Nothing finer than a smooth commute uciflylow, here's hoping mine tonight goes well. I promise I'm leaving the 9MM at home LOL.

Doug
:D

Today, I had an errand in Carlsbad about 24 miles away. When I left it has raining lightly.. About 6 miles from home it really started pouring.. I have not had much experience with this. It rarely rains in SO. Cal... Don't miss it, we sun worshipers..
Anyway, I did not know it was going to rain that hard, thinking I would put my bike on the bus and come back with only 25 miles of a rainy ride. On way back I kept missing the buses, so I had about 50 miles of rain.
I have two rain outfits.. I wore by baggy Ultrex rain paints. Not again. Pretty wet underneath.. Just made me feel like I wasn't out in the diluge.. From my experience the Triflex tights are best at keeping you feeling somewhat dry and warm.. Worst problem, how to cope with glasses fogging up.. it is tolerable to ride in the rain- but riding is much more fun in the sun...
Guess two benchmarks for a serious rider- one and two centuries and riding in the rain.. Think the snow might be my one barrier?

Post rainy ride . Found another aspect of what is bad about riding in the rain.. Used talcum powder. How do you get that smell out of your cycling shoes... Hope it goes away before I need them again... I used Burley rain/shoe covers. Lessens the amount of wetness, but still enough to stink them up..

I normally leave mine outside for a while. However, I've found the only way to dry them out properly is to ride about 70km in dry conditions.

Freezing fog this morning, but as it's so dry there was no ice to speak of. Pity I took my bright light off last week :)

I stuck to the cycle path all the way in and it was quite pleasant if a little murky.

Passed a guy on a mountain bike struggling along at v low cadence on the flat pushing his top gear.

Felt like stopping and showing him how to use the gears a bit. I think incorrect use of gears must put some people off as they think they have to get into top gear and then it gets very difficult.

I'm back!

First commute of the year! 32F when I left, and warmed up as I went and the sun rose. Still some ice on the road, but managed to avoid any problems. Autos gave me plenty of room when passing; they must be surprised to see a biker out :)

It's great to be back! Hope this weather keeps up.

Andy, was out in SJ last week; wish I'd had my bike!

Tim

Heyup,

Beautiful morning for the ride in today. I was a little stiff from the ride yesterday - my first serious miles of the year outside commuting but it was great to be out in the sunshine again.

Oh, and after worrying that my gear shift was behaving a little strangely, I discovered that the screw holding the shifter to the down-tube had nearly worked its way out.... good job this was discovered in time!

Cheers,

Ed

What a wonderful thread! You know, this thread could be a complete commuter's resource if all the posts were sorted by location of the member!
Imagine all the pacific northwest/ east/ west/ central/ south posts... people could see how they commute in different parts of the country. Maybe it's a dumb idea but this is a fun thread to read through!

Springtime in DC! I put my rain gear on the rack but enjoyed the freedom of riding sans overcoat, rainpants, Totes. Lots of bird and squirrel activity, and the trees seem to have buds. A few grey snowmounds, much reduced in size, memorialize last month's big snow.

Paul

Nice ride in. Slight headwind.
Storm that was supposed to drop 2" - 3" of rain is heading out after only .06". Beautiful skies this weekend. watched the tail end of the storm blow away as I rode in leaving crystal clear cool sky by 7:30.
Steve

The commute in today was pretty nice I let life stress kep me up till 1:30 last night so bout 4 hrs sleep is all. hey its all good cycling is a great antistress!

I ran this morning with my doggie, starting at around 5:15. OK, it's not a commute but, for commuters, it is interesting to note that it was quite sunny by the time I got back. More daylight !!! Quite warm, too.

today was one of those mornings where I was really dragging, I just couldn't get going, I forced myself to get dressed in my cycling clothes and onto the bike, It took 16 miles to start feeling good, The fog was wet and cold and there was a lot of black ice, good thing i'm still pushing the studs. All in all I'm glad I rode, the sun is out and the temp is 54 degrees, After my 10 hour work day I'm looking forward to a nice slow relaxing ride home.

Good commute today. I was dragging on saturday, so I didn't ride at all on sunday, so I had lots of energy today. Made good time. Gorgeous weather. The wind is supposed to be strong this evening. I can only hope its a tailwind!

yes, the DC commute was a joy today - a little wet but for the frist time in I don't know how long I rode in just shorts and a jersey - also lengthened my commute (and made it safer) by taking Rock Creek Park for the first time this year

My first commute of the season. A slight headwind and wet roads, but it was wonderful! I like this warmth. I hope it doesn't go away soon!

My first day commuting this year as well. And on my new bike to boot. A bit windy, blowing big puffy clouds around, but enough sun that I had to unzip the ol hoody. Spring seems to have beaten the equinox this year. A great ride, like greeting an old friend, every turn and hole on the path right where I left them. ;)

Not a dumb idea at all, but reading posts from the Bad Weather Hard Core keeps this California boy from wimping out when skies are gray. :)

My own commute was nondescript. It rained hard over the weekend, which did a good job of cleaning the streets. Tomorrow I'm meeting a guy from my building to have a casual 25-30 mile spin before work.

Perfect. Awesome. Even better than that. Clear skies, 36F/3C this morning, 62F/17C coming home. Wore knickers and a jersey without jacket for first time since November. Liquid water running down the roads, no ice on the roads, drivers being nice because they are cruising along with their windows open. Ripped one of the panniers off this morning and took the pogies off and dropped the hammer, 31.8mph on one downhill. That felt so good after a winter of carefully riding over snow and ice.

SJ has great weather, huh? Did you get any of the rain? First rain we've had in a couple months.

Nope. Actually it was 2 weeks ago (time flies!). Very nice weather. Managed to get in a few early morning runs around downtown. I think the locals thought I was nuts; they were all bundled up in their heavy coats because it was only 50F. That's tropical compared to what we've had in the northeast recently, so I was in my running shorts and tee-shirt!

But today was a beauty in MA! Awesome ride home, ranged from 60-70F in some places (saw it reached 70F in Norwood, Jean!) except for a few shady spots where the snow was still melting. It was a wonderful feeling speeding down the hills and getting a refreshing cool blast of air at the bottom. I caught the draft from a line of cars passing me and got up to 30mph on a flat section of road; after riding on the trainer all winter (go ahead, call me a wimp), I forgot how good that feels. All the stress I've been building up for the past few months is completely gone tonight.

Hope everyone else enjoyed their commute today as much as I did!

Take care,
Tim

Took the long way home. Put on 25 miles. It was a bit brisk, but fun overall. I always feel odd passing my house and then going to do a big loop to come back 30 minutes later.

Welcome back all you hibernators, what a great day it is to ride a bike to work. 30 degrees F, no wind and more traffic then I ever see at 5:15 AM. Left the panniers home and got a free ride in with just a small trunk bag, what a difference.

Heyup,

Chilly ride this morning - but that was mostly my fault for pretending that it was summer and only wearing shorts and a short sleeved jersy!

Cheers,

Ed

What a great morning! I really enjoyed riding in today (the goofy smile on my face probably amused the motorists). When I got to work, I met a guy who was riding the exact same bike I ride, and told me it was his first commute since the 1970s. He works somewhere in my building, so I hope to see him again!

rainy ride in this am roads were wet and all that... the weather has been just beautiful the last 3 days. much better than weather I have been commuting in all winter! di i mention I hate winter?

Wow, have we had great weather the last four days up here in the twin towns! Although I can tell my winter bike needs a major overhaul with all this salt and crap on the roads. I had a fender bracket break (thank heavens for zip ties), then getting back on my bike I managed to bump my headlight just right and that broke off (good thing we have more daylight in the AM). Then, when I went out to ride home after work my rear tire was flat. That normally wouldn't be a real big problem but on this bike I have a hub brake, so you know what that meant. I've had to adjust my brakes twice (they are getting pretty noisey), and my stearing is loose (I've since tightened that). Bring on spring, I'm ready to switch bikes. It's still great riding but I'm a little paranoid right now.

Had a viscious headwind most of the way in. Had to alter the route a little to get me out of the open plains and into some houses so the wind would be blocked a little. I hope that translates into a healthy tailwind heading home!

Yep, I dropped the leggings too this morning in Berkshire, but I kept the armwarmers & jacket. My toes got a bit cold tho.

Stew

I've finally been able to drop the rain jacket (but not the tights or warmth layers). Beautiful morning, yet I felt like I was dragging as opposed yesterday when I just flew. Still made good time. . . must've just been a mental thing.

And, speaking from my experience only, a headwind going in, just translates to a headwind going out - demon weather pattern shifts I tell ya!