Yesterday morning (I didn't work today) I encountered a group of about 12 men running down my regular commute route. While it's common for me to see the occasional early morning jogger or walker in the more temperate months I usually am the only one outside of a cage or domicile this time of year at 5:30-5:45 am.

For a few moments I thought I was hallucinating, the joggers were running two abreast in the right lane of a 4 lane road (sidewalks were icy/snowy), wearing appropriate cold weather running garb and were going at a respectable pace. I heard chuffs and remarks as I rode by that sounded like they were just surprised to see me as I was to see them, that an my Nokians definately had to sound a little unnerving to them.

A coworker passed me another mile or two down the road and when I caught up to him inside the building I asked him if he saw the joggers. He (and everybody else) looked at me like I was nuts and said no, but he did see me from about a mile away (thank you Planet Bike Superflash!)

Should he get his eyes checked or should I talk to somebody about my hallucinations?

I haven't been able to bike for a week, so today was a great ride. About 38, clear, etc....nice drivers today too....wasn't hard at all.
I had some facility workers are work here asking me if I planned on riding in the snow. They seemed surprised when I told them yes :b

Warmed up to 45F today so the ride in was cool and quick. I guess taking a day off the bike recharges my legs enough to chase off the Monday morning blahs. Practiced my leaning skills when I leaned on a bus as both the bus and I were moving and I was slowly getting squeezed between the bus and a cab. As traffic slowed, I was able to push off the bus and slide through a gap between the two and get away from both.

I was in at work a full hour earlier than usual. I think I'm going to die. :cry:

Traffic moves much faster at 6:30 a.m., and riding with the spiked tires doesn't help. There's just enough snow and ice left on the first km of my ride that I don't want to break out the skinny-tire bike just yet. It's supposed to be 8C and sunny today, so maybe I can us it tomorrow.

Low 30Fs, very light rain. Almost no rain, really. But it was damp. Overcast, kinda dark.

I caught up to a guy on a road bike of some sort. He was walking it through an area of leftover slushy ice/snow from the storm last week. He got back on before I passed him so I just paced him for the mile or two before I left the MUP.

40 degrees, no big whoop. Saw a good amount of commuters, some that I recognized, others that I didn't. Toes on both feet are still pretty raw and sore from an ill-advised ride Friday night in 24 degree weather with very poor footwear.

High 40s - fairly nice ride in, except for my very first crash - turning left in a construction zone I realized that the dirt directly in front of my bike was partially concealing a very large, very deep pot hole. Since my bunny hopping skills are nonexistent at this point (they're on my to-do list) I hit the brakes hard but on the loose dirt couldn't stop in time. I remember actually making it through the thing, but couldn't control the bike afterwards and laid it down on the left side. Very little traffic at 5am in that area, so a very limited audience and no danger of getting squashed. A nice thing about winter riding is I had enough clothing to limit the road rash - a little scuff on the elbow and my knee is going to be extra ugly for a few weeks. I had to push the front shifter/brake assembly back in-line with the drop bars and run the front derailer through it's indices, but other than that my Kona Jake was fine. Happily the helmet didn't take a hit - I don't want to have to buy another one. The rest of the ride was uneventful - I even saw three other bicyclists on the roads - two were even using lights!

Typical Monday morning ride in this morning. Temps in the upper 30s and me taking it easy led to a nice commute into the rising sun. Temps going to be in the 60's most of this week so I should have some nice afternoon/evening rides home.

10 degrees, slick roads with good traction on the trails. Saw my first other commuter this morning at about 6:00 am on the trail. I leave at 5:00 am with about a 70 minute ride. Gives me time for a spit bath at work.

Toes and hands were cold today even with my lobster gloves and liners. Feet are always cold. My wife says she's going to buy me some toasters for xmas :D

Hard rain this morning but nothing to complain about since it was warm. Raced my wife and workers to the office this morning - I won!

The dirty, gross snow has been melting and drying up over the nice warm weekend, then this morning it was misting. The end result was really wet roads with some serious grime on them. It was like really thin, watery mud.

It's also the first time I wish I had a front fender. My seat-post cargo rack pretty much kept my back dry. My jeans below the knee, though, are really grimy.

Oh yah, I raced a teenager that was on his way to the high school. He was riding a cheapo bike on the sidewalk, with all the reflectors removed, no helmet, no lights, or anything. It was pretty dark out, too. He saw me coming down the street when I was about a block behind him, and picked up his pace. I passed him 3 blocks later.

Darn kids.

Cool 43F and high overcast. It rained all weekend so wet leaves were a real issue this morning. But took it easy and remained upright.

I had another episode with a well-meaning driver who now probably thinks I am (and of course that means all of us are) an ungrateful jerk. I was entering the parking garage. There are two ticket gates. The driver in the car on the right side had just taken her ticket and the gate went up. I slid through on the left and was preparing to pull in right behind her as she went up the slope. But I guess she saw me in the corner of my eye and slowed and then stopped. I was waiting for her to go and I slowed and then I was almost trackstanding but my feet were approaching 12 and 6. I was losing momentum and balance and I was yelling "Go! Go! Go!" Finally she went and I tried to be nice and yell "Thank you!" but I'm sure she thinks I'm a jerk.

I was hoping to catch her after she parked her car and thank her for her good intentions, but I never saw her. Oh well.

Nice ride, a little damp, nothing really notable. I have left my front fender zip-tied to the crown of the fork (where I had to raise it to fit the 2" knobbies), I am waiting on big apples so I'm not going to lower it back to the brake arch. Big apples are back-ordered through 3rd wk of Jan, so I continue to wait.

Warm today, about 30F. I overdressed and pulled up my polartec tights to the knee about half way to work. Bike was a bit noodly in the turns due to ice, but I made it without a wreck.

Great ride in -- damp, mid 30s with minimal wind.

Ride safe -- have fun!

It was warm. Bank sign said 44F. It was so warm that at the long stop light, I took off my balaclava. Stuffed it in my jacket front. When I got to work it was gone. Argh. That was a good balaclava. I will retrace me route to the stop light on the way home but it will be dark. So long balaclava. You served me well.

hehe, excuse to buy or KNIT a new one!

It was 38F when I left this morning. Still, I dressed lighter and at the end of my initial 2 mile downhill was sweating like mad. I removed my jacket and a few miles later had to remove my tights. It looked like I thought it was summer by the time I was at work.

Nice day for a commute in Rochester NY, low 40's, no rain, slight headwind (10-15mph) not many cars on the road yet.

Please billh, not the one from your avatar (or any of those others)!!! :eek:

I was able to commute the entire week last week without any major mishaps, but today I had some issues. I killed two tubes (got one going again) on my way in and got pulled over for running a red light. I was booking it for a protected left turn and the arrow turned yellow before I could make it. I continued through as it was wet out and I'd rather make the intersection than brake and skid into it, and was followed though the (red for him) light by a motorcycle cop and ticketed. He wrote that it was dry on the ticket (it had been drizzling and foggy all morning) despite being in full (and damp) rain gear, and when he asked for my ID and it took me a second to fish for it made a couple comments that insinuated I didn't drive due to a DWI, so I snapped at him and told him "maybe if I was a fat ****ing pig I'd be riding around on a motorcycle or something but until then I'll stick with my bike, thanks." as I handed over my license. That got me a nasty glare and no response to my "Thanks, have a great day." as he handed me my ticket.

were they wearing little black knit caps? . . . if there was also a little black helicopter whirling above, then . . . the INVASION HAS BEGUN! :)

the extended commute actually is getting easier. thanks for the feedback from other bf commuters!
today, on the way in, a school bus was waiting at a stop sign. to the left, there was a van, waiting for me to pass. i was about 2/3 though passing the bus, when it started to move out = close (no time to air-zound). yelling got his attention, he waited on the other side of the road, i turned around and caught/confronted him. he stated "i did not see you" and "i got a job to do". i exclaimed he needed to get his eyes checked and look where he's going. i called the bus service and reported incident, will call back tomorrow for follow-through.
rest of the commutes were up-lifting today

a little damp but relatively warm on the way in today.

on the way home I upped the effort a couple of notches just to get home a little quicker but these studded snows (worth their weight in gold on an icy snowy night) definitely make the commute a little more of a workout psychologically as well as physically on a night when I could have easily ridden with regular tires.

the sound of the studded snows is like frying bacon, Kellogg's Rice Crispies, a crackling fire, a radio not tuned to any particular station...

Commute home included a stop off to pick up some Christmas presents that got sent to my old work address. I had a co-worker who still worked there pick it up for me and bring it home so I met him at his house. We caught up for a bit, then I rode the rest of the way home. Traffic was light so I got some extra miles in and made good time.