First commute ever from North Andover MA to Boston MA. 30 miles each way. For years I've avoided it because I assumed I couldn't create a tolerable route, but I finally buckled down and devised a route that's less trafficky.

It was muddy and gritty and I got a little rained on, but it was warm and it was FUN! It takes me about 1.5 hours by car during regular commuting hours, and it only took me 2 hours by bike (avg 15.8 mph) during the same hours. Only problem: darkness on the way home, once I got outside the city. I have plenty of lights/blinkers on so the cars can see me, but when there are NO streetlights and no houses and no cars, my new LED headlight is a little anemic and it's hard to see the road. And with a little ice and slush and plenty of potholes out there, it was a little tense at times.

But even so, it was as much fun as I think I've had commuting...ever. I'm now an official bike commuter. Yay me.

slushy! Left a rooster tail all the way to work.

That's great, drthos! 30 miles is a big commute - are you planning to do it every day?

What is the word I am looking for...

Oh yes... there it is.

Cold.

But thankfully dry and the roads were clear.

A pleasant but cool day in southern cal for my 24 mile RT commute today. Looks like the rest of the week will be the same, so looking good for the first half of January. Goal this year is to bike commute 200 work days (did about 170 last year) averaging 25 miles RT, so I'll have to ration my non bike commute days carefully to make that goal.

Sounds like it's time for a headlight upgrade.

Great ride in this morning. The temperature was 60 degrees when I left at 6:25 am. For some reason, the streets were wet the whole way, even though the 8-hour radar showed no rain during the night. Weird. Rode into a SW breeze most of my commute but it felt good. If the weather forecast holds, I'll be riding into a headwind this afternoon as well because a cold front is moving through during the day.

Made a good call not riding yesterday due to the heavy fog. It was the worst I have ever seen. More importantly, the saddle sore that popped up Monday mostly disappeared by taking a day off riding and treating it with Corticaid -- miracle stuff for saddle sores.

agreed! wonderful temps this morning for a ride! That wind was perfect. It was nice not to bundle up in my layers like I was last week. I rode yesterday, but the fog didn't give me too much trouble...a little fogging up of my eye protection and mirror though

will you be riding in the rain tomorrow?

No, but only because Thursday is my work-from-home day and my wife has the day off.

The commute today sucked. I was completely out of breath and my arms and legs had no energy. I don't know why. It could have been that I was carrying an extra 15 pounds on the bike; the wind; hunger; being a little out of shape after not cycling for the past 2 weeks; or still not being recovered from the bronchitis/pneumonia I had over the holidays. Obviously, I'm hoping for any but the last two.

The weather report said -8C, and although it felt a wee bit colder, I didn't get too frozen. It turns out that it was actually -14C, which explains why my wife's nose got cold. 'Twas very fast - I think we managed to deke out traffic a bit.

black ice all the way in but managed to navigate it OK.

My hands were cold for about the middle third of the trip (1st third hadn't cooled down, last third I was distracted by basically huffing and puffing some combo of getting out of shape plus a pretty cold morning slowed me down and warmed me up)

Got absolutely soaked in a cold, wet, windy ride home last night. My wife was at a meeting and the kids were at the grandparental units' so I took advantage of the calm to do something I never do: sat in a hot bath. I even used a little of my wife's peppermint oil in the water. Very nice.

Nice, slight chill and still a lot of moisture in the air. Bike cop followed me for a bit. Made sure to signal. Still loving the panniers. A few friendly folk said hello as I passed through Dunbar/Spring, one more than usual.

Thursday
 

I plan to ride tomorrow but will decide for sure when I get up in the morning. If it's already raining, I'll drive. If not, I'll probably ride and hope that the rain holds off -- or better yet, hope that it rains during the day and clears off before my afternoon commute home. With the drought, I can't wish against the rain in good conscience.

Well for the first time ever I forgot to wear my helmet. As soon as I realized this I nearly ate it on some ice. Guess I won't forget tomorrow.

Very windy here in the city, from the west at about 50 km/h, with gusts to 80. Luckily my route was south then east, so i think i got a tailwind for the most part, and a bit of a crosswind at the beginning. The crosswind however did not slow me down much since it was blocked by buildings for the most part, but i still had to fight being blown intro traffic. Overall i think got lucky with the wind today :)

Still hot and muggy here. Some rain would be nice!

Not a good ride this morning - just felt a bit of a struggle. Headwind (but not strong), stiff legs. I didn't sleep very well, and have a bit of a sore throat, so I hope I'm not getting sick.

Also got beeped / revved at by a couple of motorists this morning. Whatever. Smile and wave!

Very warm and windy here Today. Got pushed around pretty good.

"The weather report said -8C, and although it felt a wee bit colder..."

"black ice all the way in..."

"Got absolutely soaked in a cold, wet, windy ride home last night."

"Very windy here in the city, from the west at about 50 km/h."

I never post on this thread in the winter. I got nothing on you northern folk. Today in New Orleans it was 80F. Our winter temps range from just above freezing to high 70s. Never ice, snow, or frozen roads. Maybe a windy day now and then, storms blow through dumping rain for an hour or two. EEEEEZY for bike commuting.

But I do READ this thread and marvel at the conditions you folks brave to commute. Awesome. My helmet is off to the whole lot of you.

Today was almost a copy of yesterday's bike commute, not unusual here in southern cal where the weather pattern can get stuck into the same predictable range for weeks. 24 mile RT commute with upper 40s in the am and upper 50s on the way home at 5 pm. Tomorrow and Friday, more of the same, very tame.

very hot 41 degree ride home today, made it and had fun but summer is hitting hard same temp 2morow as well which is a pain. I think i need to fix a second bidon holder on tonight to carry that extra liquid just in case

DAM ITS HOT

Great ride in this morning, with temps mild and no wind. The forecasters had called for rain, but it was clear. The rain might move in later today or might not, so I decided to ride but packed my raincoat just in case. I had a hard time figuring out what to wear. After several weeks of pretty cold weather, this week has been like spring with morning lows from 50-60 and highs around 70. It was supposed to be chillier this morning, 45 or lower, but didn't get as cold as predicted. So I had to go with a lighter jersey than planned, which worked out nicely. With all the cold weather we've had until now, I had forgotten my basic layering techniques. So I just put on a short-sleeve base layer, long-sleeve jersey and my neon vest -- and I actually got a little sweaty at that. Not sure what I'll do if it rains this afternoon. Although I brought a rain jacket, my bike doesn't have fenders and riding in the rain can get pretty messy. Might just wimp out and call my wife, who can pick me up on her way home without going out of her way very much. I don't mind getting wet so much as having to clean up my bike afterwards. What can I say? I don't like riding in the rain.

Commute was fine. Weather has been unseasonably warm here in Boston. But for crying out loud I had some lady who works for the Boston Transportation Department pass me so close that I swear she was within inches of my handlebar. I tapped her car with my left hand as she drove by and then biked up and asked her not to pass so close at which point she started yelling at me. Then I tried to talk to her again at the next red light, at which point she ignored me and got on her cell phone. I hate people sometimes.

This is a couple of days late. I had a seizure while riding my bike to the carpool on Tuesday. The police found me, made sure I was okay, and my wife picked me up to take me home. (I'm an epileptic, I've had these before but not recently.) I don't remember a lot of this myself.

The bike is fine, I'm mostly better. I win for most interesting commute!

HOLY CRAP. glad you're alright.

I rode to work today - unusual for me, not much of a commuter - nice weather here in CT.