Around -6C today, with a light snowfall. We elected not to run studded tires, and we made the right choice. Other than taking it a little easier around corners, stopping and starting were effectively the same as on wet pavement. In fact, by the time we got downtown it was merely damp and the snow had stopped entirely. It should be an easy ride home. <jinx>

"The bike is fine..." That's the important thing! :-)

In the mid 40sF this morning, I had so much energy! Calling for rain this afternoon and thunderstorms tomorrow, yuck.

Late night last night + early morning today + pouring rain + onset of sniffles = no ride today.

Back for the first commute of 2008- started with a typical pissed off white-work-van driver. Lovely. Why are those guys always 1- in such a rugh 2- so damn aggressive about it 3- pissed? Whatever, it was good to ride to work again (been a while)

rainy, 40F. I am definitely feeling the 2 wk holiday layoff (lay off biking, lay on holiday treats)

Nice ride in, cooler than the last couple of days but still comfortable. I had a burst of energy coming down Mount Vernon and probably crept past 30 mph for a few blocks. When I got to work I discovered that I'd left my underwear at home but was lucky enough to have 1 pair of spairs in my desk of the original 3 (need to re-stock w/ underwear, socks, shirts, etc). The prospect of going to a company lunch commando-style wasn't very appealing. Otherwise the ride was really nice.

ride in was great this morning - no wind, mild temp...anticipated rain but was nice not to have any. Although, I lost my headlamp about 10 minutes into my ride because I forgot to charge the battery last night - DOH!

Started to rain this afternoon so looks like I will have a wet ride. Haven't had one of those in a while - looking forward to it actually - although the 'wet smell' associated with my shoes after will not be apprecited by anyone!

First commute of 2008 due to having had strepthroat following a flu (which I had NYE morning, yay).

Still not 100% recovered, but over most of it. Feels great to be back on the bike. Weather has cooled down from the balmy mid/low teens back down to the low single digits (3C or so this morning).

Started recording my milage and maintenance in a spreadsheet this time around, be cool to do some more stats analysis on my riding as the year goes on.

Came on the bus today, as have to go to airport after work. Boo.

That said, it's still fairly quiet after the holidays, so it wasn't as horrible as sometimes. Even managed to get a seat...!

I'll probably feel tired later though. Riding really helps to wake me up in the morning!

Today was a 26 mile RT "53rd Birthday" commute. I'm now at less than 600 bike commutes until retirement from my techie engineering job (approx 200 bike commutes per year x 25 miles RT average per commute), but hey who's counting.

I was a little slow starting out today but felt great on the morning and evening rides once I got past a few miles. The night ride home was great, no wind, new moon, very silent and peaceful along a couple of miles of MUP that are on my route home. Happy Friday to all.

Definitely one of the Top 10 worst things that could happen on a commute!

You Do!

I woke up this morning and it was snowing lightly. When I left, nothing was falling from the sky. About a mile into the ride, it started raining. (It's still pretty dark, too.) Just about 32F degrees.

I arrived looking a bit like a drowned rat. :p I avoided roads. The MUP was covered with a thin layer of wet snow. First tracks for 5 miles until I got to town. Yay me.

took the motorized unit in today unfortunately - had to bring some equipment home from work. I actually missed the rain yesterday and got home 100% dry.

I am always so disappointed when I cannot bike in - I hate taking the car in. I saw a couple commuters this morning downtown and was instantly jealous

Woke up at 6:30 and it was pouring rain. My lazy brain said, "Oh, just sleep another hour or two and it will all go away. Then you can ride you bike to work."

You know what! It worked. Lazyness does pay.

Had my first real spill this morning.
About 60 degrees with wet roads and an occasional drizzle; was feeling good about my pace. I made the silly mistake of trying to jump the metal threshold between the asphalt MUP and a wooden bridge. Lost control and stayed upright for a few yards; then went down on my left side on the bridge. A nearby family of pedestrians stopped to check on me, but I think all is well.

The impact took a good bite out of the left side of my helmet (behind my left ear) and broke my pager. Was stunned for a few minutes, but finished the ride; no obvious damage to the bike or my cargo (though I did have to straighten my handlebars).

This happens to have been the first morning I seriously considered wearing a baseball cap instead of the helmet in order to shield my glasses from the rain!!! Even had one lashed to the rack, just in case.

I was fully geared for the rain that was falling as I showered and got ready this morning. Went outside to no rain at all, just wet roads. So I left on my rainpants and booties just in case. Still no rain, but I did get my first flat of the year. Green beer bottle glass, rear tire, bah. But was able to get it changed quick and fairly clean, and I've fallen in love with my CO2 inflator all over again.

crash
 

Glad to hear you weren't hurt. Wet wood can be very slippery. I've only had one crash in 35+ years of riding, but it kept me off my bike for several months afterwards. All it takes is one accident to realize how important a helmet is. In my crash, I suffered mostly road rash but would have been seriously hurt without a helmet as my head hit the pavement hard. It is pretty hard to crash without hitting your head.

BTW, a cycling cap will fit under your helmet and works well to shield your glasses from rain. I've got several cycling caps that I wear whenever there is a threat of rain. They're also good for shielding the sun from your eyes.

JoeyBike-...I discovered that I'd left my underwear at home...

Definitely one of the Top 10 worst things that could happen on a commute!

It's not only top 10, it's pretty much number one in my book, the panic I felt.... :-)

Today's ride was a lot of fun. Left late but managed to miss all the rain. It was a balmy 40-something degrees with dense fog. I love the feel of the cool, moist air in my lungs. I pushed a moderate pace and did reasonably well on time. The only negative-I ran through a pile of horse manure (spel?) near the Tidal Basin. I managed to avoid it yesterday but totally forgot about it until it was too late. I think some sprayed up onto the downtube (and maybe my clothes) because I could smell it fairly strongly. I rode the rest of the way going very slowly so as not to spray any the I may have had in the treads and through puddles and grass to try to clean the tires. I washed up really well when I got to work. I was reminded of a couple of Pennsylvania riders I met on the Seagull Century who said that the horse manure left by the Amish' buggies is a real issue for cyclists, it sprays on water bottles and is ingested making them sick. "I was rinsing and spitting like there was no tomorrow, I'll tell you that much." -- Jerry Seinfeld.

Chilly and fast! I was feeling pretty tired when I got out of bed, but -11C and 50 km/h wakes you up!

Finally got my old Trek rebuilt after powdercoating. I still need to tape the bars and attach the fenders, but it was begging to be ridden and the rain seems to have stopped for now.

Uneventful commute today, though it was windy as heck and the roads were wet. One numbskull decided he HAD to make the right turn before I did and cut across my path, but I saw him preparing to do it and avoided him. I did let him know he's #1 in my book.

Yes indeedy. A few years ago the weather forecast for The Tour of Belgium (I think) called for no rain, so the farmers along the race route fertilized their fields. Sure enough it rained; the fertilizer ran off the fields and into the roads, spraying up onto the riders. I heard nearly every cyclist in the race had GI problems the entire race. And if that isn't the definition of misery, I don't know what is....

+ 1. I feel the same way whenever I get a ride or (on the off chance I can use the car) drive to work. I'll eventually see some bicycle commuters and feel jealous - why is that? Probably because they are having a better time than me.

nice and dry coming in this morning (still overcast though). Going home last night was a new benchmark for getting rained on though. The old standard was 'gloves soaked through and only dry when left overnight next to furnace', now I have 'shoes don't even dry out when left overnight by the furnace'.