hq across the street. The bike gets locked up there. Then I go up to the locker room and shower, etc.

This morning as I was locking the bike to the signpost, a guy coming out of my building (not facilities or security) asks me if I know that the cops are going to clip my lock because I am not allowed to park the bike there. I explaing that I know that, but I am rarely here for more than five minutes while I get my clothes and have never had a problem. Then he starts asking who I work for and who said it was ok to park there. I explain that I don't really park there, but just lock it there while I get my stuff. He starts walking away saying 'ok'.

I used to park my bike there all day until on Bike to Work day one year, I got a call from facilities that I couldn't. Very ironic. Probably some of you wil say well you shouldn't park there, and others will say, you have every right to. Just bothers me that people put up barriers to cycling and make it seem like a hindrance rather than making it easier.

I have joint placement of my HS daughter (three weeks on/three weeks off); the on weeks I have to drive her to school, so i only get to bike-commute every three weeks (bleah). I really just started bike commuting (again) in earnest this summer.

Here in Madison, the morning temps for my 8.25 mile ride these days is between 29-34F No technical gear save for a rain/wind breaker over an old fleece over a pullover (forgot my work shirt today *grr*) I still have to get the hang of the gear each day and fresh gear (shirt/socks) to change into. I may look into these Triflex tights as riding in pants is okay but a bit cumbersome.

My ride is part 'suburban' neighborhood, then a few miles of commuter bike path (very buccolic), then thru campus, then a nice wide bike lane, thru a park, over some rough tracks, past the weiner factory, around the airport, and I'm there. Next I need an alt route for variety (the city is completing some new paths thru the isthmus)

I can keep my bike in the room where I work (I feel for you big city folks who have to shift yer bikes around or lock it outside)

Starting to get a little chilly. I ride by a gas station with a digital thermometer that read 30 degrees Fahrenheit this morning. My commute is 14 miles each way and my toes were starting to get a little cold by the time I got to work. I'll have to start wearing the noeprene bootie things over my shoes soon. Not too bad for the most part though.

My one day off helped alleviate my burnout from my horrible commute earlier this week. That and my legs were god awfully tired. They are still slightly tired but I feel much better.
I took my time this morning and ended up at work 15 minutes early. Go figure.

This week has been record low temperatures for Houston. The morning commutes started at 40 degrees (Mon and Tues) with today being around 48. The rides home have been awesome (mid to low 70s). I am still trying to figure out a good layer system to keep me warm and not sweat so much. This morning was just cold enough to really push it and enjoy it - and not come into the office drenching with sweat.

On another note, yesterday's miles jumped me over 1000 miles of commuting since August 1!

Chris

30f this morning and no wind. Dropped the wind pants about half way, and switched to lighter gloves.

I left a bit earlier then usaul to test out my lights for the dark rides after the time change. Worked pretty good. I have a dual beam cyglolite for distance, and then added a Cateye halogen pointed about 10ft in front. In the back I have an LD500 and LD1000 and a pair of 4" reflectors. With all the leds in side to side mode it's quite effective. I'm planing on putting the LD1000 into steady mode in the dark/dark. My route includes about 8 miles of unlit busy two lane. I'm hoping that with the Cateye pointed right in front of the bike my eyes have an easier time adjusting between the total blackness, and bright lights of oncoming vehicles.

Coming up Clague Rd this morning - two lanes, no shoulder to speak of. Traffic is backed up behind a stopped school bus. I'm sitting there in the lane, patiently waiting with everyone else as I see that the bus is waiting for a kid in a wheelchair being rolled out from his house, then loaded on to the lift, etc. Next thing I know the guy in front of me starts blasting his horn and a bunch of others follow suit. I even hear some people yelling. At first I think a plane is fixing to crash on top of us or something, but no, they are all ticked off that they are having to wait for the school bus and a kid in a wheel chair. Sometimes I feel embarassed to be part of the human race.

A little chilly today, no sunrise to speak of. Traffic was slow, with lots of people getting in my way.

I forget the word to describe my commute. Oh yeah, now I remember: Dry!

Too much rain around here lately. Even I'm getting sick of it, and I'm not usually bothered by weather. Lots of snow in the higher elevations. None where I ride though. Too low.

I reeled in another roadie but really wasn't feeling too energetic so I stayed a good distance behind him and had a nice relaxing ride at about 15MPH.

Haven't posted in this thread for a while since I just end up giving a weather report, but in that spirit...

Lately my commutes home have been about 78-80 F. This is without doubt the perfect cycling temperature. I love it, a little cooler and its gets too nippy and it takes too long to warm up, a little warmer and you need to drink more. I love it! Correspondingly my speeds have increased to where they were in April before it got really hot.

Al

There's no excuse for that kind of behavior. Sometimes I think a whole lot of people were raised by parents that should've been sterilized for being too stupid to raise kids.