It has not been that bad lately. At least the wind isn't pushing me over yet :p
I just sit in the drops and chug along. There was a decent 20mph headwind one day and somehow I managed 17mph for a while.
Yes, the opposite direction would be much better :)

total of about a 28 mile round trip today. Had a student matinee performance in one location then off to teach two classes then met up with my wife on the bike path for the ride home. A chilly headwind on the ride home but a beautiful night.

the ride in the a.m. is all urban streets with school buses, city buses, trucks and tons of cars the ride home is along the river on the bike path. It's like two different worlds. Can't beat the bike path for the relaxation factor and scenery but those city streets sure do get me there quick and keep me on my toes.

I was on duty yesterday, so I didn't come home last night ==> no commute this morning.

This afternoon was pretty decent, though about 5F colder than the other day, probably ~50F. Slight side-wind for most of my trip, but not enough that I really had to work to correct. Traffic was medium, and no one tried to run me off the road today! I'm beginning to feel more comfortable on the road, after 2 and a half weeks of commuting. I think some of the cagers are getting used to seeing me between 6:30AM and 7:15AM and between 3:30PM and 4:15PM. I keep seeing the same few cars daily.

Tomorrow morning I plan on commuting on my "new" Miyata One Ten. I've put about 30 miles on it since Sunday trying to get used to a road bike, and I've decided that I'll be brave tomorrow. Fortunately it's on 27" wheels, so tubes were cheap ($2ish each) and they are Schrader valves so my pump for my MTB will work with the road bike. Unfortunately I'm only rolling with 12 gears in the Miyata, compared to the 24 on my MTB. Hopefully a higher flat & downhill speed can combine with lower rolling resistance to make for a quicker commute, and hopefully I don't die without my extra-easy gears on the hills!

38F and light frozen rain, windy. Spinned my way in, took a shower and I'm new!!!

UPS is going to delivery my new Nokian Hakkas 106Ws today! :D

This weekend I'm going for a 70+ mile ride; this will be my first over 50-mile ride ever in my life! Looking forward to it.

GreenAnvil

GTcommuter lead the bike tour of Decatur showing bike improvements and stopping to tell the group about planned and funded projects to make cycling more enjoyable in Decatur.
Kudos GT. :beer:

It's been a while since I posted but I've read consistantly. It's always good to read through the posts from ya'll..I just pulled into work from my commute and thought that this would be the last one. I'm tired and worn and sick of being yelled at, squezed off the road, and clipped, by the inattentive and malicious alike. The past week I've had 4 close calls and though i'm not the world's finest cyclist, I saw them all coming reacted accordingly and still almost came out 2nd best. I just don't know if it's worth it anymore...Sorry to be a downer gang... does anybody else feel like this from time to time?

Yes, I can identify. It doesn't take long driving my normal to get over it though. I get honked out, cut off just as much in my cage and it bothers me way more then. My co-workers all know whether I drove or biked to work - even those in other states. I tend to be grouchy. ;)

On the upside - no grouch today - it was a great ride. :D

Dalmore,
Great stuff...It's true, 2 wheels or 4 cage or no cage, the quantity and quality of cut-offs, honk offs, buzz offs are the same... I guess I just needed to vent with some kindred spirits here...

bmccarthy....I can relate. There are days when I think everyone on the road is an idiot. Thanfully that usually happens on a Friday and then I have the weekend to stay inside and just recuperate.
By Monday, I can deal with the world again. Maybe it would do you some good to take a little time off? Whether it be just from commuting or a real vacation away from it all.
Either way, don't let the mean cagers ruin your life. Commute when you can and if you enjoy it.

Good ride in this morning, it's pretty dark, but the TL1000 and the front light seem to keep me noticed. It was my first ride under 30 degrees this morning, so I tried out this old pull over hoody/neck thing I have (it's just the neck and hood part, not an entire sweatshirt). For 4 miles I was nice and toasty and lovin' it.
For the other four miles, the moisture had built up around my mouth and I started getting cold again.

I think it's time to buy one of those full face masks :) (And some extra lil lights, can never be too careful :b)

My ride was ok but they are starting construction on the first half of my route. That really sucks because the whole first half of my route is Golden Gate Park :( I had to use the sidewalk this morning and I could hardly breathe because of all the dust and deisel fuel exhaust.

I got hipchecked by a doorman opening a taxi door for someone, I squeezed through a tiny space between non-moving cyclist and a cabbie trying to jump the light at a red (I apologized to the cyclist) and another cab almost drove into my back wheel. I also sprinted for about a 1/2 mile because traffic moved well enough and I could thread between the lanes. All this in less than 2 miles. Just another fun commute.

I get frustrated and dejected sometimes with the idiocy demonstrated by cars and pedestrians. But then my vain, arrogant self speaks up and says, Hey! You bike to work! Every day! That is so bad-ass! And the more these people f$%& with you, the harder it gets, the colder it gets, the riskier it gets, the more bad-ass you are! You are so cool! Go you!

And then I'm ready to loop 3-4 miles out of my way, just to get a couple extra miles in.

Wow, what a day yesterday! Got up at 6 a.m., turned in around 1 a.m. Biked 87 km (all purely utilitarian and transportational :p) and spent several hours walking mostly unruly dogs as a volunteer for the Toronto Humane Society shelter. I think I'm gonna take it very easy today... try not to move too much... :D

Biking was great. I had to go to the 'burbs to drop something off, and was wondering how that would turn out since I'm a downtown girl who rarely rides in the 'burbs-like traffic. But to my delight I found a road (Bloor St. west of Hwy 427) that was straight, flat, major (no stop sign or default red light nonsense) but had only two lanes in each direction and very moderate traffic. And it was a very logical road to take: it got me very close to my destination. A little disappointing 'cause riding in heavy traffic builds traffic skills and confidence, but I ain't gonna do it unless I've no other choice. :D

Cycling is not popular in the burbs. I spent quite a while looking for a suitable object to lock my bike to. Saw a total of four cyclists on my whole 'burbs part of the trip, two on the sidewalk, two on the road.

And I also did a bunch of bike path riding. Toronto's Martin Goodman trail along lake Ontario. I find if you're down by the lake already, the path is faster than any street as long as it's not crowded. Fortunately, on a chilly Wednesday afternoon it is about the opposite of crowded. :) Hardly any cyclists on it. Saw three lycra-clad warriors and many guys and gals with panniers and mirrors (one per minute or so). Commuters like near-empty MUPs :).

I'll tell ya though: I am not used to this kind of free uninterrupted riding. Bloor St. and the trail really tired me out! I hit almost no red lights! This means no time to stop and rest - just go, go, go, go. Sure gets the cardio up the way downtown riding never could. :) I remember I had the same sort of feeling on tours I took: "Gee, this country road just rolls on with no intersections anywhere... I've been pedalling without a break for an hour. That's insane! Normally I'm lucky if I can get thirty seconds of uninterrupted pedalling! :D"

My commute was 10 feet down the stairs to the basement. I elected to work from home since I did not feel much like riding in the wet heavy snow. Yes, I'm a wimp but who can blame me when I have the option to work from home.
The wife is at work. My son is at preschool. Just the cat, dog, and me. Life is good. :p

got honked at and yelled at yesterday... I believe he called me a *****. or a son of one. and then someone yelled something in spanish something something "Hermano" something. (brother?) my first time riding on this particular busy street that is under construction. had a good ride after that though.

My kind of riding, precisely! :D

GreenAnvil

Quiet wet snowy (about 3-4 inches on the ground) ride into work this morning. Tried out the wintereized SS with some cross tires and they worked fine. Need new brake pads though, made for some exciting white-knuckle downhills. I think I will go with the fixed-gear setup next time. I wasn't the only crazy out there; lots of tire tracks on the patch before I got there. The only annoying thing was getting splattered by cars as they went by. Fenders don't help with that...

A beautiful snowy day. Wife tried to talk to me out of riding but I just put fenders on and needed to test them out. I do need some good winter pants becaue all of my 3 layers were soaked. I also saw other tracks on the bike path... I guess I'm not the only psycho!

Check it out at rush hour. Tons of commuters on that trail after 5 pm. Just watch out for all the geese and their droppings.

Looks like I'll be caging it for a while. Wife (athletic trainer) checked out the knee I tweaked in my spill yesterday, declared that I'll live but I appear to have a sprained MCL. Nothing life-threatening, but it's going to keep me off the bike, out of the running shoes, and walking like a very old man for a few days at least...

Bikedaddy - I could have avoided this if I had decided NOT to test the fenders I put on the night before yesterday! Glad your fender test was more successful than mine!

Get out!!! For real?

Wow. I made a lot of lights today I usually don't, but not that many.

Grey day today. A bit of spritzing here and there, but only ever enough to make me look around to see if somebody for some dumb reason had a sprinkler on.

Rode back home for lunch, and across four lanes, I saw my wife starting her bike commute.

I blew her a kiss.

For real. Several .001 mph creeping towards the light, but I had a couple honest to goodness trackstands going at T and L Streets.

I bow to you.

Fine ride in this morning. It was a bit warmer than I expected. I stopped at Chik-fil-A to redeem my free-breakfast coupon and it was packed with local highschool kids at about 8:15 am. What time does school start around here? Bunch of hoodlums, no doubt....

I'm trying to think of some errands to run on the way home this afternoon but don't need anything other than the post office. I'll have to add some miles just for fun.

Gorgeous afternoon. 41F with a 5mph north wind; cool but not bad at all for this time of the year.

GreenAnvil

...and UPS brought my Nokian Hakkas today!!! :D

GreenAnvil