Last night was one of the first times in a long while I came across an angry driver. He was blocking the intersection, so naturally I was scared to cross and just looked at him, shrugged with a what's up look. He of course is on his cell phone and just gives me the finger. WTF??? I'm like what's up with you??? He spins his tires, losing what must have been a good 1000 miles off of his tread and peels out.

I just laughed, what a loser

Jeez, 70% of drivers were on their cell phones last night, I was stopped at a light and only saw one person not on their phone, what is so important that it can't wait???

Quite possibly the worst commute ever. :o

First, I woke up, peeked out the window... "Uh oh." Ground covered with thin layer of snow. Ordinarily not a problem except I've still got my summer/street tires mounted on the Liquid. I decided the snow looked slushy and my tires could bite through to the pavement. I was right about that. No slippy problems riding in. I made first bicycle-tracks all the way into Burlington. Yay me.

But... It turned to pouring rain as I was riding, with patches of sleet. I was also riding into a driving headwind off of Lake Champlain, and it was like a thousand needles poking at my face. I was not dressed for rain. It was about 32 degrees F. I poked along around 10MPH most of the way. :rolleyes:

I arrived a sloppy mess. Soaked through to the skin top to bottom and the skin on my legs was burning.

Beats driving! :D

Dark and wet, but not too cold though - mid 40's. It's just that kind of weather that makes for little inspiration and the deep, deep desire to just lay back down and pull the covers up to your neck.

first commute on the '89 raleigh technium i bought from the LBS on saturday. four miles each way. i'd been commuting since february 07 on a proflex attack mb. what a difference a road bike makes. fast, better gearing. much more comfortable. it was in the 50s on the way in around 6:30 and about 45 degrees coming home this morning, with some dense fog in areas. the only issue on the way to work was the massive rottweiler that sped my way at top speed, teeth bared until he ran around of chain. scared the bejesus out of me. i rode an extra block east to avoid having to turn past that house again. and when i got home, i placed an anti-aggressive dog device within easy reach for next time.

Today is a work from home day so this is in regards to last night's commute.

I was riding through an industrial area in Commerce city fully lit up after dark on my fixie. I looked over at my shadow while passing a street light. What do I see? I have 2 shadows! Looking behind me I glare at a wheel sucker sitting an inch off my back wheel. I have no problem with drafting if the other rider would tell me he is there and share some of the workload. Heck, he was on a geared bike while I was on a fixie. There is just something wrong about that.
Anyhow, said idiot passed me and what do I see you ask? No headlight, no tail light, expensive road bike, and dressed in full kit. Not only was he wheel sucking univited, said rider was blocking my tail light. Call me grumpy but that irritated the heck out of me briefly.

Past two mornings it's been 46F and foggy. Not too bad but I feel like I'm soaked when I get to work. Last night on the way home I was riding through a neighborhood and a kid standing on the corner spotted my headlight and blinky and started yelling, "POLICE, POLICE, DIP, DIP!!!" I laughed at him, "Ha, ha!" when I rode by and he saw that I wasn't a cop. Hilarious.

About 20% of the way in, my uber-bright homemade light quit on me. No warning, no dimming, just off. :mad: Now I have to ride home in the dark because I gave my spare light to my wife. D'oh!

cold and foggy last couple days (33F). Brrr. My headlight made it in this morning 'cause I used it less than half the way home last night (and took a short route at that). Booo NiMH (old NiMH in cold weather anyway)

Legs felt like concrete this morning. My buddy and I were riding into a headwind at one stretch and he commented that since we revived our pre-work rides, it seems like we never have a good day on the same day. I grunted yeah, my legs are really heavy. Not comfortable at all. Of course, he never volunteers to slow down or anything.

Because I wouldn't either. Love that guy.

ditto...and i decided to go the long way...it was so foggy/misty this morning i ended up gettin wet...no biggy

About 36 Degrees and a mist in the air. Forecast is for snow this week. I wore a ski mask under my helmet and kept plenty warm.

Well, I bit it REALLY hard today. I was turning when my bike slipped on a pile of leaves. I tried to correct it suddenly and i slammed into the ground. I whacked my head really hard on the ground (thankfully i was wearing my helmet tightly) The whole right side of my body hurts. i was wearing jeans and a long sleeve shirt, so the damage is more blunt force than scraping on the ground. I layed in the middle of the road, feet still connected to my bike, for about a minute, till i could get up. I picked up my bike, moved it onto the side walk, leaned it against a fence, and collapsed on the side walk for about 5 minutes. My stomach felt terrible like i wanted to throw up. A guy walked by and asked if i was okay, i replied that i was fine. Nothing was broken, so he walked away. I picked up my bike, fixed the front fender (which had come undone) and took off for home. Luckily i was only a few minutes away. SO my body hurts, and i hate leaves. The bike is fine, a little scratched on the right brake lever, right pedal, and a little on the rear deraileur, but other than that, its fine. Might stay off the bike for a day or two till i feel up to riding some more...

Sorry to hear about the smackdown... damn those leaves, guitardude.

Today was way warmer, wish the weather would decide what to do. Not a bad run though, took my daughter to preschool today, so I rode in from the East end, doubling my normal ~3mile commute ooOOoo ;)

I feel your pain, guitardude. I took a very similar fall a couple of seasons ago and I still get a little puckered when I around the leafy corner where I went down. Glad you and the bike are okay.

Ouch, i don't lean over anything but solid ground.

Too bad about the wreck, guitardude. At least you are not seriously hurt. BTW, that's one thing that would be hard to take on a bike, a full size guitar amp. Mine is a 2x12 combo that weighs about 80 lbs. I'd need a trailer.

First time I have had to ride in any significant wind since I started riding again a few months ago. It's like riding with the brakes on all the time. Kind of depressing. Other than the wind, it was a nice ride.

+1. Solid dry pavement only. Wet leaves are worse than ice.

Sorry Guitardude. I had my first malfunction since starting the commute 2 weeks ago. My light died and it was daark! I had a flashlight so I rode the rest of the way with that, but I must've been fairly freaked out because My ride time was more than a minute faster than it's ever been! Took the long way home after recharging the light cause it was 60 deg. out. Probably the last day like this for a few months.

a touch of snow this morning on the way in and when I went from my office to my second location. The ride home was a misty like rain.

I'm just happy to keep on rollin' along no matter the weather. Not yet stud weather but I'm getting ready.



(edit) Guitardude- ouch. The wet leaves. That's why they call it "fall".;) Glad you're okay. sounds like your head got a good knock, though. If you have any doubts about how you're doing get checked out.

VERY WARM here in Virginia this morning - 53F! I really pushed it and arrived at work soaking with sweat (good thing we have a shower here).

After reading Guitardude's post I decided to explore an alternate route segment that would bypass the MUT section through the woods that I normally ride. Turns out there is a neighborhood I can cut through that actually saves a bit of time and avoids all the leaves and acorns that can affect traction (not to mention deer).

Its a great day to NOT drive a car here in the DC area ... in a few hours the major roads will be completely jammed with traffic. I'll appreciate my ride home on the secondary roads a bit more today.

Today started out with sleet, then rain, then nothing. Winds light and variable, and around 32F. Not nearly as bad as yesterday.

On my ride home yesterday, I saw a bunny rabbit. It looked like it had lots to eat. (It was big.)

I forgot to mention yesterday morning, I didn't see a single other person on the MUP. I like riding in bad weather. :) On the ride home, I only saw 5 people, but they were all in about a 1/4 mile stretch, so I mostly had the MUP to myself in both directions.

It was ... uninspiring ... light drizzle, low cloud cover, dull - but no wind, low to mid 40'sF- and the traffic was minimal so that was fine.

Guitardude, hope you're OK. If that sick-stomach feeling doesn't go away, see a doctor. I seem to recall it's one symptom of a concussion.

Commutes all week have been uneventful for the most part.