No rain, but very wet streets from the pre-dawn torrents. These are the days for which God gave us fenders.

Pleasant ride this morning once I warmed up (long-sleeved T-shirt plus windbreaker; about 32 F). Had a riding partner for most of the route, which is rare for me.

Let's see how strong this evening's winds are... if they're the 40-mph gusts one TV station forecast, a bus ride may be in my future.

Dare I say spring has sprung, it was minus 6 this morning but a balmy plus 8 on the ride home in the sun no less. If I stays this way my bent will be on the road in a week. We still have a little too much ice on the road for the bent but its melting slowly.

Congrats and Welcome to all the new commuters on here! I hope that you continue to enjoy the daily adventure of Bike Commuting. As for me, it's been rather average this past week, nothing substantial to report, although today in the mail I got my new Fenix L2D flashlight with handlebar mount, and HOLY CRAP is that thing bright, in "Turbo" mode. I had to wait till the ride home to really see what it was like, and it lit up almost the whole road in front of me. I could tell that I was super visible to oncoming cars, cars came on me, some even slowed as if trying to figure out what that bright light was, and some even pulled over to the right in their own lane, as if I needed more room on my side. When I got home I parked the bike in front of my building and walked across the dark parking lot so I was a good distance away and the light was still blinding from about a hundred to a couple hundred feet away! In my opinion, well worth the investment, I think it was about $70 with shipping.

weird week thus far for me the weather here in Melbourne has been all over the place, 34 degrees mon tues, pissing down beyond belief and cold yesterday and beautiful riding weather today

I wonder what 2morow holds

It was lovely in the morning at about 8AM. On the way home I had some light rain, so I made note to stuff a poncho in the bag. I had a nigh class at 6pm and weather was nice, cool in the higher 60's and wind going in my direction. On the way home at 7PM I had some bad rain, had to stop at star bucks to let it calm down. Ordered a coffee and finished "Monster" by Frank Peretti.

So besides a little harsh rain in the afternoon, the ride was swell. Little traffic for some reason and didn't get anything thrown at me.

Bizarro commute this morning. First it was nearly light outside when I left home after riding in the dark for months. Everything just looks different. The wind was blowing strong out of the East and NE, which is unusual. So I had a tailwind much of the way, but a stiff headwind on a stretch of road that I can normally fly on because it's slightly downhill and rarely into the wind. The wind has been brutal all week in NC, but fortunately I've had tailwinds or crosswinds on much of my commutes. The morning lows have been about the same every day (30-32 F), but it felt much colder today because of the NE wind blowing right off the Atlantic. It felt a good 10 degrees colder today, which was born out by the windchill in the low 20s.

Windy as tarwheel described -seemed like no matter which way I was headed there was a stiff headwind. But still nice. Today is my 5th bike commute in 2 weeks after many weeks off. Tomorrow is slated for "wintry mix" according to the NWS, so it's looking like the bus for me tomorrow. (Yeah, yeah, I know, and I've got fenders and a rain suit, but I just feel like giving myself a little rest for a day.)

We're coming into one of my favourite times of the year, where almost every day begins with a beautiful sunrise. We got a nice one today, with splashes of colour along the horizon to the SE, and a mostly clear blue sky above us. No wind, -4C and quiet.

It wasn't the cold so much as the constant headwind that was unpleasant. I left late and was slower than usual but otherwise felt good, I've been working on taking in more carbs at dinner-it's making a big difference. Looking forward to the "wintry mix" tonight and tomorrow morning.

Ditto on the sunrise. I had perfect timing, leaving just before it broke and arriving after it was up. Enjoyed a beautiful sunrise the entire trip. -8C and this morning i dressed abit too warm using windproof layers.

Clear sky and a full moon lighting the roadway for me. The city ran the street sweepers far into the shoulder last night, so most of my ride was swept perfectly clean of any debris. It was a little bit chilly, and I've got to investigate this clicking noise in my bottom bracket (once per pedal rotation, same place every time, only when under heavy pressure like climbing hills,) but the ride in was great. A tractor-trailer driver flashed his brights behind me to let me know he was passing and hauling a tandem dumper. That level of courtesy at quarter to 6am made me really happy.

Awesome to see a big bite taken out of the moon on my way home last night. I'd totally forgotten about the lunar eclipse until then.

CliftonGK1-maybe this should be under "mechanics", but I get the same thing periodically and usually start by re-greasing the pedal spindles (a quick, easy fix for a common culprit of such noises). If the clicking persists, clean and re-grease the crank arm/bb interface and then remove, clean and re-grease the bottom bracket and bb shell. Beyond that you're probably looking at a replacement bb. I think commuter bikes that see daily use need more attention in these areas than most bikes. I use generous amounts of Phil Woods waterproof grease.

Pea soup fog made the last turn into the work parking lot from one bike lane across 5 car lanes (4 travel and 1 turn) plus another bike lane a little more exciting than usual, but still uneventful. Woohoo!

So I have seen a vespa/scooter type vehicle also parked at the bike rack outside my work building, and have seen the same scooter parked in a parking lot at a nearby apartment complex I pass on my way in. Today, as I rode past the complex I saw the owner, a woman, getting on the scooter, I nodded hello and she nodded back and I continued on my way. A little ways down the road I hear a buzzing behind me and she slowly passes me on the left. I was able to keep up right behind her for a little while, and caught up with her at the next stop sign, which we both turned left and then right to enter the company campus main gate. I ended up following her all the way through campus to the bike racks and had a little chat with her as we were locking up our respective steeds. She said, "If I had known we were going to the same place I would have given you a tow!" I mentioned that 2 wheeled transport was definitely the way to go, and she said, "I just wish it was warmer" I smiled because I was all hot and sweaty from my ride and said, "It doesn't bother me much." It was a nice little interaction, much different than if we had both driven our cars to work.

Well....not such a good commute today. I'm used to the cold, started out this morning at 4F and it was around 17F on the way home. We had rain then 5 inches of snow on top last Sunday and it has been well below freezing all week...it created ice skating patches all over the less traveled roads. Made it safely in this morning, but coming home tonight I was rolling down a big hill and there was a huge patch of ice at the bottom...Ouch! Nothing broken except my spirt...when will this nasty winter ever end? Maybe I should buy a studded front tire??

First rain soaked commute home on my new bike....
 

Hey everyone,

So it was back in January I purchased a Specialized Globe 6 IG8 to replace a 26 year old Schwinn for commuting. I had a bad spill due to soap/grease/water and I decided to upgrade to a "real" commuter bike.

My new Specialized has the full fenders and all. Tonight, coming home I had rain all the way and I felt pretty much in control. The Specialized Nimbus tires held the road well. The dyno hub was fine with water. The fenders did a great job and my Axiom rear pack protected the contents well. The rim V-brakes howled a bit, I rode slower and braked carefully. Oh, I got soaked, but I wasn't uncomfortable and when I returned home it was time for a good cleaning of the bike.... all that road grime from the wet roads. Overall, I'm very pleased with how the bike dealt with rain. Now it's cleaner than new.

I should look into some rain gear, so I don't have to get soaked next time.

-3bikes

Fun ride home last night. It was the last night of Chinese New Year (Yuanxiao Jie), and fireworks were going off EVERYWHERE. The smell of gunpowder in the air, and some mist or haze to add to the effect. A bit of a war zone.

I had jury duty the last 2 days, and had a great ride into New Brunswick and back. Same length as my normal commute, but a longer ride - there are lots of stop signs and turns for the first mile.

On the way back, there's a nice climb going into Highland Park. The town is well named.

I had a nice ride in last night. A little powder on the ground and falling snow combined with little traffic made for a very peacful commute. This morning on the other hand, wasn't all that great. it snowed most of the night, but there was only about an inch of powdery snow on the ground. I forgot that there was rutted ice on the 2-3 feet closest to the edge of my street. I was riding along watching the snow fly out of the front of my fender and I caught a rut and lost it. I hit the ground hard with my right knee and banged up the wald folding basket on right side of the bike. My knee is going to be bruised and sore for a while, my coffee cup got smashed and so did my cigarettes. I just sat there on the ground laughing for a moment because the whole situation was funny and stupid. All in all it was a fun ride home.

Gross..... I was looking forward to the predicted snow/freezing rain, however, once I hit the streets it was just a cold, soaking rain. I came across periodic, small accumulations of granular stuff (mostly on the bridges/overpasses) which offered decent traction and a break from wheel spray. The temps for fairly mild and I didn't notice a headwind so, other than being a little wet, I was pretty comfortable. I guess they're predicting more freezing rain/sleet this afternoon. Also, it looks to be a fairly quiet day at work-many took the day off.

'Twas another beautiful sunrise to ride into this morning. Pinks, tangerines, gold and blue. I was chasing a 911 turbo most of the way into work, and passed him about 2 blocks from my building. 375 HP, all-wheel drive, pwned by a bike.

This morning there was a real cool full moon. It was low on the western horizon which is the direction i travel for half my commute.
The temperature range i pass through was fairly interesting. It went from -9(ish) in the city to -17c closer to the Edmonton International airport.

Ride in last night was nice, quick and uneventful.

This morning, on the other hand, was more interesting with the snow coming down. Almost wiped out doing a trackstand due to the rear wheel slipping. The Brooklyn Bridge had been plowed earlier, but still had some dicey spots. The wooden part is hard to walk on without slipping, but riding along seemed ok.

Stopped to help a beemer with rear wheel drive pull out of a parking spot. Didn't even get a thank you. Also took some pictures along the way :-)


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I had my first commute with clipless pedals today! Very exciting. So far I have little trouble clipping out when I'm planning it well ahead, but the reflex is a bit untrained yet for more sudden stops. A couple wobblies but I'm not in the 0 mph crash club yet.

New saddle & grips on the Tikit are a huge comfort improvement too; those foamies where stressing my right thumb something fierce, irritating a tendon in it. Changing them out for pretty cheap rubber grips provided instant relief. With my improvements in training, and a few upgrades, I think my commute is a good five to ten minutes shorter (going in; more downhill). And definitely more fun!

Was snowing a bit this morning, had an on/off 4-day work week that I've ridden the fixie on most days due to possible ice related issues (I feel way more in control riding fixed in slippy conditions). Not bad though, it's looking to warm up too - and I've done a couple of after-work 25-mile rides, that's 3x25+ my regular rides since Saturday which clocks in some milage for me (on the roadie, though :p).

That's it now, you've tempted fate! :p

Congrats! I got my clipless pedals in November and absolutely love it. Initially I found the dismounting process a bit trickier so I bailed twice the first day I went for a test spin but now I'm doing fine.

Streets were wet and the skies were threatening, but no precipitation on the way in. I hope my luck holds for the ride home.