My first post on this thread. I'm amazing myself that I'm still commuting ( I doubted I would ever see 35 degrees as warm). It was 35 and rain tonight but not enough that I missed my raincoat (Left it home this am). It looked like a bit of snow mixed with the rain. The wet really made the Christmas decorations sparkle. The country roads between where I work and where I live were deserted as usual (8:30 PM). A nice ride.

another street ride in today. then had to get to an audition at another location did a couple of miles for that then a mile to get my hair cut and met my wife for a dinner out with friends. Threw the bike on the car for the ride home.

took the bus for the second part of the ride home. i dunno; tired, and another windstorm coming, and i may be harbouring the stomach flu. this week doesn't feel all that real to me anyway.

tomorrow i have to leave early so i can go down to my kid's school and be told he's not living up to his potential by an assembly-line of high-school teachers who probably (depressingly) are. haven't figured out yet if i'll try to do it by bike or not.

Mid 30s and clear blue sky this morning. Strange atmospheric conditions though. About 4 miles into my ride, the temperature dropped noticeably. Almost 10 degrees, according to the cyclocomputer.

Then, nowhere near a road, I had to ride through a layer of diesel fumes. I could see a layer of blue haze. Fortunately I broke out of it after about a quarter of a mile. Temperature inversion? Weird...

Great ride in this morning. Lighter than normal traffic, nice temps (mid to upper 40's), overcast, and only one day left this week . Almost made the entire route without having to put a foot down. I timed every light perfectly. The traffic was light enough I could roll up, psuedo track stand, and go at the one stop sign.
Then the ahole in the Isuzu tropper decides he has to pass me, and pull over into the bike lane when he clearly could not get around the traffic stopped in front of him. So, I have to stop and put my foot down because he's blocking the bike lane .

I'm still in a good mood anyway. Cycling seems to have that effect sometimes.

Light drizzle, but I'll take 44° any winter morning. Traffic MUCH lighter this AM with schools out for the holidays. Stupid guy thought it would be funny to yell out the passenger window as the truck he was in zoomed past.

Hilarious.

"Then, nowhere near a road, I had to ride through a layer of diesel fumes. I could see a layer of blue haze. Fortunately I broke out of it after about a quarter of a mile. Temperature inversion? Weird"

Possibly some farmer started up an old tractor & drove it off? Older tractors can produce what you describe if they have been sitting quite a while between startups. Mine has left a blue haze hanging low over our lake for the fishermen to avoid & in cold weather it can persist for quite a while. Don

I wiped out today. Riding on the MUP about a mile from work I tried to avoid a sidewalk curb and got my front wheel on some gravel, slid across the trail and went head over the handlebars onto the street (I have toe clips so couldn't catch my balance). My helmet has a good size scuff/dent mark right above my forehead where it hit the street pavement. Luckily, no cars were coming. I came out of it well, no blood, no bike damage.

Lesson No. 1 -- don't be too cute on the MUP trying to avoid bumps
Lesson No. 2 -- ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET

Glad you were wearing a helmet! Might need to get a replacement one now. I think most of them are only good for one hard hit.

I had way too much chili for lunch yesterday, which meant that the ride home was bloated and uncomfortable. Bleagh. This morning's ride was much better, as there was no wind, few cars and I made all but 2 lights.

tokolosh, I'm roaring at the description of the teachers. I'm also laughing because 1) EVERY report card I ever brought home said the same thing: "BJ isn't working to his potential". Remind me again....what's my motivation for "working to my potential"? And 2) I was a teacher for 3 years at the very same school that gave me those report cards. Hmmmm....

Back on topic, the ride today was very quiet. Almost no cars on the road.

I don't think I've ever had people wait at both crosswalks on one particular street before this morning, I am still perplexed. Great ride in.

Well, the rides both in and out were quite nice. Looks I will be telecommuting tomorrow, so I decided to go back into the city to buy some new rags and ended up covering about 50 miles overall for the day.

There really is nothing like the rush of weaving and navigating through mid-day NYC traffic. The constant interaction with drivers is lots of fun as well. Memorable moment of the day: Riding with 2 messengers up Park Ave, going about 25mph, 6 inches from an SUV with its windows opened, and hearing the most feminine sounding male voice scream out from the back seat "OMG, there's a biker over here!" I lol'd :-P

Don't think I've had an endorphin high like this yet :-D, (especially after some freshly made veggie juice to aid recovery.) At one point, on the way back, I found myself going 20mph up hills where I usually struggle to keep 12 or so when on the way home from work.


The weather was absolutely perfect too (mid to high 40's), adding to the experience. Can't wait to do it again.

Dark and wet as ****.

Apparently a guy riding about a block in front of me either hit or was hit by a pickup truck turning right into a parking lot. I saw him cruise by on the street I was turning onto and the next time I saw him he was standing with a small crowd gathered around him and the truck sticking halfway into the street. I didn't witness the incident at all and since there seem to have been witnesses and folks helping him I pressed on. The feelings of guilt and panic bummed me out for the rest of the way home.

nice ride in. did a ton of errands and Christmas shopping on the bike. as much as we may complain in these forums about how we are treated by automobile drivers it is nothing in comparison to how they treat one another especially around the holidays. I saw several road rage incidents and one guy in an SUV on Beacon Street lean on his horn for two blocks as he gunned the car down the busy city street- creepy!

then feeling like I was safe on the bike path I notice that there are several news vans with cameras parked on the path. Evidently a car careened off nearby Storrow Drive, shot across the bike path and into the river. The driver was pulled from the river by two persons nearby (I dont know if they were bike riders) and has recovered enough to be released from the hospital.- this link has some video where I ride pretty much daily.

actually, the word of the year this year is "ability". last year's word was "potential". and it turns out they all like him a lot more than the report cards convey, so that's good.

no bike rides. i did the whole of my day by transit and shoe-leather. never let it be said i don't do things for him. who invented walking? it's s-l-o-w-w-w.

No ride in today. Too wet and I overslept this morning. Now the systems I need are down, so I am sitting here typing very slowly.

Last nights commute home was very nice. It was cloudy and the roads were already wet from the showers that are still passing through as I type this. It was finally dark enough that my Wally World Christmas lights really showed up well. I don't think the cagers paid much attention to them though
I was kind of freaked out by this one squirrel that did not want to move out of the way for anything. He was sitting next to the road, about 6 inches at the most, from the curb and eating a giant acorn. I went by him pretty slowly and figuring he would high tail it back into the woods. But this little fellow stood his ground. He stopped eating for a second and kept an eye on me, but he showed no sign of moving.
I've now been stared down by a squirrel

Had a nice, leisurely ride in this morning for the most part. The temps were a balmy upper 40's and the trail/streets were slightly wet from over night rain. Didn't see many cars and even fewer cyclists or runners. Everything was fine until I got into DC where I was nearly T-boned by a mini van. I was coming down 15th St, lit up front and back, when this guy decided to roll the stoplight right into my lane. Luckily I saw him coming and was able to swerve an entire lane to the left and avoid him. He finally saw me and locked his brakes in the middle of the intersection. He seemed surprised and genuinely sorry so no need for words. I just waved a "thanks for not killing me" wave and kept going, he slowly followed keeping quite a distance. The ride home should be a wet one but hopefully we'll get out early today. This weekend I'm going to convert to flat, mountain bars and knobbies for the winter.

Happy Holidays everyone and safe riding.

I can't believe how many people were heading in for work this morning. Don't these people have vacation time to use???

Brisk, damp roads, but sunny.

I had the unfortunate occasion to drive last night and did notice a lot of erratic behavior. The other drivers weren't too good either.

it rained, which is always fun, but my right bootie didn't do its job, so now I've got a wet sock, but all in all, a fun ride, tried a new route, shaved a couple of min off the usual time.

Last commute of the year...Awesome ride both ways. Merry Christmas everyone

Bloody miserable weather. 7'C and pouring rain. I should move back to England. I am a Canadian and I demand my snow.

Oh well. Happy Yule everybody.

Only had three hours of work today so I tried to get my running buddy to go for a ride in the rain this morning and then hang out until I was done working, but the rain scared him off! It was in the mid 40's. Mid-afternoon commute home, 52 degrees with sun and 15-20 mph tail wind. Nothing like a tail wind to make me feel like I'm flying low! Merry Christmas everyone!

;^)