Don't worry, the low Friday morning should be 16 F out in the 'burbs and closer to 20 F in DC. My coworkers are really going to start worrying about me if I ride in.

For anyone interested in seeing a very scenic bike commute, I've attached (or at least tried to attach) a zipped KML (opens in Google Earth) showing my route to work. I start in Alexandria near Old Town, then go by the airport, then down the Mall toward the Capitol. Neat perspective in Google Earth.

The high for today is supposed to be 15C, so I brought a lighter jacket for the ride home. I should have put it on for the ride in, as 60 seconds after I left the house I was too warm. Oh well, there's always tomorrow...

Had to drive yesterday since I had to go to court for my speeding ticket. Luckily I got it reduced from 21 over to just 9 over so I was happy about that. Almost ran into the back of a volvo sedan today on my way in, some woman pulled out right in front of me like she didn't care. I was so tempted to hit her car with my hand but I held myself back. I rode right next to the car and stared down the kid in the passengers seat :p If I see them again I will be sure to talk to them about it since I ride by there every day.

We're finally getting our over due Acrtic Air Mass TM... the temp will drop as the day goes on. I think about -15C tonight. Should make for a chill ride in tomorrow morning.

Nice warm commute at 18F. Much better than 5 F.
Now that I am starting to recover from my cold it is a great way to clear out the gunk in my throat.
Plus, it looks like my trails are finally clearing up. I am so sick of riding with semi trucks and groggy early morning motorists in the industrial area I have to ride through.

Foggy! Had to keep wiping off (the outside of) my glasses. Had a close encounter climbing a hill w/ another biker SCREAMING downhill, in the dark (and fog), no lights, dark clothes. At least we were both staying to our right rather than weaving or taking the center.

Had to ditch the bike last night to miss an SUV that decided to pull out of parking lot as I was passing it, so today's commute was in the passenger seat of a friends car because I need to get my rear brake fixed.

When I locked up the brakes on my Felt bike to avoid a left hook, I taco'd the rear wheel! My mighty braking hands shall not be balked!!! (this was a wheel that was 'built' for me by the LBS where I bought the bike after I got rear-ended by a pickup truck; I've done much better w/ cars since then...)

Well I'm glad to say that I'm back. After a month or so break due to traveling, needing wheels for work, and all this gosh durn snow piled all over ther roads, I am on the bike again.

Weeeeeee!

It was a bit chilly, but not bad. 26F when i passed the temp time thingie. Freakin monster sized chuckholes everywhere from the recent snow, ice and general winter stuff. Saw two others on their bikes along the way as well.

Sure could tell that I been off the bike for a bit. Legs and lungs were whining the whole way :-)

Today's commute was nearly ideal except for the maddening creaking in my rear wheel. Lately it seems I can't go 20 miles before a spoke or three loosens up. I have less than 500 miles on this wheel and this really shouldn't be happening. I'll take it to the LBS at lunch and see if I can have them tension and true them so this goes away.

nice today-- first time on the bike in two weeks due to very cold temps (for here)... this am it was 49 degrees and no wind so I rode to work. yay! I missed it a lot. and this afternoon it will be perfect, about 65.

Switched to slick this morning, fast ride in. I over-dressed.

I noticed the same thing heading west on the WOD this morning. Had to walk the bike across the wooden ped bridge in Falls Church, then again on the Virginia Ave one over 66, and again over 395.

All were clear coming home though- we had a nice thaw today.

After going months without any near misses I had some half-wit come within about six inches of side-swiping me. It's on a narrow part of the street, but cars generally give me at least a foot of passing room. I flipped the idiot the bird and took off after him hoping he'd hit a red light or two, but no such luck. Looked like he was talking on his cell phone (no big surprise there).

Must be near miss day. I felt the mirror touch me, and then saw the driver looking in his rearview, laughing. It was intentional! I lost it. I caught the car at the next light and started beating on it, telling the driver I would like him to get out and talk with me, more or less. I let it go on the green, realizing I was acting crazy. Good thing I was too mad to think doorhandles., or I would probably be even sorrier for losing it. I've been so good doing the smile and wave until now. I'll start back with the smile and wave tomorrow. Today was an fluke.

Today was my last commute to work. It was bitter sweet.
I have been lucky to ride 14 miles round trip to work everyday, most of it on a beautiful bike path. I have also been able to take my dog, Smokey, with me to work in a trailer.
It was bitter because I'll miss the ride, the fellow commuters I see everyday and posting on this forum.
It's sweet because I am going on a cycling trip around the world!
:love:

you bugger :)

Well I went into work late today due to an appointment. I was probably my first commute since November that was above freezing and I enjoyed it immensely. Was also great not riding at the peak traffic time. Makes me wish I could change my schedule.

The way home was nice and quiet too until I got onto the bike path. As I was coming to a drainage I hear a wierd chirp/bark/yip sort of sound. As I'm going over the bridge I notice a fat old racoon sitting on a tree bracnch about 10 feet away. He watched me go by. I am glad he didn't jump on my head. I don't know if my helmet protects against rabies.

A lil' tougher this morning. I guess I'm still fighting all this crap that's going around. It made the ride harder. So in turn I relaxed and just took my time. Plus, I don't know if it was my tights or something constricting my knee but it would ache a bit here and there on the ride.

Taking tomorrow off from riding to get better. Phew, I'm pooped and it's only 8am.

Officially: -7F. Cyclocomputer only got to -1.7F though. At least I got negative. I decided it would be prudent to go with the full-winter gear. Balaclava, ski goggles, fleece top and bottom. Long underwear on the legs and regular riding jacket on top. Very comfortable, until I got into the building. Then I couldn't undress fast enough. :eek: Hot.

Lake Champlain was so pretty that I had to take some pictures with the cell phone. It was a steaming cauldron and the colors from the sunrise were refracting back through the clouds and fog. After I took the pictures, I wrote "ICEBIKE" in the snow. :o

The Lake, The MUP, and Me... (Note hardcode frosty balaclava!)

That's a gigantic MUP. You're very lucky. Weather is warm this week (25F low & low 40s high), and I'm enjoying it. Kicked it up a notch and reduced my morning commute by 5 minutes :).

I was surprisingly cold this morning. I can't figure out why -- temp was about average for this week, I was wearing the usual clothes, and I was even running a bit late. Oh well, nothing dramatic happened.

-21C with the wind (-6F) put on the fleecy longs and a thin balaclava and I'm a little sweaty when I arrive at work today. Clear roads in the city.

It was even warmer this morning. 25F!
I made the mistake of testing my old trail on my bike with skinny tires. At least I am getting better at riding on solid ice. :rolleyes: My mistake was corrected a few miles later when I exited the MUP and went back to my street route.
The melt and freeze cycle is really making commuting difficult. Just not getting the workout I am used to. Tomorrow I think I will take the train in and hit the gym after work to spin for 45 minutes. I get a better workout spinning anyhow. Next week I hope to increase from my 2 weekly commutes to 3. *crosses fingers*

+2C this morning, and traffic volume was down a bit. We made pretty much all the lights, passed some other riders and was at work early. Good Times!

It was a brisk 21f this morning, not bad at all. Supposed to get up to 50 this afternoon. Maybe it will melt down some of these huge snow piles before the next round rolls in this weekend.

Legs were still whining on the way, but it will get better once i get back in the groove.

Met up with Joan again this am.. I hate when she dusts me up the hill. Especially now since she is on a MTB with knobbies. :-) Oh well. Seems like I'm hauling 20 lbs of stuff today so I have a good excuse.

Excellent commute this morning! More ice from the freeze/thaw but overall things are melting!

No crazy racoons on the way in but maybe tonight!

Fixie in the shop to deal with the annoying tendency of the drive side spokes to lose tension. So I rode the Caldaro, and since I expect to be called into a meeting with the boss, I wore a nice suit. Even though it was 34F, I didn't wear the jacket (I found I can't reach the bars wearing a suit coat) but neatly folded it over my shoulder bag. If I don't say so myself, I probably looked quite jaunty with my tie flying behind me!

More flats, so I put the new Big Apples on this morning rather than wait for the weekend. Very nice, rolling right over all that gravel that ate up my old tires.

Nice ride to work this morning. Cold but clear blue skies and no wind. A pleasure. After a week of bad weather. Ranging from Ice and snow to rain and wind. Tomorrow should be the same. Nice end to the week.