My wife tried to convince me to drive yesterday morning, but I didn't listen. I'm glad I checked the forecast--I saw it would by sunny and nice and decided the ride in the afternoon was worth the drizzle in the morning.

Only one or two agressive drivers this morning on my commute. Not bad. Chilly though.

Mt Rainer was beautiful this morning. The sun was rising with (rare) blue skies!

Beautiful, beautiful commute. I took the long way in, riding on the Yolo side of the Sacramento River. It was one of those mornings when I felt like I could ride forever. Everything about the ride was just about perfect except for its destination.

A new record for the "shortest distance into the ride I was run into the gutter".

85 feet.

I wonder if my wife could hear me yelling at the SUV.... in the house.

Traffic eased up quite a bit today. It was dry and cold, but not bad. I have to put new parts on the snow bikes tonight, just in case we get hit with some of the white stuff on Wednesday or Thursday.

17 degrees in Minneapolis, 17 miles, light snow and sun, PRICELESS..............

This morning I realized that I was way early for work and decided to do some yoga at this park that I ride through everyday. I didn't take into consideration that some people don't pick up after their dogs! Long story short, I had a smelly rest of the ride to work!

gizem310, I'm really sorry that happened to you (and how ironic that it happened to YOU, a dog owner yourself [and I'll bet a very responsible one, since you bike your dog around and bring him to work]).

Just one more reason I always bring extra bags on my walks to clean up after not just my dogs but everyone else's.

Wow, that stinks :). I actually rode for the first time with my new clipless pedals and shoes. For the first mile I went this is ok for real power, but I don't see much of a difference. After the 8th mile though I can say I love them and will never go back. I know you all know that already, but thought I would add it.

Well rode to the dentist before work. No cavities!

Still feet of snow covering the bike lanes. There is a small section of a 30 mph maybe 40 yds where I absolutely have to take the lane. Yesterday this really pissed some dude off but today I waved to the lady who patiently drove behind and she gave a friendly wave back so I feel happy.

Also more snow and very cold on the way for Colorado. Best winter ever! Or worst depending on your prefrence!

I go by the rule "no poop left behind".

Made the first commute to my new job today, it was 10 deg (c), extremely wet, and muddy in some places. I had to get decked out in gore-tex for the 12km (7.5mile) round trip. I need to get some fenders and panniers to protect me from the splash, and carry my work junk.


Hey Deputy Jones, let us know when you make your first stand-still spill with those clipless pedals, haha. It will happen... wear gloves.


Matt

Well the weather sure did change this afternoon, should be a fun ride home:
A band of overcast clouds and a few sprinkles will sweep eastward through eastern North Carolina through 6 PM. As this system passes through... brisk winds could gust as high as 40 to 45 mph through rush hour.

lol, will do. I have been very careful/cognizant of the fact that I am "clipped in", but I am sure that very soon I will pull up to an intersection and totally forget about it.

I knew the new fenders I put on the fixie would bite me in the ass. Pre-fenders, I had no toe overlap. Post-fenders, there's toe overlap which caused me to stop in my tracks w/ the rear wheel coming up a bit as I tried to take off from a standstill. No fall, but it did annoy me a bit. I'll keep the fenders on a little longer and try to get used to it, but they're probably coming off after spring.

Yeah, I was very careful at first too, and all was going well until I started to get used to them, and BAM! I was standing on one foot, with the other clipped in, and for some reason went to put my clipped foot down or something, my balance went off, and I hit the ground with my foot still clipped, lol. And again, almost immediately afterwards, I came to a short climb after going through some water, and the hill was unexpectedly muddy, stopping me in my tracks. I didn't have time to unclip before I was on my side in the mud, haha. I hope your spills aren't as messy as mine were, good luck!

adventurous. the morning ride was pretty standard pleasant-winter-ride type of weather, but the evening was all party. powerful head/crosswinds with gusts, great blobby wet chunks of blowing snow, the whole bit. typical of this whole lackadaisical winter, i was woefully unprepared for all of it: booties at home, only one glove cover, just a t-shirt and silk shirt under the light jacket. i actually intended all day to take the bus home because the coming wind was well-documented and it blew up to 98 kph during the day. but when i got outside and saw all that magical-wonderland snow and thought of the bragging rights, i got ambivalent. wanted to ride, wanted to not-ride, couldn't make up my mind . . . somehow it's so disappointing to see all that snow and turn your back on the ride without getting to experience even a little of it.

i set off with my bare open-knit gloves and ratty runners and rode the first part, telling myself that i'd go as far as the bridge and then quit. i really meant to, once i got a taste of the headwind and all the eyesfull of snow. then i got to the last bus-stop before the bridge and couldn't face it: getting off the bike and waiting with other shivering souls for 20 minutes before a bus came . . . i kept going. and actually, crossing the bridge was almost easy. that river's like a demarcation line; whatever weather you're getting on one side of it seems to just stop when it reaches the bridge. i had wind, but no snow. then i took a bus on the other side to bring me up the hill, and rode home from there into the wind again. i don't know if i'm imagining things or my spirit's just broken or what, but wind is rarely as difficult as i expect it to be.

next up for the rest of the week: freezing temperatures.

Nice commute this morning. Low 20Fs, and a slight tailwind. I could see a lake effect snow squall coming across Champlain. It started flurrying with 2 miles to go, and I was inside before it really got going. Now everything is white outside.

Last night I had the once-every-6-months occurrence of a driver (Benways Cab van) who can't stay behind me at a red light, so he pulls up on my right, blocking all the right-turning traffic in the process, only to have me jump the green a little bit and drop his cab through the intersection. :rolleyes:

Little on the cold side. Definitely below freezing as there was ice on the sidewalk in places and even some in the road, but not much. All the people driving were nice....probably because of the police officer I was almost keeping up with:D

Yeah, definitely below freezing and my legs weren't feeling fresh so it was a slow cold ride.

Another mild ride in - temp in the low 40s. While waiting at a red light another bike commuter rode past on the cross street - first 'office professional looking' bike commuter I've seen since I started. His helmet was hanging from his backpack. Why even carry the thing if he's not even going to wear it?

First freezing day commute (32F) and I was still sweating when I got to work despite only wearing a t-shirt, wool l/s shirt and shell. More traffic than usual and managed to drop traffic completely at an intersection where cross traffic had blocked the intersection. I wove through the gaps and took off. Had one cab honk at me despite the fact that a truck was blocking the lane further ahead and the lane next to me was clear.

Straight into 50km/hr gusts at -8C for 5km. It was a challenging commute, I should be allowed to tack on a few extra km into my journal.

drove in this am :(
but i have the mtb in the truck and will hit the state park this afternoon :)
beautiful out there, 45f and sunny. I really missed riding in....

I was going to come in on the skinny tires, but there looked to be a reasonable amount of snow on the ground, so I got out the snow bike. Good call on my part! Insane wind, drifted snow, -20-something with the windchill.