Peregrine: Glad you're ok. Bad karma has a way of jumping out from behind a bush when we least expect it so I'm sure that SUV driver will get his at the worst possible time in his life. In this season of giving, how about them cagers giving us a break?

28F on the way in. Legs felt like they wanted to go back to bed along w/ my brain which was longing for the warmth of the covers. Took about 10 blocks before they decided we weren't going back to bed and started working right. Had my ear wrap warmer thing (MEC's website calls it a helmet headband), but I didn't wear it. I probably should have since it seemed colder this morning than last night. It probably was colder this morning than last night. Oh well, my ears survived.

Shadowed another cyclist on a Casati (sp?). Old school rider w/ the gray hair to match, full black ninja spandex, old army surplus backpack and no helmet. Caught up to him, then we had fun taking up separate lanes down Lexington Ave. and keeping up or beating traffic (when we split the lanes). Then I pulled ahead at a stop light and didn't see him afterwards.

Things to remember for tomorrow: construction at E67th and Lex. bottlenecks the traffic and slows me down too. Take 2nd Ave. instead.

Question of the Day: Does anyone else besides me wake up thinking about riding their bike?

Last night was a pleasant ride home. I think I like this commuting business. Today was an unusually nice ride in. (Yes, I can say this on day two of commuting.) All the lights where I usually have to wait a long time along this route were either green or about to turn green, and gaps in traffic developed in just the right places.


Peregrine, I'm glad to hear you're okay.

Had a nice easy commute in this morning. Actually worked up a sweat by the time I parked the old bike at the office. I am still having a problem with the cold hands, have tried two different gloves with glove liners. I guess the next step is the hand warmers.

Oooh, that was me today. "I hope it's warm for the ride in". It was [-19C instead of yesterday's -23C], but I got back into bed for 20 minutes before heading out. I'm glad I did, as the sunrise was very nice, and nobody missed me at work. One bad thing about going in late - with the cold temps, the automatic door to the parking garage was closed, and I couldn't get it to open. I had to wait until a van came in and activated the door. That isn't a big deal, but I worry about getting in there between x-mas and New Year's when it's -30C and I have to wait for somebody to drive up.

The temperature is supposed to get up to -6C today, which is going to be pretty freaking nice. The salt on the roads will hopefully melt the slush, and then it will dry out a bit on the weekend.

12 Days of Commuting X-mas:

On the first day of x-mas, my true love gave to me, some brake pads for my single speed.

On the second day of x-mas, my true love gave to me, two plastic fenders.

On the third day of x-mas, my true love gave to me, three-fingered mittens.

On the fourth day of x-mas, my true love gave to me, 4 blinking lights.

On the fifth day of x-mas, my true love gave to me, FIVE CHAINRING BOLTS!

On the sixth day of x-mas, my true love gave to me, six frosty pints.



There, that's half, somebody else finish it off.

Absolutely! If work schedule and sleep requirements allow, I get up to go for a sunrise ride, then go home, eat breakfast, and then it's off for my short commute. If I need to get in early or I need extra sleep, well, there's still the commute to look forward to. It's really all I think about when I wake up.

Of course? What else is there to think about in the morning? And that's not only on the days I commute.


Forecast today was for freezing rain but all I got was this strong wind butting heads with me. I think my average speed dropped to ~10 mph on the way to work
Temps were around 34F which is nothing compared to what some of you guys are experiencing. Hats off to you! and be careful!

4 below in Chicago when I left home this morning. Mittens were required. Any colder and I'd consider long johns. It kind of makes hills more attractive. The extra work helped circulate warm blood to parts not getting enough.

This morning was 34 degrees and cloudy, so I packed the rainsuit. Of course since I packed it, I did not need it. Got some smiles today because of the Christmas lights I put on the bike. The roads were still wet from last night, maybe I should splurge on some fenders. The SUV drivers I have been laughing at at work tried to get my goat tonight when I got off work tonight. They thought I would be upset that it was raining. I said "That's what rainsuits are for!" That got some grumbles when I smiled and rode off. I looked in my helmet mirror and watched them shuffle off to the parking lot. It was 41 with no wind and light rain. It was nice to have the rain clear the air and make things smell fresh. I hate sucking fireplace smoke when I get in the residential part of my ride. On the industrial part of my ride, I get to smell Budweiser brewing at the local brewery. I like it, and it sure beats diesel fumes. Do they use rice in Budweiser? Smells like it. They say the vats in the brewery are bigger than Deleware. I"ve lived here 17 years and worked within a mile of the brewery for 5 years, maybe it's time to take the tour. I still have to take the Jelly Belly tour too, I need a day off.

hmmph. for some reason i seem to have my schedule wrenched back the right way around this week. dunno why. awake at 6, out by 8, whoa nelly there's a lot more traffic out there between 8 and 9.

found myself alongside the woman i met at the far-side intersection on the Day Of The High Winds. she's the only other 100% consistent commuter i've seen on this route. this time i met her on this side, where she got to watch some guy in a van distinctively Not Yielding The Right Of Way even when i got off and did the insta-pedestrian bit. i made a gesture as he went by; she made a remark. hers was polite. we chatted a bit while we waited for the next light, and i found out where she got her super-visible, super-reflective, super-pocketed-and-pit-bezipped jacket. i want me one of them things. she tells me it's waterproof too.

nice ride, overall. i deliberately underdressed a little, by only wearing one pair of tights under the rainpants, and nothing else. then i went outside and discovered it was 1C instead of 4 or 5. legs were a bit numb all the way, but i like that feeling for some reason.

the health club is being Restructured or something, so you never quite know what's gonna give. today someone had suddenly set out a big shallow dish of cotton balls on the counter in the women's showers, next to the lotions and hair-gel and such. no chocolate coating, so i left them there. ride home also nice. this is the third day in a row that it hasn't precipitated on me in any form.

i seem to be growing warmer, as an entity. the cat just prowled up and settled herself down on my ribcage in a kind of purry puddle formation. usually she only does this to heating pads.

eleven days. this is because i'm not going to work on the 15th. it may not apply to other people.

Very cold & icy . My gloves are not warm at all . I need to get warmer gloves .It was only 17 f on the way to work and 5 f on the way home . I even had two pair on today .
I hope my ride tomorrow is warner . Have a good nite .

Out the door this morning in 20F (-6.6C) weather. The last couple of mornings it's been a breeze from the east on the way in (and I'm going east in the a.m.) and a strong cold N.W. wind on the way home. Very bright sun this morning. Perfectly warm the whole ride including hands and feet. I was stopped at a traffic light and as it turned green another cyclist rounded the corner to the right with me. We both moved across the 3 lanes of slow moving city traffic to take a left turn at the next light. He was slightly ahead of me in the left lane as I was crossing from the 2nd lane and as I hand signaled to move over to join him this car would not let me in and began gaining quickly on him. He was dead center in the left lane just where he should be and we were going about 23 mph and gaining on the traffic so not slowing anyone down. But this woman gets frighteningly close to his rear wheel and as I dropped back to take my left behind her she shot in front of me. I thought she must be doing this so she can go straight and instead she left turns inches from the other cyclists' front wheel. I think the yell I let out as I saw her going for the left turn combined with some pretty good reflexes on his part saved him from a really nasty crash but man, that was too close for comfort and no fun to witness.

I was impressed by his ability to not ream her a new one at the next traffic light as we passed her. He simply flipped her off but with a mitten it looked like he waved at her.

The ride home at 11p tonight was very cold and very windy. As I left rehearsal one of the non-bike riding actors said, "you're not riding home in this are you?" I pointed up the slight hill towards home and said, "At that first traffic light I'll be as warm as you are in your car and by the second traffic light I'll be breaking a light sweat." I thought how smug I might have sounded when I said it but truth be told I was exactly right.

Absolutely, positively yes. It is a fantastic part of my day.

It was 6.8F in the woods at my house this morning. Got out on the bike and the cyclocomputer read a low of -1F. Beautiful morning. Cloudless skies. Sunrise was bathing the Adirondacks in red and orange, and Lake Champlain was covered in whisps of steam.

My feet got cold. That's because I switched back to the road bike and I just couldn't handle the fashion nightmare of wearing boots.

First time I've ridden in for a few days. It took me about a third the way before I got warm enough--my face was too cold at first. Then I loved it. Clear in Cleveland, cold but little wind.

Long johns, mittens, hat, and hood helped.

Glasses sure fog at stop lights--but then they quickly clear when I ride.

Very cold day in the Carolinas. Temp was 28 degrees with a wind chill of 20 when I left the house this morning. Enjoyed the sunrise, but hated the headwind. Calling for rain with a mixture of sleet and snow starting this evening, so I'll probably bag my commute for tomorrow.

Woke up to reports of snow in KC, "traffic snarled", will hit St Louis by 10am. Darn! My favorite commute day of the year is the first morning commute in the snow. St Louisans have short memories. It takes about a year to forget how to drive in the snow, and there is always a panic in the air the first snow. That's when I derive perverse pleasure from their suffering as they spin and stall and crash and creak along like so many poisoned ants, as I toodle past them like a good little soldier. Not this year. Too bad. They get to practice this evening in only 2-4 inches.

We had our first snowfall back in October, which provided a great deal of entertainment, and only one or two near-death experiences for me. Then we had a month of super-warm weather [I actually had to mow the grass], which meant that all the drivers forgot how to drive again [it only took a month, instead of a whole year]. The more recent dump of snow caused chaos all over the city and made getting around by bike very challenging. Oh well, 'tis the life of a commuter.

It was quite warm today on the ride in, which was a mixed blessing. While I didn't have to bundle up quite as much, I did have to be extra careful on the first leg of my commute. The compacted snow/ice on Prospect Rd. has started to soften a bit and form sections of sloppy salt-and-sand-infused snow. I've complained about the complete lack of traction and steering ability this glop causes in other posts, and now it's interspersed like 10' wide landmines all along that stretch. Bleagh. Hopefully the above freezing temps will melt some of it away over the weekend, but I doubt it.

Last night was another nice, relaxing night ride. This morning, my pre-breakfast ride was a bit chilly by San Diego standards (about 40 F or so?), but it had warmed up nicely by the time I commuted in. Get up in the morning, go for a fun bike ride, shower off and eat, then ride another few miles. What better way could there be to start the morning?

Last night about 5 my FIL called me from the Calif. Railroad Museum. He'd taken the twins there because they were begging to see the trains (yeah, right ). He was going to drive by the Capitol to show the kids the Christmas tree and since it was raining he insisted he could give me a ride home. Of course, thanks to the rain and the one-way streets downtown, it took him nearly 40 minutes to go two miles.

Of course I could have just ridden home long before that, but I was trying to be nice to my kids' granddad who was trying to be nice to me.

But really, these nice gestures are really cutting into my mileage!

Ahhhh, beautiful ride in this morning. It was fairly calm, 0 F/-18 C, clear skies but a panoramic view of haze over the city. We get a heat wave today, it's suppose to get up to 15F/ -9C. I won't know what to do with myself. I'm just ready to do my lunch run and it's already 15F. It should be a great ride home after work this afternoon. I like it when it's sunny, even when it's cold (it helps the psychy).

I give up. "AB" = Alberta, Canada? Hats off to you, neighbor to the north!

Cold here in Sacramento, CA, but reading other posts I get the feeling that I don't know the true meaning of cold! Mid-40's (F). A bit drizzly and wet, but no problem there. I just wear my Under Armour and a light windbreaker. If only the motorists would stay home...

Weather Conditions: 24F at 6AM, clear & cold with no wind. I put on an extra layer of wool (Pendleton shirt topped with two heavy wool sweaters & a scarf. Just right # of layers & had a quiet ride in. Roads were dry with only 2 icy spots that I navigated by keeping my speed down. Sunny all day.

The weather was cold, icy, and snowy. Atleast the temperature got above 20 today. I fell today coming down the old rail bed but wasn't hurt. I might have to alter my commute, the rail bed is really icy and snow covered. My studded tires are having a hard time gripping the ice because the snow is not packed. So far this week, I've ridden 4 days. Not bad for the weather. Have a good night.

I think it's time for me to stop prefacing my ride descriptions with "it was cold" for two reasons.

1. Cold is obviously relative. (it's going to start to get even colder than today's 19F)

2. Once I get riding it's not that cold anyway.

My students today couldn't believe I rode my bike in but they all walked in the cold for 10 minutes to get to the class, which I pointed out to them that they were probably much colder than me in that 10 minutes than I was in the 25 minutes it took me to ride to the same location.

Was frustrated by two pick up trucks today that insisted on pushing past me at a really bad moment (they looked like they were on their way to do some interior painting in a Beacon Street brownstone). Sure enough a little further down the road there they were illegally double parked blocking a lane of traffic. Interesting they should see me as such an obstacle to their progress as I made my way to my job but thought nothing of blocking hundreds of other commuters so they could do theirs. I think sometimes drivers think we're not to be taken as seriously as someone who drives to work in a car.

I also definitely get the sense the general automotive public thinks we're absolutely off our rockers to be "out there" bicycling "on a day like this". So, we're pegged as crazy for doing something that makes so much sense to us.