-14C/7F calm

With my wife gone on holidays, the temptation to simply jump in the car was great. But I dug deep, locked horns with the devil, and won!

I saw the same commuter who keeps crashing red lights. So again, I caught up passed him. This time I hit a red light. He actually stopped behind me. Hopefully that proves to be more influential than telling him the responsibilities he has on the road.

I absolutely love commuting in the cold, it's mid-summer that is demoralizing for me. I think we should have a Southern US/Canadian commuter exchange program. I like Rush, hockey and pro wrestling, so I'd probably fit right in.

After two weeks of bad schedules, I was able to get back on my regular commuting route this morning. It wasn't as cold as I expected, but still plenty comfortable. Today was also the first day on my regular bike since it's been converted to a single speed. No reason why except to try it.

10 degrees F out today in Cleveland. Had a nice ride--overdressed, as I sometimes do. Crisp air, a few snowflakes. Went a little slow.

The guard at our business entrance told me I was the second cyclist to come in today. I bet there is only 3 or 4 for the day.

About 35F when I left this morning so just a t-shirt and windproof shell for me. Made decent time, got some good speed going even in traffic and saw another commuter. Contemplated a new bike purchase on the way in and how I'd have to learn new riding styles to accomodate. Hopefully I'm not such an old dog that I can't learn new tricks.

-5 F/ -20.5 C this morning. I think my nose is going to break off one of these days. I need a solution to the frozen nose vs glasses fogging problem as nothing I've tried has worked. Next step is to get perscription goggles and a heat exchanger(the darth vader mask things).

Clothing: Balaclava, cold gear top, sweatshirt, winter jacket without the liner, knit gloves, windproof ski gloves, bike shorts, tights, sweatpants, wool socks, boots.

Aside from the nose I'd say I had the layering just about right. Slow going though, took 32 min to go 5 miles (9.4/15 mph/kph).

My boss told me I'm insane :)

I like to vary my route; keeps things interesting. I'd forgotten about this path that makes a shortcut between two roads I normally loop around. It's gravel but covered with leaves/pinestraw this time of year, so it's not too bad on the skinny tires.

http://www.nicomachus.net/images/canon/path.jpg

That looks like a nice spot. Sigh.

The ride today was completely uneventful. -13C at the house when I left, but it got much warmer as sson as I got downtown. Quite nice really!

Sweet, that'd work out great cause I love bluegrass and Jack Daniels! :beer:

Today I fell for the first time using Clipless pedals. I came across a bus that was just about to move out from the bus stop, and decided to wait behind it untill it did. Well to make a long story short I fell before I could unclip.

Good thing I was wearing Gloves, cause my hands were smarting even with wearing them. Bang up my knee a little, but no torn clothing (Thank God).

Interesting commute this morning, -8F/-22C, quiet other then the sqeaky crunch of snow under the wheels, smoke from the chimneys and sewer grates, beatiful Christmas lights. Everything was just so still. I didn't see any other riders out there this morning. I had my layering down just right.

Hey Buzzman, thx for the welcome

Today's commute was much improved over the rain/sleet mix we had last Friday. Had bit of trouble actually getting started as I had to give my rear wheel a quick 5min truing...crappy Alex450 wheels. Once again I made it safely through "Car Door Alley" that is BU Central. A couple of doors came my way but nothing unavoidable. One guy, even when out of his truck didn't see me because he leaned back in to get something. Had one fairly close encounter from the passenger side door at a stop light, but I've come to expect this from time to time. On a bright note, my original route is pretty much ice free, so no more climbing snow banks for a while. Not nearly as many casual bikers as there use to be so I can pretty much pick and choose my riding line...a far cry from the conga line that can occur during the warmer months.

70 deg, slightly overcast.

Had a nice commute as I was trying my new headlight for the first time (turbocat S47).This thing is as bright as most car headlights. (rant on) Anyways, when I was about 2-3 miles from work I had a lawn truck pass me and right after his truck was past me he moves over intentionally and his 25' trailer would have hit me if I didnt slow down. The trailer hit the curb, thats how far over he went.

So I go into pursuit and he runs a redlight to avoid me catching him. There were no cars coming through the intersection so I keep chasing and see him turn. I find them a minute later and ask who the driver was and what their problem is with cyclists. He just starts yapping about getting off the road and the usual BS. I just ride away and say that the law says I can ride on the road.

I just wish I remembered to get the phone # or something off of his truck.(rant off)

OMG, that is so f-ed up ... I'm glad you made it!!!

I would have told that guy off so bad he would pull over and stop his truck anytime he saw another cyclist...

lol

I've caught myself yelling at the top of my lungs at people with their windows rolled up just so they know how they almost killed me when crap like that happens ... lol

sheesh.

A friend of mine's wife and newborn daughter were run off the side of the road by a trucker who didn't stop to check on them. If he did, he would've found a badly injured mother and a beautiful newborn daughter that was no longer alive. I take reporting bad drivers seriously now.

I once screamed at the top of my lungs to an old woman, "Stop! Are you trying to kill me?" She was backing out of her driveway into the opposite lane of her road and never saw me. She was short and could barely see over her back seat. She had gone too far over in the lane and almost hit the curb.

I'm not sure if she had a heart attack or not ;), but she sure regretted her poor driving. She felt bad immediately. I just got back on and kept riding. She didn't pass me for quite awhile.

I wasnt whispering, thats for sure. :mad:

The usual. I should start making stuff up.

The only solution i ever found was contact lenses. This is my first winter with them and wish i would have done it years ago. Now i can cover up the entire face and be comfortable. If you must stick with glasses, i somewhat found a solution last year.

If you wear an earband over your nose/ mouth and (ear band backwards, widest part in front) with the band sealed against your nose, it will be open naturally in the area near the mouth. You can nicely exhause the air downward with this method. The seal at the top of the earband keeps the glasses from getting the hot air.

http://www.mountainmagic.com/sportsw...arband-f01.jpg

great! going in, a consumer/client/person with severe and persistant mental illness, pulled along side in his car, honked, and waved. he was amazed when i arrived to center shortly after he did "man, you were moving. i just got here myself!" ( think a seed was planted)
on return home, i stopped and offered to assist another commutor whose path i have been crossing for about 1 yr now. he declined (re-setting lock/chain) but it was good to finally talk with the other commutor in this city that i am aware of. a good day!

cold !!

most noticeable thing about it was that it took place. after two days off in a row last week and then a weekend, i was starting to wonder if my unconscious was quitting without notifying the rest of me. also wasn't sure what kind of ride it was going to be, since four days off is (i think) the longest i've taken since back in the fall when i was sick. and i spent the whole weekend in pjs and a slouched position, eating junk food and knitting like a dufarge. it's all been a slightly surreal kind of struggle lately with all that darkness, so i felt like i couldn't really remember the ride or make imyself believe that i do it.

but it was great. woke up tired and strung out and put on that don't-think-just-do mental blinker, promising myself that i could stop to take stock once i got to the top of the bridge. the weather's been unsettling me. it's not uncomfortably cold, but cold enough to put a thin film of ice on everything and make even going places on foot feel like something you never got the hang of.

also put on my pair of ridiculously-chunky part-wool socks that i made on the weekend, just for curiosity's sake. they're like instant hobbit feet, so i thought they'd feel awful, but once i forced them into my boots they were lovely. warm and springy and just-right in every way. not sweaty at all. come next week i'm going to barricade myself into a corner away from the cat and knit me a whole flock of socks.

nice ride in the morning. really nice ride home too. i think the rest was good for me. i feel a bit sore, but that's a so-much-better feeling than the tooth-gritting aches of the past couple of weeks. and i'm not renewing even an extra day of my contract, so yee hah. two weeks and two days is all i'll have to do once the new year arrives, and then i might even get a chance to go talk to a physio.

songs: gonna be an engineer, peggy seeger; grey funnel line, traditional

After a 11 week hiatus from biking due to an injury, I'm back on the bike and commuting!

Spokane has been in a cold snap, and I've had to upgrade my gloves to these from REI. Part of the fun of commuting is figuring out what clothes work.

peace :beer:

it was kind of soggy down here in Ft Lauderdale FL..

road was wet and I got my first taste of no rear fender syndrome... aka: "wet a$$"

=)

I am picking up my fixed gear wheel this afternoon, we'll see how it goes !!!