Balmy 12F this morning plus headwind. Some ice/snow remnants left around town, but it only slowed me down on the big hill. Funny how 25F used to seem cold . . .

Pretty nice commute today except one idiot. I was pulling up to the light at Westside Parkway in the turn lane. All of a sudden dipstick on my right wants to move over....right into me. I slapped his window and stared his ass down. I could not believe the gaul of this a$$hole.

Anyway, I also got passed by a roadie that was apparently in a hurry. Going up a nice little hill and he basically handed me my hiney on a platter:o Maybe the next time I see him, I'll be on my road bike and then we'll see who's the boss:D

Warm and wet commute this morning. Temps in the low 60s so I was in shorts and the roads were wet at places from some passing showers. I didn't get rained on though and am hoping the rain is gone by the time I head home. Winter is coming back tonight :)

Winter's back in Cleveland!:D

It was very pretty. with snow coming down and an inch or two on the MUP. Fun, albeit lonely ride in today.

It's been two weeks since I've posted here, even though I've continued to commute every day. Reason for it is that on Jan. 2 my beloved Cannondale commuter, bought less than a year ago for $1300, was stolen from my lock-up spot at my office. Holy cow, I was just crushed, and still am.

This may be obvious to some, but if not, take my advice: do NOT use the Kryptonite coil-style locks. This is the second time I've used one and had it clipped. I've now lost approximately $2,500 in beloved bike because of these things.

So have been precariously riding my roadbike to work, just waiting for a flat tire or something. Having my bike stolen just sapped the enthusiasm I had for commuting, which is why I stopped coming here. But I still have to get to work, and biking is my best option, so I continue to do it. Now I'm trying to decide whether to just buy a cheapie commuter or shell out some bucks for another nice bike and then lock it up much better. I'm vain enough that I like to ride a nice bike, but I'm feeling very burned since my Cannondale was a replacement for a previous Cannondale that was stolen from in front of my house.

Thieves are such dicks.

That suck's dude..... Don't give up. Park it next to your desk.
Winter is finally here!!!!

Sounds like a good reason to demand indoor bike storage at work... :mad:

Sucks to hear that Relaxer. Hope your home insurance takes care of some of the replacement bike expense. Stick w/ krypto/abus/granit chains and locks plus a mini-U to lock the wheel to the frame. You can leave the chain where you work if you don't want to carry it all the time. Also, CigTech did a review of the GMC Denali so check it out if you just want a cheap commuter bike to tide you over.

I have friends in Capitol Hill who have also had their bikes stolen in front of their house. Do you have an option to park in a garage somewhere? I think if you ride in one and act like you belong, you shouldn't have any problems. Sorry to hear that. I've wondered how long my bike would last if I parked it in front of my office on N. Capitol Street!

Very windy commute today, with 15mph headwinds for much of the ride. I had a nice chat with a commuter who was taking his son to daycare/school on his bike--the first time I've seen that in the city.

I'm looking forward to the chilly weather this week, but could do without the wind.

Portland Oregon - first time since I started bicycle commuting two years ago - Stinking, Nasty, Observable, Winter - otherwise know as SNOW. Snow on the bike path - accumulating. About an inch by the time I got to work. I slowed it way down and actually enjoyed the scenery. It was a very pretty ride. I was just worried about snow on top of ice but no wipeouts this morning.

My wife had to catch a 6:30 a.m. flight, so I rode in alone. It was faster. :) If it doesn't snow tonight, sublimation may take away enough of the snow to allow me to ride the skinny tires by Friday. I won't hold my breath...

It looks like the cold air that's been freezing us on the west coast is moving east, it was a fairly balmy 43F this morning at 7:00, but with steady 30 mph north winds. Guess which direction I ride to get to work?

Managed to get out in the cold. 1F and really not so bad once I got going. Still had to be very careful on the bikepath due to ice. I am looking forward to more daytime melting and nighttime freezing so I can fall down a bunch more on ice. Yeah ice!

23F/-5C. Chilly. And it didn't help that I couldn't find my skull cap. I thought my ears might fall off by the time I got to work.

Rode the race bike to work today. The first race of the year is Saturday and I put new tires on the race wheels. I figured I ought to get a few miles on the tread to rough 'em up a little. (Dont' know if that's actually true, but it couldn't hurt).

I'm posting for the first time in a very long time on this thread, as I commuted in the snow today for the first time. When I got up at 5:00 AM to do some work, there was just a bit of snow dusting the ground in in Beaverton/Hillsboro area. By the time I left at 7:00 AM, I was having second thoughts, as the snow was by then about 1.5 inches. But I tested my Rans Stratus long wheel base recumbant, and found that I had traction, and that the snow did not present slipping problems (less than ice that I was on last week). So I decided to try it.

I went out and got on the bike path near my home, which at that point is a wooden walkway. I managed it fine, if a bit slower than normal. I then got out to the road (173rd, for those who know Beaverton), turned up the onto the sidewalk, and couldn't see where the concrete was and the dirt was. So I got onto the concrete, and started up on the sidewalk. The road had a number of cars stalled as they could not negotiate a short, but fairly steep, hill. I was able to simply pedal right up it. I went by bike path and sidewalk to a shopping center, went through their parking lot, and to Starbucks for a breakfast. My church group usually meets there on Tuesday mornings, but no one else showed up. So I finished breakfast, and started out again for work.

I went slowly down Evergreen Parkway, which has a wide bike path on it. The cars were all driving very slowly and carefully here. But at one point, I got my front wheel into a wheel tread from a car, and that did throw me to the ground; but on the LWB recumbant, it's about like sliding into second base, with no damage except to ego. I got up, and decided to proceed up a secondary road nearby, which I did after I got out my Leatherman Tool and got the snow out of my pedals and shoes (clip-on pedals don't work too well in snow). I stayed on the secondary road until it got to another parking lot, then switched again to the sidewalk, staying off the roadway with car drivers who were very unsure of themselves. I had no further problems, and got to work at about the same time I would have on a normal day.

What I'm impressed with is how stable the LWB recumbant bicycle is in these slippery conditions. It seems more reliable than a car, especially when there are a lot of people out there without a clue as to how to drive in snow.

John

The wind was pretty oppressive this morning -- right down by the Potomac on the MV Trail it felt like I was in a wind tunnel at times. The good news out of all of it ... the wind isn't supposed to change, so the 100% headwind should be a 100% tailwind tonight :-D Just cross those fingers ...

I'm actually looking forward to the cold this week is supposed to bring as well, 20 something temperatures can wake you up better than strong coffee.

Commute in was a nightmare this morning (wasn't much better last night, but at least there's less traffic in the dark and going down steep hills in the dark is hugely fun despite the risk of something falling off) as despite me changing my front tyre over the weekend, the front wheel still refuses to hold the air in for any length of time, so I'm left with the option of continually pumping it up, walking it to work, or ride on, probably damaging the wheel but not getting in late. Good job I chose the latter as no-one was in when I got there.

Anyway, seeing as the bike I'm riding really could do with new gears, and probably new brakes, not to mention new lights I've decided to shell out on a battery powered electric one rather than get it fixed. Will that mean I'll become inelegible to post round here?

Toronto riding continues to be nuts! -10 C, my headset was really stiff at the end of my ride and the front shifter was acting up. Backstreets are very iffy. Given that I still haven't switched to knobbies, I didn't even bother to try the neighbourhood roads. In this weather I'm your arterial girl all the way. Arterials are just a little wet and narrower than normally, perfectly rideable. And drivers seem to be more careful on average. Though I did get reminded why I used to call Bathurst Street "Butt hurts Street". The pavement there is something else!!!

No trouble at all today except some stupid pedestrian who told me "You go on the sidewalk" (no, you go on the sidewalk! :D). But the person I was supposed to meet for work today was late: as she was driving on a highway really slowly because of the snow, a speeding Jeep passed her and a huge chunk of ice fell off the roof of the Jeep and onto her car, scratching the roof and scaring the hell out of the driver. Driving is dangerous, folks! 600 reported accidents in one day on superhighways alone throughout southwestern Ontario! Ride your bikes! :)

As long as you pedal the electric one some, it's ok. :) But weigh all factors carefully: hill-climbing becomes easier, but the coolness/macho/superhero factor does go down a couple of notches if you switch to electric. :D :)

Glad to hear.

It's not about being cool/macho/superhero, it's about getting to work safely. Over the last week I've had the chain fall off at hight speed, the lights fail, the tyre problem and gears that change when they want to change not when I do. One of these days, I will have an accident unless I do something about it.

Plus, it'll cut down the time I'm travelling about, which when I usually finish work at about 6-7pm and then have about 7-8 miles to cycle is quite important.

Ouch. That does not sound very good at all. Sometimes all that's needed is a good tune-up, but it's possible the thing's just toast and you need something else.

Of course. Safety first. You could of course get a new non-electric bike but:

So if electric is your thing, go for it. Actually, I'll let you in one little secret: one of the coolest things to do is to choose things that work for you, even if they are typically regarded as uncool.

Sort of off-topic, but I wish the city plowed the MUP. Check out this weather alert. Perfect commuting weather! :D This alert was obviously written by a southerner. If you "must" venture outdoors. Heh heh. I may go on a local ride just because I can!

THE COLD AIR WILL BE OVER THE REGION LATE TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY MORNING... WHEN TEMPERATURES WILL DROP TO BETWEEN ZERO AND 10 BELOW IN MOST LOCATIONS. THESE TEMPERATURES COMBINED WITH WINDS OF 10 TO 15 MPH WILL PRODUCE WIND CHILLS OF 20 TO 25 BELOW ZERO.

IF YOU MUST VENTURE OUTDOORS...MAKE SURE YOU WEAR A HAT AND GLOVES...TO PROTECT AGAINST FROSTBITE AND HYPOTHERMIA.

( ONLY a hat and gloves, or should I wear pants too? :p )

-9C, a bit of snow falling, still lots of ice from the ice storm on Sunday night, winds light. Have taken to wearing ski goggles. Do a good job of keeping cold icy wind out of eyes. My eyes never used to water in cold weather unless I got over 20 mph now they seem to water a lot at 15 mph. Getting old?

Today was my first real winter commute (after a failed attempt yesterday during a small snow storm).

Coming back from work at 11PM, the weather was -20C/-4F with gusty winds. With 6 KM to go, I decided to adjust my seatpost's height... My seatpost quick-release pin quickly broke when I tried to release it. The rest of the ride was spent sitting 6" too low on my old hybrid, with the saddle going to and fro with its red blinky, knees up there like those cool dudes on downhill machines. Still, a nice ride, albeit a bit rough on my old knees.

it's warmed up and we got another inch or two of snow and then maybe some rain. morning ride was the most slithery and slippery yet, but perfectly manageable with careful speeds. heh. riding up the bridge mup in conditions like that somehow makes me feel like a crab trying to get up a wall. saw the tracks of someone on narrow slicks in a couple of spots, which impressed the hell out of me.