scottmorrison99

Ride in was 27F, a little chilly for me. I got a lift home because the drunks are already on the roads. Guess I'll drive in tomorrow. I tend to drive on New Years and the 4th of July. The odds of getting hit seem to go up on those days.

rafael

Left work at 11:30 pm. Stiff wind from the south. It had rained earlier so the roads were damp. Odd that my headlight shines a dimmer spot an a wet road. Most of my ride home is southward: it was hard riding but it felt good. I figured that most of the drinking drivers would be waiting for the ball to fall, marking the new year, so I had no worries about traffic. Some kids smoking on a front porch yelled at me as I passed: "Rock and Roll, babe! Need some help?" and so forth. Arrived home just before midnight.

Happy New Year!

Topher_Aus

First morning back from holidays today.

I got a bike computer for Christmas- I now know my ride is 17.65 km long, and I averaged just under 25 km/h this morning.

BikesareBest

Hey BeetleBaby:
You said you live in the most bike unfriendly city in the world? Try Fort Worth, Texas. I was riding my MTB the other day, and a driver in a pickup truck was trying to run me off the road. I don't know why.

ModoVincere

Early commute this morning...lots to do at the office this week.
Got here only to find a bunch of new people using the facilities, I guess new years resolutions or some such non sense. I'm sure all will be back to normal in a week or two.
Other than that, only one buzz this morning. Some jacka$$ in a SUV passed by me so close I could have grabbed hold of his door handle, opened the door and jumped in. That would have shocked the a$$hole.

bikebuddha 

About 2C this morning when I rode into work. I was on vacation 2 days last week so the anxiety about how much work had built up woke me up early this morning. So I took a leisurely ride in this morning dressed in my work clothes. I kind of hoped that the sight of a guy in a shirt and tie riding down the road would encourage people to give me a little wider berth and maybe even make them slow down a little. It didn’t work, they still drove like they were smoking crack while mixing up a batch of meth.

vtjim

First day back at work from vacation. Nice 20-30MPH tailwind. I hope it dies down before I have to ride home. Low 30Fs. I was a little bit warm, actually. That's the tailwind's fault.

We got some snow over the weekend but it's all gone now. The MUP is clear. I ordered a pair of studded 26" Nokian Hakkapeliitta W106 tires from the LBS. At the rate this winter is going, I won't ever need them.

pinkrobe

No real trouble getting in today. Many people aren't back in the office until next week, so I've got a few days to get used to the heavier traffic load before it becomes an onslaught.

Two Buck Chuck

I had a memorable ride in today--as I was approaching Constitution Avenue, the motorcade for Ford's funeral was beginning to make its way to the Capitol to pick up the casket. As I was stopped watching the procession, I caught a glimpse of Betty Ford and her family.

The ride in was quiet. With the Federal government shut down today, there was little traffic on the roads and bike trails. Only three cars passed me!

HardyWeinberg

No work today, so commuted w/ Thing 1 to his K. Only bikes at the rack this morning. Sun was not yet up, of course, there was still another 45 min for other kids to roll in.

gizem310

Nice ride. Brisk cool air, a nice surprise for SoCal. It was so nice actually that half way to the office, I turned around and went back home with the excuse that I left my cell phone at home. I arrived home, just to realize that it was in my pannier!
Eating my bowl of oatmeal and drinking a cup of coffee, enjoying the fact that I'm turning in my two-weeks notice in three days... IT ROCKS!!!

caloso

First commute of 2007 was a little late starting but smooth once I got on the road. I did get buzzed by a blue Lexus, but I don't think it was intentional, just clueless. If I'd been a bit more assertive taking the lane, I doubt she'd have tried to scoot by me.

I rode the old mtb with full panniers, wearing a shirt and tie and my brand new fluorescent green jacket. I probably looked like the Freddiest of Freds. And I don't really care.

idcruiserman

Easy ride in today after 12 days off, thankfully. Hardly any traffic, too.

Ray C

Temp. start 26°, end 30°. Wind: calm. Dist: 20 mi., Time: ~1hr 25min. (I need a cycle computer, any suggestions?).

Used clear fit-over safety glasses for the first time, to reduce eye irritation. Worked well, but a little bulky. Would like to find smaller pair that still clear my glasses.

Saw a red fox cross in front of me. It's always fun to see the wildlife. The other day I saw a Cooper's hawk. Their not as common as the Red Tailed around here (Kansas City, MO, USA).

Felt good to ride after over-eating on New Year's Day.

CliftonGK1

Soggy, per standard this time of year here. The wind was moderate (10mph) and at my back, so the rain didn't seem to bad. Now the rain's picking up again, and so is the wind. Looks to be 18-20mph headwinds and downpour on the way home.
Not a bad start for my journey to 4000 miles this year.

jimmuter

It was sunny, clear and in the low '40's this morning. The other nice part is that school was out today again. There was barely any traffic. School resumes tomorrow, so it was nice while it lasted.

bentnail

From the way it looks I wont ride again until the side rodes clear. Had a snow and the rodes are bad !!

DataJunkie

First commute in two weeks and the last one till maybe next week. I discovered that the main streets are fine. Just a tad icy. However, the side streets are completely miserable. A good chunk of my commute is on these lesser traffic side streets. Trails are not even passable. With the melt starting, ice is even worse. One of my main streets was covered with a 6-12 inches of ice and snow pack. This was all covered with a foot or so of slush. Each way I had to spend a good mile or so pushing or carrying my bike. Oh the humanity! However, I did not fall. I did need to take a left on a main roadway (yale and I-25). At that point I just sat in the left lane. Freaking idiots kept honking at me. How the hell else am I supposed to get to the light rail station? Yes, I bailed after 8 miles of crap.
To top it off it was my turn to pick up our 3 year old son from day care. I wised up and told them to hang onto the trailer. No need to make my son pay for my mistake. Instead we took the bus. Guess what! Once we got off the bus the way was blocked by a large mound of snow and ice. To go the direction we needed I would have had to walk my son and my bike directly into oncoming traffic on a main arterial. So we walked along an ice encrusted sidewalk the opposite direction to get around the mound. After a little while my son was having such a problem walking on the ice that I decided he would be better off while I carried him and my 30 lb commuting rig on top of solid sheets of ice. 1 or 2 miles later we finally made it home. My goodness my arms are killing me. I think I will wait for the pavement in front of my house to clear before trying again. No need to kill myself. Note: 700X28 tires are still worthless in ice and snow. I seriously need a mountain bike with studded tires. Heck, my touring bike with studded tires would be a big improvement. However, I think the more upright riding style would be better in snow. My current MTB is such a POS that I am afraid it would break down on any distance over 2 miles. That's what you get for a 10 year old $50 MTB from a XMART.

Sorry for the rant. Just annoyed. I think I may call the city and complain about that corner.

Sardu

I hadn't had a flat in nearly a year, and now, in the space of five or six days I've had four, culminating in a staple (or something like that) in my tire this morning. Took me nearly five minutes to just get the thing out of my tire. I guess whatever good karma I saved up by bike commuting has run out. Tomorrow my chain will probably break and I'll get sprayed by a skunk.

tomg

i feel for you! oil that chain (got a chain tool?)!
my ride this new start went smooth. had to stop for 1 school bus, got space shared by another, later (w/smile-knod). kinda like karma - ying/yang in another sense!
do you use kevlar lined tires?

bikedaddy

Well I think my first post-blizzard commute turned out better than DataJunkie's. Ofcourse I don't commute as far and don't have to carry any of my kids through miles of snow and ice.

I did a test run on the holiday yesterday to make sure it was worth the pain of dealing with this mess. The bike lanes were all under three feet of snow but I had no issues taking the lanes. People gave me way more space than they do in the bike lane. The bike trail I eventually hit was plowed decently and no one else has been using it recently. Where the trail intersects the main roads is tricky. The pedestrian buttons are located above a few feet of dirty road snow and impossible to get to. I just had to cross illegaly when I was sure everything was clear. Also no sidewalks so I had to trudge through some deep crap to get back on the plowed trail. I did adjust my route home so I would only have to do this once. There were at least two spots each way where I had to get off and walk for a minute or two. Traffic was also on the light side today so that helped. Plan on commuting the rest of the week barring anymore freak blizzards. I am usually a snow lover and I always get excited when it is in the forecast but I could care less if all of this mess disappeared.

Also first commute with my Cateye HD-EL 500. Better than my old cheap junk and more than adequate for the city riding I do. Also first commute with my new panniers and rack. It is so nice to have nothing on my back.

marqueemoon

There was a really vicious headwind this morning. I was already running late (as usual) and it made things pretty unpleasant. The ride home was a breeze though. Things went better at work today and I *might* be able to stay on longer than expected.

lds700

I couldn't sleep last night, work related worries so I rode about midnite. 28 degrees, light snow, a bit icy
but not bad. Returned home, prepared beater MTB with snows for what I assumed to be another snowy
Pacific NW morning ride and to my surprise I awoke to 38 degrees and rain. The Flyte got the call and
my first commute for 07 is now history. There is no predicting the NW weather, I'm just going to enjoy
whatever Ma Nature sends my way. It was/is still a holiday schedule for most/some so traffic was light.
Tonite as I blunder thru this its 47 degrees (another NW tradition--a Chinook wind) and I'm not the
least bit sleepy......I'm going riding!

Sardu

Nah, just cheap ones, they've held up pretty good going between 150 and 200 miles a week until the first flat which was (I guess) a pinch flat that somehow damaged the sidewall of the tire and it's been downhill since. When I have money I'll get more rugged tires (I even read a positive review tonight about, of all things, airless tires), but I'm down to my last tube now!

RomSpaceKnight

What lousy riding weather. Drizzle and high winds. At least snow is drier. I am hating winter so far. One good snow fal and that's all. I should put my slicks back on. Might as well put my dh and xc skiis away. This wet weather sucks. I should move back to England.