The weather here is unseasonably warm. 74F on the way home yesterday and 55F this AM. Of course in the afternoon the wind is blowing 30MPH, but it is usually at my back!

A cold morning again, temps in the high 40's. Despite this however the ride was fine, bright and sunny, and I made it to the office in about ten minutes.

CORRECTION: On yesterdays ride to the office I said it was about 8 minutes. It turns out that my computer doesn not have the ride time, but when I checked it, it just happened to be 8:10 AM. The actual ride time was about 10 minutes. I am sorry for inconvienance this may have caused.

A warm morning of 34F. Still not below freezing.
I really enjoyed my 15F morning commutes. *pouts*

2 days of not enough sleep have me exhausted. The wife works tonight and I'm going to put in a Bugs Bunny DVD to occupy my son the toddler and take a nap. This day is dragging I am so freaking tired.

I can't believe how warm it is. High of 8C today, 9C tomorrow, not much wind and low humidity. I didn't have to wear the longjohns today, instead pulling up my socks to meet my shants. There is still snow in the mountains, which is a good thing, 'cause my new board is sweet.

Back to work after my break, and back on the bike. Funny thing... the climb on my commute seems a lot easier (not that it was hard before) after all the climbing I did over my break.

Well I'm a little ashamed to admit it but I stayed up too late last night watching the game and didn't get up early enough to ride to work. So when I went home for lunch I decided to switch the car for the bike and ride back to work. The ride was great almost 60 degrees in the first week of January, but as I pull into the office park I approach what I call the dead zone. It's a dangerous intersection, a two way stop for people leaving the office park, in theory they're supposed to yield to those entering the park from the main road. In theory. As I enter the park I spot a Lexus SUV at the stop directly opposite me, I signal make eye contact with the driver and continue making a left turn. That's when the driver of the SUV guns it, pulling into the intersection, and stopping only a couple of feet from me. I was dumbfounded. It wasn't as if she hadn't seen me, she just choose to ignore my presence. I point toward the stop sign and made the WTF face, she just sat there looking annoyed.

bikbudda,

My condolances. What an idiot. My guess is that while she saw you, she didn't recognize that you existed. Sounds abstract but true. I have teenagers, and that is standard operating procedure!

People face choices--they can drive like the law states and be content. Or they can ignore the law and tick off everybody. No doubt this is a sad and frustrated woman.

Fabulous ride in and back today. Temperature about 27F this morning. Most of the old snow has melted but there is new ice all over the bike path.
Stopped at an intersection a cyclist pulls up behind me and asks, "Are those studded tires?"

"Yeah." says, I, fighting the urge to run rampant with information about how incredible they are but suppressing it.

"Cause, wow, you were flying over that ice!", he says.

Now, to me, I think I take it pretty easy on the ice but I'm only too happy if that's the impression I'm giving. I felt so radical.

Then I get to the next intersection and a woman stops, on the green light (!), and let's me go through!-WTF??! She gets the big smile and wave.

When I'm heading home I approach a 4-way stop and a big black SUV pulls up just before me. I start to stop to let him go and HE WAVES ME THROUGH!!
Yes, you read it right-HE WAVES ME THROUGH!!!!

Whoa, Happy New Year!!!!

The ride home was awesome! I rode home, about 3.3 miles, at around 9 mph and my front wheel was way out of true and rubbed up against the front brake due to a broken spoke and a bent spoke. Why was the ride awesome? Because I finally picked up my bike from the police who were safekeeping it after my accident two weeks ago! I just picked up a cheapo front wheel from my lbs and will put it on tonight. I'll also have to figure out how badly dinged my FD shifter is and whether it needs to be replaced, but if I can ride to work tomorrow, I will.

easier today, not in a rush, but still with my mountain bike. wore sweat-jacket (hands were cold in am, traffic read-able). on return, had a lady honk from behind (on a 4 lane w/ dummy left turn center) while i held a lane. when we got to the stop-light together, (her lane now was for right turns only, mine went straight), i looked at her and she looked scared (too close?). i just smiled and waved and could see she relaxed, then smiled as well. it' always good to ride with positive interaction + causious assertiveness !

Welcome back! Way to go.

Thanks Buzz. Don't get upset, but I wasn't wearing a helmet cuz I wasn't planning on picking it up today so I didn't bring one.

The new wheel's on and boy am I slow at mounting tires on rims. I adjusted the brakes so they don't rub on the rims, something I also suck at until I figured it out. Lastly, I adjusted the FD cable tension so it's shifting although the shifter itself takes some effort to move. I should do a test ride tonight, but it's getting late so I'll probably just take it for a spin around the block to make sure everything's cool. The last thing I have to do is clean the water bottle cuz the water that's in it has been sitting in police lock-up for two weeks. I should've taken before/after pics of the handlebar cuz it was all messed up. Both shifters were knocked out of position, the front shifter is banged up pretty good and my computer had slid halfway off it's holder. My Incredibell was amazingly undamaged and works like a charm. Can't wait for tomorrow!

I have gaffered taped my mouth shut and am restraining myself from pounding on the keyboard.

Taking deep breaths.

Resisting the urge to start a whole new thread.

Okay.

Okay.

I'm fine.

Nice confession, though.

I'm sure the cycling Gods have absolved you.

Keep riding.

Keep smiling.

Rode to work the past 2 days. 30's in morning and 50's on the way home. Hope to get a photo of the downtown skyline from the Chouteau bridge tomarrow.

MY RIDE HOME

Gropple Gropple from the skies,
Falls from the clouds and into my eyes,
I'm a big boy I won't cry,
But I sure am glad cows don't fly!

Thank You

Light rain on the ride in, had a light wool sweater over polypro, just enjoyed having a light rain instead of drenching rain and flooding. The ride home was nice and calm, but so slow. I can tell I haven't ridden in almost a week. In between I had to work, but the ride makes it worthwhile.

The ride today was cold ,wet,buddy .But still a good ride. Have a good nite .

First posting for me on this thread.

I have been commuting very regulary since the middle of 2005 and decided to see how long I could last into winter. So far it has been ok, in fact I've enjoyed it greatly.

My ride is around 24 miles round trip. Temps in the north of the UK are now mid to low 30s a little warmer in the evening. But thankfully no significant rain of late and generally calm - which of course helps.

This morning was 'fresh' but enjoyable, and I always look forward to my ride home. Good health and good luck to everyone for 2006.

awesome ride today, a little lower temps than usual but shorts & T-shirt compatible for me !

=)

Upper 30's with a pretty stiff head wind, again, and the air is damp. It was a quiet and serene ride in. Snow is on the way.

It was so warm that... a friendly guy that I usually see on my rides did not have a sweater on his terrier. He takes this dog on a walk daily.

Rode every workday in 2006 so far. Wonder how long I can keep the steak going Santa was very nice and got me the EMS Gunk soft shell although this warm snap has not warrented its use! Today was 37F and seemed time to try it out. WOW! Talk about wind-proof! Toasty all the way with the exception of the toes.

Nothing unusual except days are getting longer. https://www.sunrisesunset.com is a nifty tool if you customize to your city. Sunrise still 7:08 in Memphis but the sunset is getting later.

Spent xmas in DC (Georgetown) and talk about bike mecca! Must be 3 bike shops within a qtr mile radius! Spent the whole time fixing my BIL's neglected bike and a big thanks to Floyd and Tom at Revolution! Wish I had those friendly bike shops and something like the Crecent trail here!!

Back to Memphis and the land of scarce two wheeled commuting!

Fine ride in this morning. Very comfortable even though I got off to a late start. I was sad to see a very nicely restored vintage Mustang get sideswiped and run up on the curb by an SUV. The Mustang driver was ok, but the SUV didn't even stop. I hate to see a beatiful and obviously well cared for machine get abused by someone who wasn't even paying attention to the road. Could have just as easily been me getting hit on my bike.

Where is winter? Not that I'm complaining, bikewise. I saw a bald eagle today. And a fat 'possum. And a whole lot of bike commuters, or maybe they all just got hi-viz jackets for the holidays and so I notice them more.

I set a new personal record today: Lowest temperature for a tube change: 20 F. It was on a stretch of road with only private residences, so I couldn't go inside anywhere; I just found a cleared driveway to set up in. (We got about an inch of snow last night.) Fortunately I was dressed well enough so that the only annoyance was that I had to keep taking breaks to warm my hands up, after needing them bare to work. When I got to work, my hands and feet were both slightly uncomfortable, due to being out longer than usual, but nothing dangerous. Delayed me about 25 minutes, including the 3 minutes spent conversing with the nice older gentleman who came out of the house to make sure I was okay, just as I got the wheel back on.

That was me exactly in 2002, and before I realized it, spring had arrived and I made it through! I've been year-round ever since. If I can do it, you can too - Good luck!!