A little nipply but once warmed up it was fun. Especially going past all those cars stuck in construction traffic this morning and thinking, 'It may look crazy but I'm moving!'. Still trying to figure out how to keep my feet warm without resorting to shoe covers. The bike is so silent now that it has a new chain.

Gray and drizzly, a bit of moisture on the streets.

Wasn't bad, my first commute since my Aug 9th wrist injuring accident.

I had some OJ right before I left, turned out to be a bad move - I had the slight nausea from the cardio and not being quite as in shape as before, and eventually felt pretty bad - I stopped, barfed the OJ up, and felt 100% better, and carried on.

Was hard work for me today, -1C when I left, but heat wasn't a problem - I'm a sweater anyway, so I was snug.

Got honked at by a guy acknowledging my lane change (overtaking something parked), and another guy honked real madly at a cab (I initially thought me) - four lane street, two lanes each way, I was in the outside, right lane and a cab was making a left - I was holding the lane, not going too slow and the guy behind the cab got real pissed I guess waiting for the cab to turn, heh.

Got cut off too, same situation, except at a 4-way intersection, folks turning left, so the people in that lane going straight got impatient, I swear this one lady didn't even look (I usually look into the car to see if the driver checks their mirrors) - she just cut right over, luckily I was far enough over for it not to be a big deal - I did consider tapping the car on the rear fender as she moved closer, but thought better of it - just used my mouth - not loud enough for them to hear properly though :)

Feeling great about getting back on the wagon, though, woo!

Coldest day yet -- 18 degrees! No bikes seen -- I AM KING! :)

welcome back to the insanity flimflam

Thanks! :D

Must admit, despite the cold this morning, I saw quite a lot of commuters out - a lot of them looking very seasoned (full flourescents, etc.) - I even noticed an Asian guy who rides the same type of bike as I this morning, who I did used to see on my summer commutes, great to see he's still around :)

Wet, warm, back up to the 40s. If it stays like this through winter I'll be pretty happy.

Can a commute bike be any kind of bike?

You bet. Some bikes are better suited than others for the particular demands of commuting, but I'd say anything you ride to work is a commute bike.

Whatcha got?

wet.

Went in hard at the start of the ride home tonight.

Riding in traffic, making a right turn with a line of cars. Hadn't clipped in yet. Foot slipped off the right pedal. Speed was about 15mph. Right foot skeetered on the pavement. Bike got sideways. Flip/SLAM. Hands never left the bars. Left side of my head, right above my eye went into the pavement really hard. also made contact with my left hip, left forearm. and right hand, this last as the bike rolled over the top pinning my hand against the bar.

Only damage to the bike was a turned in left brifter and the rear wheel coming out of the dropouts.

Head's a little sore above the left eye where the helmet was jammed in. Brand new helmet. Toast. It didn't fracture, in fact; there's no visible damage as I was using a helmet cover. Still, it was such a vicious blow, safer to toss it. Definitely a hospital trip there without the helmet IMO, if not death or worse. Never have been a religious helmet wearer until now.

Worst damage is the right hand. Seems to be sprained. Might be broken.

Got the bike going, did an easy Ten Miles up to an LBS to get the bike checked out and put back right, then another Five Miles home. Took me Twice as long to get here as usual.

Picked up a couple of Negra Modelos and some beef jerky on the way.

Got off easy I reckon.

Nothing as exciting as jwbnyc. I'm just getting started on my commuting. Ran my new bike up to the post office and back, about 2 1/2 miles. Feels good to be out of the car, although I've still got a spare tire to lose. ;)

Ouch. Glad you're alright, albeit a little sore. I had a slight mishap myself today. I transferred my toe clips from my roadie to the MTB last night after trying to wipe out twice on the icey roads yesterday morning. I was hopping the curb to go down to my back door, and caught my rear tire on it and it spun. Needless to say, I couldn't get out fast enough and went down on my left side. Fortunately, I got up and walked into the house laughing, albeit a bit muddy. My wife thought I was crazy.

Wet, chilly, but delightful. :)

Snow showers, colder, low 30s. Saw a guy riding a bent, he waved, I waved back. Tried to catch up with him but no use. Not only am I not a fast rider yet and my body is feeling tired but the Hakkas are S-L-O-W tires. Wow, I realize that now. Besides, after getting home I checked their pressure and they were down to 40psi so I bumped them back to 65psi, cleaned and lubed the chain and checked things here and there.

I cancelled my weight work out routine tonight as I decided to listen to my body and let it rest for a day or two (of weight training). I may ride again tomorrow (if so will be the first week that I've bike commuted every single day) but if I'm very tired I'll connect to the office remotely. Last week's 75+ mi tour was cancelled due to rain and wind so we're planning for this weekend and I want to have fresh legs. For that ride I will swap out the Hakkas and put the Armadillo Nimbus; no way I'm going to ride 75mi with the Hakkas. If I feel fresh enough I'm going to try to push it into my first century. We'll see.

GreenAnvil

Cold.;)

someone at work asked me if i plan to ride through the whole winter. actually, the conversation went something like this:

- generic small talk
- generic small talk
- you have . . . black marks on your neck
- oops. bike lube.
- you rode here today?
- yup
- you're going to ride all winter?
- tell you what. wait till winter's over, then ask me did you ride all winter. i'll have an answer by then.


the rain has arrived. definitely warmer than the last couple of days, but then i went through an unexpected puddle and discovered it's still plenty cold. water in that make-your-bones-ache kind of temperature range that not even wool can help with. i have got to stop riding in runners with open mesh tops.

i did a clever thing. instead of spending an extra 15 minutes post-shower trying to get the tangles out, i combed conditioner into my hair before i left, and braided it up for the ride. much faster transition from shower to desk, but all day i was being distracted by a kind of lingering balsamy smell from - well, i dunno where exactly.

songs: matt mcginn's version of loch lomond,

did the city streets ride to Dorchester this morning then downtown then back to Dorchester then back home for the long commute day (32m)

On the way home tonight I was cutting behind Fenway park and came to a four-way intersection, I had the stop sign, no one else there but me and I look and a cab is coming down the road to my left and we approach the intersection at the same time and as he has no stop sign I begin to slow down and he flashes his lights and waves me through. A CAB waved me through! I don't know how it is where you all live but this is somewhat unheard of here in Boston. I gave him a big thank you salute as I went through the intersection.

cold

No commute today. Decided to rest my legs and get ready for my long weekend ride.

GreenAnvil

Temps around 30F. Okay I broke down and wore full-length lycra on my legs, and gloves. :o Didn't get hot, so it was okay. Interesting wind, alternating from "side" to "tail", at one point pushing my little knobby-tired Trek to 18MPH without me even working at it.

Weird thing: I rounded a bend and there was a big pickup truck on the MUP. It was following a small group of runners, and it had Mississippi plates (this is Vermont). Bizarre. I turned on my L&M 13W headlight and he moved off the pavement to make room for me. I dropped him hard. Heh heh. I passed more runners after that, so I'm assuming it was some sort of support vehicle for a club.

My morning commute resulted in my first "accident" after two years of commuting. I was tooling down a four-lane major thoroughfare at 18 mph and a red truck behind me decided to blow his horn. Then he comes around me in the left lane and immediately gets back in the left lane and makes a right turn. I had to turn with him or plow into the side of his truck. Needless to say, I went down pretty hard on my left-side. After giving the guy a piece of my mind and almost every cuss word I learned in the Corps, I got back on my way and completed my ride. The temps were in the 30's this morning and will be in the 50's for the ride home.

Like most of the others...cold...but nice. I decieded to try my full face baclava (sp?) for the first time ever since I just got it in the mail the other day. I know it's a bit warm for it but I figured it was worth it to see if there were any 'issues' I was going to have to deal with.

It worked nicely, though at stops I have to pull it down and breath through the nose so I don't fog up my glasses. I hope it stretches a tiny bit as it's tight around my specs (I wear'em cause I'd be blind without'em, not for protection)

My boss asked me if I was getting a ski for the front wheel. He laughed when I told him I'd ordered a studded tire yesterday....

:)

Put my bike shoes on
Even though I work at home
Most every Friday

Awesome ride this morning. Warm (40F) and misty, so just shorts and a jacket with decent socks and booties. I got bumped by a car in a crosswalk where the MUP crosses a side street. My fault for crossing, but traffic light was green going my way. Right turn on red drivers never look to the right to see what's there. Virgin no longer.