Welcome, shamen71!

Here, the weather is warming to the point where I'll soon be ditching the vest and skullcap. And I really don't need the lights if I'm working my normal hours (although I'll probably keep them on the bike for a couple more weeks just to be safe).

Got out the door in time for the early bus this AM, only to find I had a FLAT (grrr). Fixed it in the driveway, and headed out. Nice morning - warmer than it's been, and dry. Stopped along the way to help a guy fixing his own flat - his CO2 cartridge wasn't working so I lent him my pump. And even with the pause I managed to catch the not quite so early bus.

This is my 2nd flat in a month - if it keeps up I may just spring for the Armadillos to save myself some aggravation. Dinged up my fingernails too.

good looking out with your fellow commuter SDBluefish. :)

-14 C (~7 F) out there today. As I stopped at a traffic light, wiping sweat from my brow, a woman standing at a bus stop exclaimed: "Aren't you cold?!" She looked rather uncomfortable herself, standing there waiting for that bus to come, in that 20 mph cold wind ... brr... And she thought I was cold? Too funny.

Overcast and warm today; had a nice ride in. Met up with a work colleague half-way in; chatted for a while as we cruised along. Makes a nice change from my normal head-down take-no-prisoners sprint!

Since I arrived at work the rain has returned, so it could be a wet ride home again.

And my bell broke - I dinged it at some peds, and the little dinger thing flew off. Also yet another of my blinkies has succumbed to the wet weather, and the mounting for my cycling computer came apart, I think also because of the rain.

Anyone have any recommendations for a truly waterproof light? I'm cycling through well-lit streets, so don't need a huge headlight-style thing. I just want a small set of blinkies that will withstand Sydney rainstorms. The 'water resistant' models I have tried just don't cut the mustard.

Traffic was nuts today! Not just a lot of cars, but huge numbers of mopeds, scooters, and not a few bikes. I barely got up any speed at all, and hit pretty much every red light along the way. Kind of disappointing... I might have to do a longer ride home tonight :)

Tonight while riding I found a Ryobi cordless drill in the bikelane among other debris that seemingly feel off a truck. I was tempted to keep it because it looked fairly new, but it didn't have a battery and I didn't want to carry it home. Moved it to the edge of the sidewalk so someone else can take it. No more than a mile away, I saw an old guy in a Chysler Concorde rearend some other guy in a Cavalier at an intersection I was approaching. The Cavalier had been stopped, and the old guy either wasn't paying attention/totally misjudged his stopping distance. A good reminder to be viligilant, I guess; if they can't see a stationary car, they're not gonna see a bike.

Great!
 

Los Angeles, Westwood to Hollywood... Incredible warm, clear and bright day after the lousy weekend weather. Perfect commute-by-bike day. After 6:30, of course completely dark by then, seemed like less traffic and I was home before I knew it. Even overshot one intersection because it came up so quickly. I could use more cycle commuting days like this one. Bike is running great.

3Bikes.

One of the coldest days of the winter here in NC, with morning low of 22F. I was very comfortable riding in to work at those temperatures as I wore all of my cold weather gear that's been idle the past few weeks. Those PI Amfib tights really keep you warm, and my legs actually sweated a little. Wore my Under Armor thermal base under my Gavia jacket, and wasn't the slightest bit cold on top.

The ride home yesterday afternoon actually felt colder, even though the temperature was about 40F. There was a brutal NW wind and about 80% of my commute was nearly directly into the headwind. It was the toughest ride home that I've had in a while. Felt like I was pedaling uphill the whole way. The most frustrating thing was approaching a very long traffic signal but not being able to pedal fast enough to make it though on the green light. Normally I would have easily made the light but pedaling uphill into a 20 mph headwind was too much.

A little further north, but about the same temp (21F/-6C). My ride in is essentially all due west, and I had 10-15mph headwinds this AM. Made me feel like a slug.

I'm pretty happy with my tights, too: Vermarc Roubaix Thermaflex (and probably 4 or 5 other adjectives, too :D ). I've had 'em down to about 13F with 20-30mph winds with no worries ('course I thought my fingers would fall off!)

22F and I overdressed. It's as bad as riding in 100F weather. That's what I get for wanting to "test" some new stuff. Ride itself was fine. I just split the middle lanes all the way down Lex.

first commute ever
 

Today was my first bike commute (as an adult). I only live about 5 miles from where I work so I figured now that it is starting to warm up I should start biking. It's good for me and good for the environment so it's a win win. Or at least that is how I felt until my legs started to burn on the uphill. Living over a mile above sea level adds a whole other dimension to biking. I know I'll get used to it and get in better shape but man that wiped me out for a minute.

On the upside it was sunny, breezy, and 46 degrees out.

N.

http://badhuman.wordpress.com

Welcome bad human!

It gets easier after a little bit.

My legs were tired this morning, as I rode hard on the way home late last night. Nice morning though. Beautiful sunrise.

Oh, what a difference a day makes. Yesterday I rode to work on dry streets, a warm breeze blowing up my shorts. Thanks to several cm of snow overnight, the city is once again white and wet. I decided to push my luck and NOT switch to the studded tires, relying on 25C slicks and my superhuman bike-handling abilities to get me to work on time.

I made it the first couple of blocks from the house okay, watching my wife ride away from me with confidence on her studded tires. I found that riding in the un-trampled snow gave the most traction, so I stayed in the "door zone" down the first hill. Sphincter puckered, I used sheer will to stay upright. Halfway up the next hill, my wife stops in the middle of the road and says that she has to go back home. I yelled words of encouragement over my shoulder and kept going. [She left her tooth at home. Long story.]

The longer, faster downhill was not clear of snow as I had hoped. Instead, I had to navigate a 6" wide track of partially frozen slush at 40 km/h around the S-bend. A city bus was also following me. Nice. Actually, ice. After that, I stayed on the heavily-salted main streets for the rest of the trip. I made it to work with a few minutes to spare, and for 9 hours I will keep waiting for the snow to stop and the sun to come out...

Yeah, similar to a recent experience of mine - I said "what's really crazy are the people who walk around in this weather" and I got "spoken like a true cyclist" as the reply :)

This morning was WAY out of my personal comfort zone, and honestly not something I'd want to repeat without some clothing switch-ups. -18C + windchill (-27C not factoring in headwinds) which I think is 0F + windchill.

Certainly a chilly one, and I rode from the east end this morning after dropping my daughter off at pre-school (though she did get an in-arms ride on my fixed conversion :D)

It's supposed to be 0/1C tomorrow, so another ~15 celsius temperature change in for us, this time to the positive though. No wonder I have had a bit of a head cold this week.

Welcome Bad Human, congrats on your first commute! It definitely gets easier, and by the sounds of your route - your legs will build real quick - just feed/rest them.

pinkrobe, sounds like it has been here in Toronto, only lesser here - kudos for 40km/h in those conditions, my sphincter definitely puckers up on my road bike - both my brakes tend to stop working, as well as intermittent grip issues - I love my FG conversion for this stuff, though (plus, it's a whole load of fun to skid up to an intersection, trackstand, then take off again :D)

Great morning here in San Diego about 65 degrees at 8:30am on my 10mi. commute. It was good untill the end when I wanted to get from the bike lane to the left turning lane and I was going down hill to a red light going about 30mph to avoid the traffic when some jerk thought it would be funny to catch up and keep speed with me while 50 yrds away from the red light. He finally slowed down enough for me to pass him. The ride home should be better

I thought 50 degrees without wind chill was bad:)

-Spoken like a true San Diegan!

Fast and smooth. Just the way I like it.

Jury duty commute - The ride in was cold, my eyes were tearing the whole way even with wraparound glasses. On the way back, I almost got sideswiped by a truck. I really should have written down the "how's my driving" number.

My first commute today. Brand new bike. I went with a Schwinn Cruiser. Not the lightest bike in the world, but I wanted comfort over speed, at least with this bike. Left home at -1 F (-18 C), a bit chilly, but I was overdressed so it didn't take me long to take off the balaclava. The wind was calm so it got a little toasty. Traffic was light, which was nice for my first commute. Should be the first of many commutes, might not tomorrow though, The weather forecast isn't looking very good.

Was a nice ride, 19F out, until about half-way at which point the spring on one of my Eggbeaters broke. Gonna be a rather annoying ride home. The legs just haven't wanted to work the last couple of days.

It seemed so much like spring for the last few days so I pulled out the recumbent, great ride to work, sun coming up a little cold at minus 8 but by no means nasty. As the day progressed it got warmer and and the clouds moved in, and the snow came, by the time I got home there was a few inches on the ground and I was wishing I was on the upright with studs. I really KNOW spring is just around the corner!

welcome bad human and bradlyj, hope you love your commute!

Today was nice so I took out the '67 Western Flyer 3-Speed english roadster that I just picked up last week for a cruise and picked up some groceries. It's going to need a little work but it rolls fine. not fine enough that I would trust it to take me to work though, so I grabbed the '77 Zebrakenko 10-speed for the commute. I guess it was colder than normal today, although I couldn't tell that much because I still end up hot and sweaty at the end of my ride. The reason I knew was because I got a few different comments like, "You must be cold!" (actually I am sweating, thanks) and "you're a brave one" (nah, it's a lot of fun) "In the summer maybe!"

If you're new to winter commuting get used to that.

Welcome to the new folks!

Nice ride in for me today: +/-20F and calm. With all the wind this week, I was beginning to think I was losing it.

Tried coming in about 20 minutes earlier today--works out well. I lock up at the loading dock entrance whose door opens at 6:00AM. The locker room (shower) used to not open 'til 6 either, but they just changed the card reader system, and now the LR will permit entry 24/7 apparently. By going in a bit earlier, I can lock up at the usual place and just walk around to the main entrance (public) which opens at 5:45 for most staff people.

So not only can I squeak in early enough to sign in at 6:00, I get less traffic on the way in, and it will prolong my early morning darkness ride. I LOVE riding at night :D

Congratulations newbie commuters! Be careful, it's addictive. This has been a tough week for me, very cold mornings (for NC) and very windy afternoons. I can take the cold just fine but the rides home have been tough, riding into cold NW headwinds most of the way. Maybe I'll get a break today. The temperature was much warmer this morning (29F) than yesterday (22) but didn't feel like it. I was comfortable though, and didn't have a drop of sweat on me when I got to work. Hopefully the winds will ease up this afternoon or at least change directions to the SW so I'll have a tailwind for a change. Have a nice weekend everyone. The weather is supposed to be great here, so I'm planning long rides with friends both days. I'll finish up the month with about 525 miles, my most ever for a February -- mainly due to commuting.

Much better today! A balmy -3C, clear and no wind. I'm taking off at noon to get a permit at City Hall, but then I'm going to for a road ride in the warm weather. Wheeeeee!

Edit: The road ride was awesome! It was +14C when I left and warmer when I got back. I wore all my commuting gear [including pack and lock] and rode the singlespeed.

Today it is forecast to be 85F for the ride home. Has been in the 80-83F range earlier this week.

Al

A beautiful spring day, a few weeks early.