Nice morning--crisp, clear, 18 deg. F. Pretty sunrise. I peddled into a fairly strong breeze most of the way. The river that I ride along is mostly iced over. It looked impressive, with the wind blowing snow over it and the low sun reflecting off of it. The bike path is still snowy, so I was on the road the whole way. The busy section was a pain, especially up a hill.

I got too hot for awhile, after coming out of the valley (a fairly long climb) and took off my hood. Later I had to put it back on!

Two tees, two pair of underwear, sweatshirt, windbreaker, hat, sunglasses. I did well (not too sweaty).

-1C, calm

As I approached an intersection, a truck entering from the right nearly pulled out right in front of me before he locked up his brakes. Made me question if my front light is bright enough.

I bought a pack of smokes 2 days ago, smoke 4 and threw the rest out on the way in today. Everytime I throw smokes out at home, I rummage thru the garbage when I get a craving. What's worse than smoking? Rummaging thru garbage to smoke.

"With God's help I'll conquer this terrible affliction." - Renton

Awesome ride in today! Decided to take 5th Ave. down to midtown b/c it's partially blocked to traffic w/ one lane set aside for emergency vehicles. I figured I'd just ride in there and bypass the traffic. WRONG! Cops at every corner were telling me and my fellow cyclists not to ride in the emergency lane. Oh well, I've got a better idea. At a stop light were a bunch of cyclists. Time to create my own mini critical mass! Take the lane next to the emergency lane w/ all the cyclists, and keep it to ourselves! Worked OK for a couple blocks until they started slowing down and dropping back. Then we hit traffic so it was back to splitting lanes and zig-zagging. I'm a slow rider compared to practically everyone on BF and I still managed to pass every cyclist and motorized scooter rider on my way to 42nd St., even the hard charging mtb'er who couldn't keep up the pace more than two blocks after charging out from a side street onto 5th Ave and in front of us. Also managed to dodge one woman who walked right in front of me at 59th and 5th, then stopped when she saw me. I called out, "Go ahead, go ahead!" and rode around her once she got moving. Whatever happened to "Look both ways before crossing the street"? Don't they teach that anymore in grammar school?

Had a conversation w/ a fellow bike commuter at our building today. I asked him how he was dealing w/ the strike and he said, "What strike?". Then he grinned broadly and we discussed all the shiny new bikes and noobs who locked their QR front wheel to the post and left the rest of the bike unlocked. If I was criminally minded, I'd have a brand new Specialized Sirrus right now.

If you see some clown walking down the street with a wheel in one hand, and a lock in the other, you'll know what happend

No commute for me today btw! I drove the "bucket" as I have an errand to run after work. Tomorrow may be my last commute for the next five days, but I may try to squeeze in a weekend ride or something.

When I went to bed last night the temp was 10F/-12C. Well, to my surprize I woke up at 6am to 26F/-3C, hmmm... that's nice. I had a wonderful commute in, a little slow on the back roads (loose brown snow), but cruise in on the rest of them. It's only 11am and it's already up to 34F/1C, it's going to be a great day.

I mostly got used to my skinny bike, so the ride in this morning was fast indeed. Last night wasn't bad, but the 30% higher gearing made the hills less entertaining. Today it was about +1C, no wind to speak of, and traffic has dropped off considerably. Tomorrow should be even better, as loads of people have the day off.

75F

This morning was wonderfull. High 30s. Nice and warm.

Today it is 63F. It would have been nice if I hadn't punctured my last tube. Can't even patch it. Why do I always discover things the hard way? Apparently, when I replaced the rear wheel I should have put rim tape on it. The leak occured on the rim side of my tire. Duh!
So 3 oops: 1) no rim tape allowing something to puncture the tire (the rim is smooth. must have been a spoke hole.
2) no spare tire.
3) no roughing up piece for my patch kit. yay

T-shirt on the way home.

That's right; Dec 22, Calgary, T-shirt.

Felt like Houston here in SF. Mid-60 temps, 100% humidity, rain. Very wierd for SF in December.

wow! cruise in at 30f, home at 36f, wind? tech probs w/ drive-train, (rear gears), all else a "gift". got a pending project w/ alvino(sp) deraileur!

Rainy today, maybe I'll get fenders, maybe not. Rainsuit works well enough. Two more days of work this week, both are supposed to be dry. That means this warm spell is over I suppose. Guess no shorts tomorrow. Working Saturday will be at double time and a half...time to hit the LBS.

Worse is not having a light for smokes you fished out of the garbage when your willpower gave out.

Been there done that. It's worth the pain to quit. I can climb hills now that I used to not even consider.

Go for it!

well, that's why god gave us toasters. isn't it?

whoa nelly this morning: WIND. i just looked it up: SE 39 GUST 52. the temperatures are so de-creddingly warm i might as well start tracking the wind instead. yesterday we had over 13 degrees celsius. i rode home tonight in just t-shirt and underwear underneath the rain gear

it made the morning's ride a lot of fun. there wasn't a lot of oomph in the gusts though, not like the last time we had numbers like that but the gusts came more frequently. it was a heck of a headwind, but it's strange: somehow even having to pedal going downhill to maintain any speed didn't feel much like work. i think maybe all the wind was getting underneath me a bit and giving me a bit of a lift. that's how it felt anyway. the bridge was calm, compared to last time; i only felt one little wobble hit me. took the whole thing slower than usual anyway, just in case.

nothing else going on. still working longer hours than usual, and my morning routine is getting later and later in consequence, just to fit in the sleep. feature-complete build coming in tomorrow for a last gasp before the week's break, so really i'd rather not have it get too far out of control and if i wake up too late i might have to drive. saw mr dev lead tonight way late in the evening, heading out to his bike in his reflective vest at about 8pm. 'we the only two still riding!' he said. i'm not the only one keeping track, then 13 commuting days left.

songs: memories of east texas, michelle shocked; rainy night in soho, shane mcgowan.

Nice ride ! almost t-boned a corolla when she cut me off getting into mcdonalds... lol

good thing for front brakes on a FG for newbie riders ! LOL

Other than that, it was quite a new feeling to ride fixed...
Today's ride was 7.5 miles and no coasting all the way !

I am still not convinced that fixie is right for me, but i'm going to give it a good long test to figure out if I want to keep it like this.

So true, I think you can still see the discoloured areas on the elements in mine.

Need to pick up building materials after work, took the car.

Ride home last night was nice and slow cuz traffic was nice and slow and also, I was carrying a pair of hockey skates along w/ my usual load. I also picked up a big, bulky gift for my wife and hung that on the handlebars. My knees and toes kept knocking it into my tire. Luckily the store's only a couple blocks from where I live.

After that, I went to meet up w/ slvoid, jimbo and cadd for a quick ride down 5th Ave. Less than 5 mins after the ride started, I was on the ground looking up at a pretty paramedic and wondering why she was keeping my head from moving. Yadda yadda yadda and I ended up leaving Bellevue at about 1:30 am. For more details, check the Strike! thread. I got a big lump on my face where I landed, the shell on my helmet is cracked and my shoulder is sore. But I'm alive and well and that's all that counts.

Finally was able to get on the bike today.. have had errands and chores every day this week that required driving. Have a party to go to tonight and I need to get home early, but I rode anyways. I guess I'll just have to bail from work early

Weather was amazing this am... a balmy 46. Almost wore shorts, but wore tights instead with a sweatshirt. Not bad at all for late december.

It's always a great ride when nobody tries to run you over.

Clear and cold (20.6°F/-6.3*°C). Traffic was so light I took one of the major roads into town that I usually avoid because of the normally heavy traffic. The RD had a lag in shifting--make a shift and then a few seconds later it would happen.

Happy trails!

I was expecting a lot less traffic today, but it was still there. Hiss/boo. I'm a little worried about the ride home, as there will be many an idiot dashing from drunken parties to the mall to more parties to their homes.

oh geez I hope you're feeling better soon, jyossarian. Take it easy during the holidays

Well, no more commutes for me, nor any bike rides for that matter, until Jan 4th No way around it though.

Happy Holidays to all of you and your families Enjoy the time off and relax
- P

5/5 week! today traffic was liter in am, but was so amped this pm that i felt more exposed and vulnerable, not so much perceived feelings of semi-shared areas. it was good to be home! Have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays, May all your communting be fun and joyous. From the Spider.

I was worried last night for you, jyossarian. I had been reading the Strike! thread and heard about your crash. glad you're ok. As for the commute, took the main street through town most of the way to work. I'm getting more confident and willing to take the lane when neccessary. 56 degrees, and I was overdressed. (rant begins) The ride home was marred by some loser taking his Suburban to the local drug haven and almost left hooking me. No signal, no decrease in speed, no nothing. I rode up and slapped his rear window. When he stopped I pulled up to his driver's door and cussed him a blue streak, wondering out loud what he might be doing in a known drug neighborhhood. I was pissed because he saw me and smiled before he left turned in front of me. Took that smile right off his face. He decided to leave the neighborhood when I asked if he wanted me to run his plate number by the local PD, what with his being in a known drug neighborhood, and driving recklessly. I would rather have slapped him upside the head, but I don't do that anymore. GRRRRRR!!! (end rant)

The tires were tired but I thot they had one more ride. Was two milkes from the house when the sidewall on the rear tire blew out. Booted the hole with my last one dollar bill, inserted a spare tube, and limped back home. The wheel also had a broke spoke and got more out of true as I rode. Wobbled enough to make steering uncomfortable. Changed to work clothes and took the beater truck to work, twelve miles. At 12 MPG I'm out $4.18 for gas, and $25 to get the wheel fixed at the local bike shop.

And it was the first dry day in over a week.