tchazzard

The temps stayed well above freezing yesterday, so had clear roads and no wind for the ride home. It was way cool flying home, with new snow on the lawns and trees, and holiday lights galore.

The temps dropped below freezing last night, so there was a ton of black ice around this morning. And looking for another quick ride home tonight, with temps hovering around 42 F right now, bright sunshine and no wind.

mrfix

Nice ride in this morning, 22 degrees and some ice on the sides of the road from yesterdays little snow storm, The Nokians held fast. No wind and light traffic I left a little early and took my time. Started using pro-link for lube, we'll see how it works out. Have a great day.

Ouch !

Just completed my dreaded Friday night commute home, I saved a bit of energy so that I could hammer past the stretch of road where the pubs are only to run straight over some broken glass.

It was only another half mile home so I kept up the pace until I got outside my house only to step of the bike and hear the dreaded hiss of a puncture.

So I've dumped the bike in the shed and I'll sort it out tomorrow, 11.15pm is way to late to be fixing bikes.

cyclezealot

When I left work at 7 am, it was below FIFTY degrees.! Like 49... Felt cold at first.. Sun was out gloriously, though.. Got into it.. By time I traveled the 26 miles home, I had not enough. tacked on another 6 miles in a circle ride about home. Really had not had enough. Sun by then was really nice and temps' near 70.. After pm shift, got to give into the need for sleep sometime.
So many cyclists out, felt cheated -I had to quit.. Couple I passed shared how nice the day was, and how far they were going.. Reaon would not give into reality- I had to quit.. Actually there is a threat of rain that might last for several days ! Rare about these parts..I might not get out tomorrow..
Before I turned around, I kept telling myself, I want to do the hilly areas between here and Valley Center.. That probably would have kept me out another 3 hours..
Shoud have done that . Now sitting here, wishing I was still out in the nice weather.. Couple hours later and all I have done is sorta fell asleep awhile on the floor... Wife would not let me in bed in my smelly cycling clothes. I tell her they wick well. Guess could still get out before clouds roll in tonight.. Commute Bike is sitting near hallway to outside porch, saying take me on a ride..

Ed Holland

More grey December weather here today. I also felt a bit slow, but can't imagine that yesterday evening's "quiet pint" with a mate had anything to do with this

Cheers,

Ed

pinerider

Today's adventure started out as a definite bus ride, but... I wasn't ready in time for for the early bus, didn't want to wait a half hour for the next one so I ventured out on my Norco. With 3" of fresh snow overnight, and a temp of -7 C (19 F) with a nasty 20 mph gusting to 25 mph headwind, I questioned my sanity early into the ride when the first half mile of the ride was on semi-frozen slushy ice. My slicks never wavered, so I kept going and the rest of the ride was not too bad, mostly salty wet roads, the odd snowy part, but not too slippery. I made it to my work truck fairly comfortably, but then had an extended cool-off period because the door locks on the truck were frozen! About 10 minutes of hand warming the key got me in, but left me thinking I should be carrying a lighter with me. Arrived at work, salty and dry and as happy as one would expect for a Monday morning!

Hants Commuter

First commute in a week. Dark and damp but no rain and not too cold either so a good day for commuting.

Overall nice ride in.

tchazzard

31 F/-1 C this morning with light snow. A lot of people had their holiday lights on, which made for a nice ride in. Bring on the snow!

chewa

First ride in for a week as I had the cold for a few days last week.

About 3 or 4 degrees C, dark, and drizzly as I left turning into a stinging near freezing onslaught of rain as I got into Edinburgh. All my gear is on the radiator drying out, but it should be an OK ride home as the wind still looks to be from the east.

As it was so dark this a.m, I'm a bit marginal on runtime for my lights so will have to save them as much as possible on the way home.

Still, finish work for Christmas on Friday, not back till 6 January.

Andy Dreisch

What a great commute!!

I just couldn't pass up a chance to ride through the monsoons the Bay Area has been experiencing of late. It reminds me of the first year I started bike-commuting ... 1997 ... El Nino year. I haven't seen rain like this since 1998, my second year of commuting ... La Nina.

This is the first chance I've ridden in the rain in almost 9 months. I've missed some earlier chances due to my knee problem so I was raring to go.

(Yes, I look forward to the rainy season for the experiences and changes it brings. Of course, if this is an El Nino year, then I'll be singing a different tune before too long.)

I was up half the night last night checking for leaks and listening to the rain and howling wind. That was when I decided I'll commute in this morning for real. The commute itself started with a light rain and winds and ended with clear skies and no wind!! The roads were flooded, tree parts were everywhere, and I had to do some serious maneuvering to avoid both. The winds were from the south, and the storm was a remnant from a typhoon, so it was rather warm.

IT WAS FUN !!!

They're calling for another whopper Thursday (our third consecutive big storm). I've got to make sure I can make that one, too!!

tivoli_mike

MUST VENT *RAGE*

Ok, the showers were tapering off, when I headed out from the house. My commute is about 6.5 miles with some good drop and gain along the way. Well half through my commute, which brings me to the base of the small hill on the way to work ( Dexter for you Seattlelites), this *bastard* of a pickup truck cuts me off with literally inches to spare and then *slams* his brakes, which of course lock up on the slick pavement. Needless to say , after I calmed down from my initial "this is the End" thought, I felt a wave of rage build up that I could barely contain. Thoughts of whipping out the ulock and going "courier" on the truck, pulling out the rusty ladder that adorned his bed, or just screaming...but in the end I spit on his truck and then channelled that rage for the hill climb ahead. Usually I am a bit winded when I get to the top of the hill, but today I flew up that hill at 16 MPH and kept on trucking into downtown.

Rage can be a good motivator.

Andy Dreisch

Sorry, but I just don't see what sense there is to spitting at or in some idiot's truck. Chances are, he's now an enraged idiot. I'm just not sure what good this does, except perhaps as a momentary rage relief device. So you may feel better, but the next biker may be at additional risk.

I allot one or two cutoff instances per commute. It's all part of the game. I expect them. Not that we should accept idiot actions. But idiot actions there always will be. Better to simply move on, in my view, perhaps with a wicked look or a shake of the head.

In any case, glad to hear you made it through this event OK.

tivoli_mike

Well, I didn't ride up next to him and spit on his windshield. Just a nice one on the back fender. Of course he is still out here driving without regard to bikes...

Ouch !

Bloody awful start to the day, got ready to go to work , went out to fetch the bike only to find it with a flat tyre, having no time to sort it out, quickly took the lights off and put them on my Roadbike and used that to get to work, only to get a puncture about 1/2 mile from work , pushed the bike the rest of the way, got changed and settled down to work.

Then whilst in work somebody from another dept, came around the corner then went back, this happened again so I decided to ask what's going on, only to be told that they had heard that a cyclist had been knocked down this morning and as people were coming into work they were looking to see if it was me that had been hurt.

So I guess a two puncture day isn't that bad , considering everything that could have happened.

Chris L

Agreed. The best thing to do would have been to take down a # and call the cops. Even if they don't actually arrest him, they'll probably give him a phone call and warn him. Likely to be more effective than spitting into a metal cage.

Oh yeah, my commute this morning, hot and humid (again!). At least the sunset last night was nice though.

Andy Dreisch

Commute home was fun. Rained a little here and there. Wet roads all the way. 13 miles. I have a water bottle-like battery on the underside of my down tube, near the crank. I find that this blocks a lot of the water that runs off my fender ... and keeps my feet relatively dry. Nice little bonus.

Chris L

Another spanky sunset this evening. I deliberately worked totally unnecessary overtime just so I could see it.

nathank

well, today's commute was my first time on the bike IN 3 DAYS! as i took the train to Paris for the weekend (a fun trip!) and then took the subway directly to work on Monday morning (took the night sleeper train back and got into Munich at 8:54am). it was nice to ride again!

it has really warmed up here and unfortunately what little ice and snow we had has melted. it was about 2C for the ride and the ground was very wet but i left the rain jacket in the pannier and only got a little wet from the spray from the front tire. i've decided i'm buying a new fender with better coverage b/c i get spray in the eyes - my current fender goes from the fork BACK and the front is open so when you go "fast" it sprays in your eyes. of course, i like to go "fast"...

nathank

oh yeah, tomorrow will be my last official commute for the year 2002! as i will be on vacation from Dec 18 through Jan 6th - ah, i love 30 days of vacation per year! that's one of the great things about working in Europe!

of course, i'll still be riding around town, although less b/c my parents are arriving tomorrow, so we'll mostly be taking the subway and trains.

i'll have to try and find some extra enjoyment out of tomorrow's commute to tide me over to 2003.

chewa

Had a bad commute home last night as I punctured on the middle of the Forth Road Bridge in sub zero conditions. Took a while to replace the tube as I fumbled with cold fingers.


I didn't realise how much the bridge moved in rush hour!

Still was looking forward to cycling in today, but as it was deep frost and roads icy, took bus instead.

my shoulder still hurts from my fall on ice last month.

Ed Holland

Hi Folks,

This is my last daily commute for a little while as I'm off to the USA tomorrow for our wedding! My fiancee lives in LA and we have planned a honeymoon in Napa - it should be great.

Of course I'll miss the commuting in grey UK winter weather, and (of course) the bike forum. Hope you'll all still be here when we get back.


P.S. I have a bike in the US, so I should be able to get a few miles in - in case anyone was worried

pinerider

Another cold day, but a lot drier than yesterday's ride. -9 C or 16 F headwind chill made it -16 C or 5 F. No problems on ride, other than rear brake cable freezing up again. I washed off the salt and crap at work yesterday, rear brake froze up on the way home, I thought it would have dried out ok overnight. The ride in was a little slower than usual, I was looking in the slushy gutters for the cell phone I lost on the ride in yesterday. I did a couple of loops to check out gutter garbage, no cell phone.

mrfix

Good morning all
The ride in was uneventfull, temp was 4 degrees F, the puddles from yesterday were hard and splashing wasn't an issue. the sun is shining bright now and the day is starting to warm, the ride home this evening should be good. My commute time this morning with nokian studded tires and a 65 pound bike was 1 hour and 10minutes for my 18.5 miles. This is about 15 minutes longer then my summer commute.

Andy Dreisch

Ed, congratulations on your upcoming wedding. I hope the monsoons clear out in time for your honeymoon in Napa !!

tchazzard

It was 20 F with bright sun when I headed out this morning. The only downside was the wicked head wind, which was gusting at over 20 MPH. I had to stay in the middle ring for most of the ride and felt like I was standing still on some of the long straigtaways. I should be able to rocket home if the winds stay up.

Praying for snow....all of the snow we got earlier in the month has melted away