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.

:D 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 :eek:

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!

;^)

Wow! What a great forum. I’ve been reading a lot of heartening stuff from all the commuters, and so I thought I’d post this: today marks 130 round-trips to work and back on my bike. At 21.5 miles per round-trip, that amounts to almost 2,800 miles that I didn’t spend in a car.
The weather here in the northern suburbs of Chicago hit 50 degrees, and even though it rained on my way in, it was so warm it felt like spring.
Why, I wonder, aren’t more people commuting by bike?

uneventful both ways, except that i part-bussed home again. yeah, call me a sunshine soldier. got a happy-christmas hug from my biking security buddy, who's off to the philippines for a month with his family. ready for four days off, me.

that, my friend, is the question I ask myself almost daily as I watch the line of anxious, stressed out drivers while I ride in bliss next to them.

:D

Did you ever use the name Coffee per chance?

capejohn, I live on the Cape/South Shore, how's commuting in your neck of the woods?

The commute to work was great with a 25mph tailwind, and warm temps (Low 50's). Coming back was good as well, with the exception of the last two miles when I got caught in a major downpour with only my raincoat on. I was debating whether to put on my rain pants, but didn't. No problem, it was only two miles.

Rain bike and back up bike down for repairs, so I rode the road bike in even though rain was predicted. The rain never materialized, so I had a fast ride both ways. Anyone have a suggestion for good gloves for temps from 20-40F?

I live near New Bedford and work in Taunton. I drive to the Galleria Mall and ride the remaining 10 miles through the city of Taunton to work. I did a picture blog HERE

Nice pictures, capejohn. Pretty ride. :)

Fun ride in this morning. A little chilly, but nothing too bad. I got a little crazy and did some curb hopping since I was basically the only one on the road at the time. Then, when I got to work, I discovered that my blinky broke off sometime this morning. I guess it couldn't take the curb hopping.
So...I hitched a ride from a co-worker at lunch just now, and now I'm the proud owner of a planet bike super flash. Going to go set it up after I get some more reports run for the boss.

Wow, what a ride today. I guess this was what life would be like post peak oil. I was passed by only about a dozen cars between home and work. It was chilly and a little windy but I didn't care. I had the whole road to myself.

Unless a miracle thaw occurs I am done for this year. My last ride was 1 week ago the day before the storm hit. After several thaws my housing development is still buried in wet slushy snow. If they had only plowed the path by my home I would be set. bleh! Going to hit the gym tomorrow (maybe).
This is annoying.

I'm in the same boat DataJunkie

My last commute was Dec 19 and I'm afraid that has become my last commute of the year. I could make it out my hood but I just don't feel safe with these narrow steets and disappearing lanes. Also with another big storm on the way I'm just going to wait until next year... hopefully my right lanes and bikes paths will be thawed by then. I got some new panniers today so I'm stoked... no more backpack!

BTW... Anyone else in this snowy mess notice how drivers no longer seem to think stop signs apply when there are 4 foot piles of snow along the roadways? If anything you would think they would be more cautious but it seems as though they say to themselves...'Well here is a big pile of snow I can't see over so I'm just going to floor it! Thats the ticket!' Anyway...

Yes.
Stop signs, stop lights for right turns, and many other basic traffic rules have gone out the window.
I've even seen drivers park slightly to the right of the center of a residential street.
That and all the idiots that will not shovel their sidewalk. Makes taking the kid and\or dog for a walk very annoying. It is understanding if the person is elderly but many are just plain lazy.
My new cycling clothes and equipment is just going to have to wait.