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. :D
Not a bad start for my journey to 4000 miles this year.

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.

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

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

Felt fast both ways. No problems, good start to 2007.

a nice ride to the post office and where I discovered it was closed. Figured I'd ride downtown while I was out and pick up the ukulele case I'd ordered. Cell phone battery was dead so couldn't call ahead, where I would have found out that the case wouldn't come in until tomorrow now- due to postponed deliveries.

Ended up doing a little more than 20 miles and rode home bathed in the light of a really beautiful almost full moon.

heh. and here comes the legendary rainy weather like what i've been wondering where it's got to. i know it rained a lot of WATER this winter, but it didn't rain nearly as many hours. there was a rainfall warning on the way in, more or less justified, with wind. i'm thinking of this winter as the Winter Of The Prevailing Headwind. seems like it's been at least a month since i went to work without one.

things didn't look too bad from my back door so i decided i couldn't be arsed with the booties, and i paid for it. the mysterious thing is my tights got wet from the knees on down, and i can't figure out why unless it was some kind of capillary-action thing with the rainpant cuffs picking it up off the edge of my shoes and passing it upwards and in. the ride itself wasn't the unpleasant part, it was the peeling-off of all that wet stuff with wet, stiff fingers once i got there . . . yuck. i think i really underestimate how much extra time bike commuting takes me in winter, just for the dressing and undressing part. riding home was clear and calm and just the right temperature.

it is now january second. there are roughly 80 calendar days to go to the spring equinox. that's um, lemme see . . . 11.5 weeks at 5 workdays per week, which comes to . . . light at the end of the tunnel on its way here.

HOt HOt HOT 34 degrees today good commute though

Same here. :rolleyes: Started out annoying, and got worse as I went along.

High 20Fs, and a beautiful full moon over the Adirondacks. My ride home last night had the same moon, but it was coming up in the east in a darkening blue sky. I stopped to admire the scenery. Nobody else on the MUP. Just the wind whispering through the trees. One of those times when I was extra happy to be a bicycle commuter. :o

2nd Commute this year for me this morning. A bit colder than yesterday, low 30s but I expect it to be the coldest ride for awhile since temps are warming up rapidly this week. Have to buy a new taillight since I lost mine last week when it fell off and I couldn't find it on my way home.

20MPH headwind with gusts to 29 this morning :rolleyes: At least it was very warm (45F). On the small ring the entire way. Supposed to rain on the way home to complete the picture.

Very pleasant ride in this morining. Mid 30's and clear skies. All the cagers were polite, and I did not feel rushed to get to work like yesterday morning.

I love days like today.

It wasn't bad starting out - a bit colder than I liked (28), but no wind, and it's supposed to be 60 this afternoon, so I didn't wear a wind shell. My mistake. My upper body was cold the whole way in. I've also got to get better gloves. I'm wearing Pearl Izumi windproof gloves with separate liners, but my fingers were so cold they hurt. Feet were cold, but OK.

The bike was the main problem today. Since it was good weather, I took my main road bike, which I was excited to ride for the first time after getting it properly fitted on Sunday. Well, here's what went wrong:

Sensor for cyclocomputer wasn't set up right - couldn't tell speed.
Batteries on GPS went out about 5 miles in - lost my data for the route.
Seat post clamp must not have been tightened properly during the fit session. It bottomed out (gradually - I didn't notice it at first), but by the time I did, I was 8 miles or so from home, and didn't bring my tool kit with me to adjust it.
Front derailleur has too much play on upshift - I knocked the chain off 3 times during the ride (was able to shift it back on easily, but that needs to be fixed).
I slipped on my pedals 3 times trying to clip in - once when crossing a street.

I'll fix the seat post and cyclocomputer here @ work, and get new batteries, but I might be taking the bike right back to the LBS after I get home.....and after I buy a new pair of gloves.

Cold. 30 degrees for a southern boy is cold.
But I bundled up nicely and rode in. My beautiful wife bought me a Camel Back for Christmas and I really liked it. I thought I might have problems and wind up hating the thing, but I didn't.

I increased my average this morning slightly as well. 43 miles at 17.5 mph. I still beat everyone in and was practically washed, dressed, and working by the time everyone showed up.

I picked up a pair of gloves at Costco over Christmas break. They are working out very well. Waterproof outers with light fleece inners. You might give them a try.

How was the ride? Well, pretty much all the snow we got on the 26th and 27th melted yesterday afternoon, so I was able to switch back to the skinny-tire bike. Also, it was above freezing, so I didn't need a headband or balaclava, and I had a 30-60 km/h tailwind. On the down side, traffic volume has just about doubled from yesterday. It should be like this the rest of the week, and then things will notch up again on Monday.

I think I need a bigger gear on my conversion. I think I'm riding a 42x16, but it's worth confirming. My old gear was a 39x14, but I've gotten significantly stronger since last summer.

Uneventful. But I finally figured out what the construction crews have been doing down the street, they're building part of the silver comet trail connector.