Relaxer

Going to be a beautiful day in our nation's capital today. Ride in was no big whoop. The telephone temperature guy said it was 42 when I left, but I was sweating in my normal 40s wear. Everyone in my office is planning on leaving early today. I think I will too -- and not tell the wife -- so as to catch an unexpected bonus ride.

ragboy

30 degrees and no wind this morning -- just about right. On my way home in the dark last night I about hit a skateboarder head-on on the MUP. He was on the wrong side of the MUP -- dark clothing, looking down at his board trying to do some new trick. I was cruising pretty good when my light caught him. I slammed on the brakes, and "educated" him on trail rules. He was embarrassed. He could've been drilled real easy. It was in the high 50s going home last night. The warmer it gets the more idiots are on the MUP

Everyone have a safe weekend!

ragboy

Welcome to the brotherhood, superslomo! You're routine will get smoother after awhile after you see what works and what doesn't.

vtjim

Money well spent!

Nice ride for me this morning. I was pushing along well through a light headwind. Temps in the low 40s. Feels like springtime. Very, very strange.

Just got back from a physical exam. HHCMF! "Normal weight", elevated BP (white coat hypertension). She told me to eat more vegetables.

superslomo

Part of the adjustment for me is that my regular ride is a triple, and I am a massive weakling

The commuter is my old steel Schwinn which has a regular road double. The big cog on the back is (I think) a 25 or 28, where the road/touring bike has a 34. If nothing else I'm definitely going to get a bit stronger over the commute, which should show some dividends on the road bike... hopefully.

It was a really good feeling, but I'm a bit sore at the moment.

gizem310

The first fog I've seen in quite a while here in SoCal - and I enjoyed every minute of it. Stopped by the farmer's market to load up on the weekend's veggies, put them in my backpack and came to work. Already looking forward to my commute back home!
Awesome!

caloso

I was running a little late this morning. I had to swap pedals from my roadie to the commutie. The super-bargain Ritchey mtb pedals I've been using have finally given out. I think I got them for less than $25 on a Nashbar closeout and they've survived several rainy winters. I knew that they were giving out and I've got an order for Shimano 520 pedals coming from probikekit.com but I thought they'd survive the week. Then last night the left one made a really scary crunchy/squeaky noise every turn. I rode home gingerly but didn't get a chance to swap them out until this morning.

Still, I rode in very mellowly today. It's my last commute of the year.

A happy Chanukkah, merry Christmas, a kwazy Kwaanza, a super Solstice, and a prosperous and safe New Year to you all!

jyossarian

Welcome to the Happy Healthy Commuting MuthaF*ckers (HHCMF) club superslomo! You join an elite club of people that are envied and lusted after by the non-cyclocommuting masses. We are highly prized for our incredible physiques, our robust health, our unlimited sexiness and our magical ability to convert pizza and donuts into muscular legs and well toned butts. Congratulations!

superslomo

Also, our profoundly excessive lighting

ragboy

My commuter is an old steel Schwinn as well. At first I felt the need to upgrade, but now it's starting to grow on me for commuting.
I still secretly lust for a Bianchi

superslomo

I'm just out of the habit of pushing a double. I ride a triple the rest of the time, so it's an adjustment... It's heavier than my cannondale touring bike, but somehow I think the Schwinn fits me a bit better. I'm more comfortable in the drops.

The main thing was keeping it from looking at all appealing to the talented NYC bike thieves... a 26 year old Schwinn is not eye candy for those guys. Add on a nine pound lock and I'm good to go (I hope).

luckysnafu

Just about got side swiped this morning while leaving my apartment complex. A woman in a car turned onto the road and I guess didn't see me until she almost put the front corner of her car into me I turned my head and glared at her, I think she was a little freaked out Had a nice ride in, slower than usual since I had to carry my laptop in my backpack after working at home yesterday. I saw a dead cat on the side of the road Temps in the mid 60s already so the ride home should be very nice. TGIF!

bikedaddy

Well the wife and kiddies all have strep throat so took the car to get prescription... some other errands. Also don't want to make myself any more vulnerable to getting sick... sucks ... only 2/5 this week. I only actaully have six more days of work left for the year but if I ride all of them I will make my goal of 1000 miles since August.

Really hoping everything is normal next week. I'm sure with the 3 munckins in won't be!

chipcom 

Went back to basics a little this morning. I never used much in the way of cycling specific clothing before the advent of the Internet because I either didn't know it existed, or couldn't justify the expense. Last year was the first time I ever used tights in the winter, and they were OK, as are the J&G Patrol Pants I've been using this year - but it's still a pain in the neck to have to change when I get to work and change again after. Well this morning I said screw it, put on my jeans, secured up the cuff, and off to work I went - and I am going to continue to do so! I'll still use the patrol pants for bad/real cold weather, but over the jeans, rather than over tights! Ya know, sometimes when you get to making more money and being able to buy so much neat stuff, you just end up making your life more complicated that it has to be. I'm done with that noise...blue jeans have worked for me for many decades - if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

superslomo

Here's what I learned from day 1:

-Pedestrians cannot be underestimated. You never know what they are going to do next
-Busses are the one thing that I am most uncomfortable around
-People definitely notice an HID I had three people yell out something about the light on the bike (I'm running it with a Cygolite Dual Cross in addition, as a backup in case either battery runs out, I still have a spare, spoiled spoiled spoiled.)

Tired out right now, thinking about getting a rack mounted for panniers as my back is killing me from the backpack, but it was a hell of a fun day

tomg

congrats!
it will get easier and faster. i'll be starting full week #3 from 3 miles each way to 13 miles each way (job relocation). quite an adjustment, but getting better.
keep it up!

spidercyclist

Good ride to work & home. I had only one problem, I had a broken spoke. I had to take my other bike to the lbs anyway. So took both of them. I hope the weather holds a little longer . Have a good nite.

tokolosh

slightly unusual morning ride. i had a fixed be-there time for once due to meeting, so it's the first time i've ridden in rush hour for a long time. enviro can was threatening wind but i didn't notice too much of it until i got to the other side. then it was a few k of the most serious headwind i've seen in a while, and little fluffy balls of hail started to come down part of the way into it. just as i re-locked the bike cage behind me, the wind suddenly doubled itself and the hail came in sheets; by the time i got to the main floor from the parking lot and looked out the window again it had stopped. i had the fastest shower in history and was in all kinds of time for my meeting.

went home at rush hour too. boy, am i out of practice at that. recommend it to myself as a re-motivator if i ever need one again. blocks of backed-up traffic .. . . i was all slightly awed, and then i remembered that oh yeah, this is just what the local radios call 'traffic moving steadily' during rush hour. YUCK.

i can't figure out 'filtering up'. if i'm a vehicle, i should act like a vehicle and just keep to my place in the line - but in that case, what's the point of going by bike? and i increase the congestion too since i have to put a foot down and then it takes me a bit longer than a car to re-start every time. on the other hand, i feel ignorant if i slide along the right edge of the road because now it's me not giving the cars 3 feet of space. i end up getting stopped anyway soon as i meet a car that's too far to the right to get past. then i'm pushing back in in front of a driver again, and i don't feel right about it. take the leftmost edge of the lane where there's the space between two rows of cars to play with, and i'm in an unkosher position as soon as traffic's moving again, unless i deke suddenly in front of some car on the left to get back to the edge . . . dilemmas.

buzzman

a nice roll in this morning.

I'm not making much speed these days and keep debating whether I should put my other tires on but I'm sure that the fact that I put my studded snow tires is the reason why the northeast has been experiencing such unseasonably warm weather. So, I'll keep them on for the sake of my fellow New Englanders.

Nice ride home tonight.

Mazaev

Take 'em off already! People are waiting to go snowboarding

capejohn

I'm a little south of you, riding in Taunton. Only on the weekends I work though, because of the darkness and city commuters. Winter Solstace in a few of days and we will be getting more daylight. I figure by the middle of January I'll have the light to commute and the road conditions will determine if I do or not. (Snow and ice narrow the roads too much sometimes).

Today was nice and tomorrow will be even better.

scottmorrison99

I'm still feeling a little fuzzy headed from the concussion, but I rode today. Ride in was nice, 28 degrees F. Ride home was a toasty 41 degrees. Lots of police pulling people over tonight. Gotta watch out for the drunk drivers. I compared my Christmas party picture from last year to this year and WOW! The weight loss is amazing. I'm staying a HHCMF.

scottmorrison99

Ride in was cold, 25 degrees. It's a new record low for my commute. Now that I dress properly for riding in I don't over heat or freeze. It makes for a much nicer ride.

Big Ron

Squeezed in one last commute for the year as I have to work today and tomorrow before taking vacation time. Might be able to ride in tomorrow as well. Hit some patchy dense fog today, but otherwise a fine ride. It was 48F, so was plenty warm. Supposed to be ~70F with a 5 mph tailwind on the way home :-)

ax0n

Switched back over to the Sorrento with knobbies. I guess there's supposed to be snow this weekend, so I'm taking away any weather-related excuse I might have for not riding my bike all week.

Of course, it's the heaviest bike I own, on heavy, low-pressure, inefficent tires. It was a slow but steady ride to the bus. Too bad it felt like I was pedalling through molasses. My legs are gonna get SORE this week. It'll be good for me.