Cold !!

:D don't you just hate that feeling of suddenly really needing to hear something you don't have with you? making a mental note to find and pack my own anderson cds for work tomorrow.

couldn't sleep last night either, so it was another car day. going to drink a lot of orange juice tonight and really really hope everything's more normal tomorrow.

Finally... Some normal weather. I saw 17F on the bike computer. :) Blue skies with the sunrise lighting up the snowy Adirondacks. Slight tailwind.

We had a dusting of snow last night. There were patches of ice here & there. I was riding the road bike and just took it easy when necessary.

I just noticed my water bottle has condensation on it! It started out at room temperature at my house.

COLD! .... but invigorating ....

winter = slow down.

Got boxed in by double deckers this morning. A regular occurence by my standards but the rear one was riding a little close in my tail.

I decided to create a little more space so whilst looking over my shoulder I jammed the brakes and rocked forward making the bus driver jam his brakes. I tried falling back off the front bus a bit but the rear one just crept up again. I did this to him twice more but he just wouldn't learn to lay off for a moment.

All the people who were standing up on the lower deck were being thrown about and getting most upset. Maybe they'll learn to ride their fat carcases to work instead. Finally dumped the buses at a set of lights and after that it was plain sailing.

The attached pic is the weather conditions that I had this morning.

The ride was uneventful except for having to look out for ice on the roads (still running 700x23 slicks), especially in front of the Essex campus of Baltimore Community College. I was pleasently surprised to find that someone had actully salted over the worst of the ice.

28 F / -2 C here in the Washington, DC area. There was one patch of ice, so I guess I can say the winter riding season has begun. Beautiful sunny morning.

Paul

Cold this morning, but my new scull cap/ski mask worked excellent. Had to take it off one the sun got up over the trees. Still debating getting a pair of clear glasses to keep my eyes from watering on the faster stretches.

Nice short day planned today. Half day in the office, then over to school to finish up some lab work. Then home to kick back and get some much needed reading done.

Had to go by the bank this morning on the way in. Bank has no bike racks (even after numerous letters from me and others requesting they add some), so I decided to roll through the drive-thru. Got some funny looks, breathed some intoxicating fumes, but it was still probably faster than going inside.

Got to work and the coffee was still dangerously hot in my lovely stainless thermos... (I hate the coffee at work).

Cold morning in the 20's and a very slow ride in. I was warm except for my toes, they were frozen by the time I got to work. Clipless shoes do not block the wind very well, even with wool socks. Might have to get the MTB out of the storage closet and get it ready for next week with these temps. TGIF!

You should have gone inside with the bike. That would have gotten their attention. Probably a lot more than the letters did.

Today was ****ing cold. My finger tips are just now thawing out. They hurt for the last 2 miles. It was 29F (-2C) when I left the house. I guess I should have worn the heavy gloves today. The glove liners didn't help much. :(

Got my toe covers in the mail yesterday but they didn't help much either. They fit on the shoes nice and snug but they were beginning to work their way off my shoes as I was heading for the door so they stayed home. I don't understand it. I have the same brand on my road shoes and they work fine.

I don't know if it's the cold weather or the phase of the moon or what but today I got cut off 3 times. That usually only happens about once a week. :crash:

Brrrrrrrr! Actually the ride was cold, but I wasn't (except for my hands OUCH!). The REI rain jacket I bought a month or so ago does a real swell job with keeping wind out, my core wasn't cold at all.

And as for cold toes, I can't recommend steel toe'd CATs enough. :D

It was 29° this am and by the time I ride home from the pub tonight, it's promising to be back around the same. :D I like this cold weather riding!

I do this mainly because I wear contacts and I don't want them drying out on me.

I have amber and yellow lenses which seem to make dusk and dawn and cloud covered days brighter than if I used clear lenses. This morning the yellow lenses worked very well for me.

I do this at the post office. Just waiting for the day when they say something to me so I can ask them the status of the bike racks I've requested there as well. Just hope they don't go postal on me...

:roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:

Ahem...I think you owe us a Friday haiku...

Ride in today was awesome! It was also the usual. See previous posts for my definition of "usual". It was 35F when I left this morning which meant the Old Navy wool coat over my t-shirt and Eddie Bauer gloves I got on sale, all of which kept me warm enough. The sun was out and I was catching the lights and riding fast which made the ride more enjoyable and too short. Before I knew it, I was already at 42nd St. and had to turn. Lots of ped dodging today so I zig-zagged a lot while riding at them so they would freeze and I could sail past them. If I just aim to go behind them they stop and if I aim to go in front of them, they keep going. Zig-zagging confuses them so they stop and I can pick a line around them.

I always wear glasses when commuting and on my weekend rides. Whatever the season, they keep wind, cold air, bugs, dust, etc. out of my eyes.
I'm cheap so I always go for the inexpensive brands. My commuting glasses (dark and amber) are low priced safety glasses. Can't remember where I got them but they were ~$6 a pair. I have some cheap Performance brand clear, amber, and dark glasses too.

If you want to be stylish and look like LA (or maybe George Hincapie) try these. ;)

I also use safety glasses, about the same price, that I got from the hardware store. Mine are slightly tinted so they work for day or night.

I've been wearing Smith sliders for years so I can swap out the lenses for the conditions. They fit great, and enhance my already formidable handsomeness.

FAST ride in today. I had a 40 km/h tailwind most of the way in [Chinook, methinks], so I rode pretty damn fast without getting too sweaty. It must have been +12C by the time I got downtown. It's supposed to get colder as the day goes on, but it's warm again tomorrow.

Woke up this morning to a pleasant surprize, it warmed up to 29F/-2C over night (it was 15F when I went to bed). Yesterday I woke up to 7F/-14C, so I could shed some of the serious winter riding stuff. I even took the long way in. It's going to be a great day.

Some Mensa member in a blue Explorer made a supremely dangerous move on the road I was on this morning. Kind of hard to explain the intersection where it occurred but the upshot is that the guy was driving up an overpass the wrong direction, right towards me, so he could go back down the offramp. This happened a 100m or so in front of me so I was in no immediate danger, but what really steams me is that as the Explorer completes its turn in front of me, I can clearly see a toddler in a child seat in the back!

What is wrong with people?

Can't say I've never seen that happen before although it was more dangerous for me since I was in a car driving highway speeds and not on a bike. The drivers in questions overshot their exit, pulled over, then drove backwards to the exit while cars flew at them. I've also seen the reverse, drivers accidentally exiting, then driving in reverse blindly around exit turns to get back on the highway. Not only are they Darwin candidates, but they're also menaces to people who actually know how to drive safely. Can't say why they would do something clearly stupid and illegal rather than just drive to the next exit and double back or get back on the highway and continue on.

had an exceptionally fast ride in today... I kept a better cadence than I usually do, plus my first class was cancelled so I was able to take the "flat" route (meaning the one with only one uphill climb instead of the two I usually deal with) in to my second class... cut 7 minutes off of my time in

the commute back was alright too even though I wasn't quite as fast as I was going in

winter temperatures have finally come to Maryland, so I broke out some of the winter gear and layered up today

39F on the way home. Ahhh...bracing! Lovely ride home, had some shmuck honk me for some reason so I took more of the lane so he couldn't pass. Dumba$$ was from out of state. Who's he think he is? This is my town! :D