ahpook

Back in the saddle after a week off for thxgiving. Beautiful crisp morning and I was flyin'... it felt like my fixie was geared too low for the first half of the ride!

noisebeam

It gotta bit cooler here. Was 34F on my ride in, previous low for the year was 45F so this was quite a drop. Otherwise nothing much to report.

Al

peregrine

I drove today, which is just inviting trouble. Forecast is that it might be snowing here in the afternoon but I hope it doesn't because I really don't want to miss the first snow. It's certainly been colder than normal and I think the next few days are 'bout to be even colder (as in less than 32 F)

jyossarian

Nothing to report on the ride home which is fine by me. However, at lunch I was almost the victim of two (2) doorings and actually saw another dooring. First almost dooring on 42nd St. near 3rd Ave. by a green bimmer (swerved to avoid). Second almost dooring actually happened after a passenger in a stretch limo doored the VW Jetta in front of me. I saw it and slowed down. The passenger then opened the door again and almost doored me except I swerved and stopped. I then asked the passenger if he was trying to kill everybody. I don't think he heard me or even noticed that he'd doored the Jetta and almost doored me. Oh well, he's important enough to be in a stretch limo so I guess the rules don't apply to him.

FloridaJohn

Ride home was uneventful today.

It looks like I will be paying for taking a vacation last week. I am traveling all over S. Florida tomorrow and Wed, so I won't get a chance to ride again until Thursday. And a meeting in Ft. Lauderdale on Friday, so I will only get two days in this week.

tomg

WoW! 55 deg f, wind on my back, sun out, traffic pretty cool on the way in, 69deg f on return, clouds, with the wind again pushing me along... why are there no other bike commuters here in this town (who i see anyway)? WoW!

spidercyclist

It was vey wind today , But still a god ride .
Have a good nite .

tokolosh

giggle.

i rode too. go me. after a whole weekend of fretting and stressing and biting my nails about so-called minus-eight weather this week, i went out during the day on sunday to look for space heaters, rode all over god's armpit before i found some, and had to admit to myself it was pretty cold out there, but not impossible. today i looked up the temperatures during that ride and saw -4c once they counted the windchill factor. well, heck. i'd scratch my jock and knock the dirt out of my spikes and do a little cool-dude spit-on-third-base kind of schtick, only it would probably freeze.

um. anyway. they changed their minds about the week's forecast but it was still pretty cold this morning, 1 or 2 degrees. i did see ice here and there, but just in puddles. the road itself was nice and dry all the way. i actually tried to 'practice' on some of it, but couldn't see any difference. it was interesting to see how much the ground changed as i came down the hill towards the river. up around my home: an inch of frost on everything, frozen clumps of leaves and little patches of ice; down at the river level, nothing at all. a few chunks at the height of the bridge, but i'm not even sure that was ground-ice. it might have been the cubes out of some yozo's big gulp. and speaking of: boy did i find i get thirsty when it's that cold. don't know why, but i sure did.

it felt great to swagger into work in my bike gear this morning, after my weekend of not expecting i'd ride. i did a great ace-rimmer impersonation for the first half hour, until someone's random remark made me realise i'd left all my blinkies on and i had to scuttle out to take care of them.

for the ride home, i started checking the enviro-can site an hour or two before. this is pretty much a mistake. if you're going to have 26 kph headwinds, gusting crosswind to 36k, and you're a wimp about heights and bridges, it's just better not to know about it. the upside was that a) the crosswinds were going to be pushing away from the river and towards the road, and b) it was at least 5 degrees. i'd been kind of dreading it and dragging myself, but as soon as i actually got on my bike and swooped out of the parking lot to start home, i got one of those 'ain't life just great' moments come over me that lasted for the whole ride. i actually got that mountain bike to go fast!

it's pretty sure that it is going to snow eventually. i know this because the cat is draping herself over my typing arms again and locking on. it's going to freeze too, but i feel much more cheerful about it now. all the worried discussions at work about snow tires and ice and rear-wheel drives cleared my last doubts: bike is the way to be through it all. and we're less than four weeks from the winter solstice, AND i'm four weeks from a week off work and only seven weeks from the end of this contract now.

vtjim

A nice 30MPH headwind off the lake this morning. Offset by the fact that it's 60F degrees outside. (Northwest Vermont...) Very strange weather this year.

The last few days I've been on the winter beater due to snow and ice, but today I rode the Peugeot because everything is clear again. On my ride home today, I will pass the 2,000 mile mark for that bike this year. Got a few hundred more on the winter bike. All commute miles. Well, 99.9% commute miles, at least.

huhenio

My week is going well and uneventfull ... .other than being 25 dergees warmer than it should

foible

It was great to be back on the bike today, the first time since last Wednesday. I missed the tailwind of last week but I made respectable time on my commute anyway. That's what fresh leg muscles are good for.

I didn't see another soul on the road until I wanted to turn into the parking lot at work. Right then two pedestrians were walking in front of the driveway. I couldn't take the best line for climbing the hill in the parking lot but I just widened my turn and went in after they passed. I find it funny that with acres of empty pavement here at this hour the only people outside want to use the same little patch of it.

GTcommuter

Great ride in this morning. Like Foible said, fresh legs make for an easy commute. After tinkering with the bike all weekend, I completely forgot to adjust the break pads. So I squeeked all the way in.

JohnBrooking

Fun with Golf Courses

So, last night, I decided to take an alternate route through a golf course complex. (This being Maine, it was closed for the season.) First I found a paved golf cart path that cut through the green, which was nice. I was a little nervous that it would be a bit slick, but it wasn't, just wet. It occurred to me that I couldn't do this most of the time, because it would be unmaintained in the winter and have too many people around in the summer. (I was pretty sure I wasn't supposed to be there.)

When I got to the end of that, I was on an full-width access road, unlighted, which I knew would take me back to the main road. I was glad to have my headlight, it was pretty dark, but I feeling aware that it wasn't really looking too far ahead. Sure enough, a light brown patch of something was ahead, and I was just considering moving out of the way when OH SH*T! IT'S A BIG SAND PILE, AND I'M GOING RIGHT UP THE SIDE OF IT!!! My momentum carried me over the top, probably about 6 feet high, and I semi-purposely laid myself and the bike down in the soft sand on the far side. No injuries to either of us, save a slight abrasion in a tender area from the seat, and a slight ache in my left elbow. (Not even noticed until I woke up this morning.) It *was* nice soft sand.

This morning, I decided to take the same route going the other way, since it was light this time. Plus, I found another golf cart path to get onto earlier, so I didn't pass the sand pile anyway. Wouldn't you know it, though, I met a pickup truck with a plow coming down the path. (We don't even have any snow on the ground today!) I moved aside to let him pass, but of course he needed to stop and tell me that bikes weren't allowed on the path. I fibbed a bit about not being aware of that (be still my guilty conscience), and we went on our ways. No more incidents.

No, I won't be doing this too often. My wife won't be pleased if I get arrested for repeated trespassing. But it was really much nicer than the busy road, although I wouldn't want to take on the sand pile every time.

jyossarian

Blah. Still got the cold or whatever it is I got this weekend. Had the sweats as I left this morning and got more sweaty on the ride to work. Wore just a t-shirt since it was in the upper 50's. Still, made it to work in the usual time and saw a few other bike commuters on the way in. Also noticed a new bike locked in front of the bldg. along w/ the usual cast of misfits. They really need to install more bike racks out front.

DataJunkie

I asked my wife to pick me up more bus tickets. No such luck.
So, with one ticket and no cash I decided to ride the whole way to work. In no way shape or form was I ready for the ride. Not enough sleep or energy. The good thing is that my colder weather gear worked fine. 15F and I was nice and toasty.

Last nights ride home had a cold wind. Other than that it was fine.

caloso

I'm glad I put the fenders back on the bike. No actual rain but the air feels super heavy, probably 100% RH. It's cool, but not quite cool enough for the ski pants I wore. Wet pavement and lots of slick leaves this morning but I managed to keep the rubber side down.

pinkrobe

Frickin' cold today! -15C when I left the house, and it was just starting to snow. A week ago it was +15C, so this is a big change. I had a weird experience with the snow being illuminated by my headlight. I felt like I was being attacked by thousands of tiny white specks. It's snowing even heavier now, so I'm glad I have my spikes on.

jyossarian

The usual.

CommuterRun

Heavy overcast and cool almost all day. Got some rain this morning, so I fiddled around the house until about 9:30 when I was sure it was over.

On the way to work I twice saw two whitetails browsing beside the road. Then saw a bald eagle sitting in the top of a tall dead pine.

On the way home I saw one deer and two armored-dillos. Started wondering why I even keep a log. All I do is enter the data from the bike computer onto the desktop, make a note about the day and forget it. I never go back and reread old entries.

spidercyclist

Good ride to work today. Threatened to rain all day, but never did. It was a bit windy. The traffic was light coming into work and going home. Have a good evening.

ollo_ollo

36F, windy & rain with snow made for a wet morning commute but still better than yesterday when it was 23F with reports of black ice and SWMBO told me to drive my car to work. Don

tokolosh

SNOW!!!! yeah, okay, i'm excited. it dipped below freezing for a while last night, and then it snowed about an inch, and then it commenced to creeping back up again. by the time i set out we were back on the right side of 0c, but only just, and snow was falling quite heavily with wind between 15 and 20 kph - or so envirocanada sez. it's still several degrees warmer than what i was worried about this time last week, so i was a very happy puppy. me n my fleece n my silk shirt n my tights n rain pants n my snowboarder's gloves. and it didn't feel cold. the display about halfway through my ride said it was 1 degree, but i'm ready to swear it felt quite a lot warmer than other days at 5 or 6 degrees with the rain.

snow falling on the north-facing uphill part of my ridge, freezing rain on the south-facing, downhill part. practically nothing at all on the bridge, and by the time i got there i was just rocking from the slow-dreamy process of going carefully through the snowy part and then holding it back for the freezing rain. the river and parts on the other side of it looked like a breugel painting. it was gorgeous. i boomed into work and was high on myself all day long.

man, that felt great. being at work and watching the snow falling outside the windows, and being amazed with myself - lookit ME. me who wasn't even sure she was going to make this a sustainable commute at all three months ago. two days from december and i rode my BIKE through this snow, and didn't it rock?

2 degrees on the way home, and again, didn't feel like it. i took it easily all the way, expected to be tired, and i was. detoured in the last bit to go get more groceries and bring home dinner, and it was sorta-kinda snowing very lightly again when i did the last bit. it will continue to be a little colder every day for the rest of the week, and i'll probably find it harder as we go through the days. but it's been a great start anyway. if it only gets a little bit worse than this every day, i think i'll be happy.

told a friend in wisconsin about it when i got to work. just received this email from her 4-year-old:

dir tokolosh
i dont hink that is a good ideu too rid yoor bik in tha sno.

heh. little does that little kid know. my friend said 'wow. wait till i tell [my husband] about this!' it's fun to impress people so easily.

songs: you keep it all in, the beautiful south; easy money, martin simpson; sharkey's day, laurie anderson.

peregrine

First ride today since last Wednesday... yeah, I had a lazy holiday I though my muscles would be well rested but I just felt out of shape. Blah. Anyway, I stayed at work later than I usually do and I had my first ride home when it's completely dark outside. I found out that my lights are absolute crap and that I seriously have to consider buying some better/brighter ones before I get myself in a life-threatening situation. Mine just can't compete with other vehicles' lights in high-traffic roads. I also found out, to my horror, that my rear lights fade or completely switch off when I tap them

AD-SLE

I've been reading y'all posts for sometime. I would love to see deer, duck, sunrise or sunsets. But Memphis just does not afford me the vistas on a 10 mile suburban westward morning ride in the dark at 6am. Heading home is more scary as there are now cars on the road!

But, I am excited to report I had my first deer sighting! Ok, so I heard something running beside me in the woods and then when I looked I got mooned! Better than the dead racoon I had to ride around a minute later!

Cold COLD! Ok, so it was 30F with 20 mph gusts right out of the west. Longest ride time wise ever! 13mph average when my best is 18 including all stop lights. Tail wind helps Today at 3:13 CDT it is 28 with a heavy frost but no wind...yet! Darn cold w/o booties and proper softshell. We'll give it a try.

No one else commutes that I can see. So I browse here to see what's going on. Wish everyone would advise exactly where they are riding.

Stay warm!

vtjim

Yesterday I had the best tailwind ever. Easily at least 25MPH. It was over 60 degrees, and I was plodding along on my 18 year-old 40-pound (with baggage) Peugeot at over 30MPH at one point. No wind noise. Just the whir of the tires. Amazing how much wind resistance slows us down. I was still in the small chanring, and barely working at it.

This morning it was dead calm, but damp. High 40Fs. Decent ride, I guess.