It warmed up a tad. Still no commute.
Going to try for my January century tomorrow and I need everything my legs have in them.
The starting temp should be around 10 with a balmy 34F fore casted as the high. I won't commute below 15F but I will start a century below that mark? My logic makes no sense.

My first commute of the year today! The medical specialist I'm seeing about my knee injury said I should give it a try because, if done in a certain way, it can act as physiotherapy of sort. I had to go to a meeting with a student only about three-four miles away, where I could bike on back streets and over relatively flat terrain. I figured that would be the perfect opportunity to ease back into cycling.

What can I say. The weather was beautiful, I wasn't feeling too bad either (not surprising - I was crawling along at about 10 mph most of the way :) ). The biggest problem turned out to be the bike. It was okay on the way to the meeting, but I guess parking it in the cold did something bad to it. On the way back, if I stopped pedalling even for a split second, the cassette would not reengage without a lot of fiddling. So on the way back I was not so much trying to guard my knees (though that too), as attempting to keep pedalling at all cost. I mostly succeded, though I had to stop at one stop sign. The annoying part is that after I stopped, the woman who drove to the interesection first started waving me through... and I could not go! :D However, I am particularly proud about perfectly timing the only traffic light on that short ride.

Chephy,

I have to disagree with you. Although it was mostly clear outside, the weather was not beautiful. Winds gusts in T.O were up to 60km/h that's crazy

Yuo know that dusting of snow that greases every bit of ice like Teflon? Found some and ate icy asphalt again today! Three times so far this year! Going too fast on a MUP that has a tunnel and then an incline out of it. Of course, at the end of the tunnel on the uphill side was a THICK ice patch that was chunky with footprints, some tire marks and repeatedly frozen runoff. Had time to pucker and WHAM-O! Down for the count...Covered in muddy slush, sore from taking the hit on my elbows and knees and still laughing. It all happens too fast to worry about sometimes...might have to re-mount the studs for the rest of the week...more snow expected.
Good thing I was dressed for riding home in 5 degree weather! Saved me from rashing myself!

Other than that lovely ride in..
Got a nod and wave from another commuter a couple of miles out from work. That was nice! Not the only one on this side of town...

Yesterday was crazy. About halfway home I was headed south and I noticed a couple cop cars headed north. No big deal. I passed through a stop sign and hit a red light. As I was waiting for the light to change, I heard more cops going north through the stop sign. I looked back and saw a van stopped towards the right side of the road with a cop stuck behind it. The cop was obviously trying to get through, not pull the van over, but the van just kept sitting there. The funny thing is that the cop had plenty of room to get through. I'm not sure who was being dumber in that situation. Finally the van moved a little and the cop went through. I got a good laugh out of that and then the light changed. Rubberneckers slowed things down just enough that I just missed my turn arrow.

I heard more sirens as I was waiting for the next green light. All of the sudden the cops were headed south, not north. Just as my light turned green a good 5+ cars came from behind to pass. A white car was in front, and I wasn't sure if it was being chased or if it was an unmarked police car. If it was being chased the driver must have had some pretty big balls to drive on the wrong side of the road like that. By the time everyone had passed I was left with just enough time to sprint through the intersection and hit the Monon Trail. As I was on the trail I heard tons and tons of sirens.

I didn't know what to make of the whole situation. I was thinking I had witnessed a chase, but I wasn't sure. It turns out that I was right: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dl...=2008801180416

Major bummer - had to drive in this AM but planned on riding home. Looked forward to it all day but less than 10 minutes down the road I realized I'd forgotten my headlight. Went back to the office and ransacked my desk, my pack, office bathroom where I changed clothes - everywhere. By the time I FINALLY found it (slipped behind the file cabinet and under my spare sweater - grrr) I had only 45 minutes left to make an hour and a quarter long ride. Couldn't be late to dinner and it was getting dark. Had to put the bike back on the car and drive.

Stupid sweater.

Oh well, there will be other days.

25 mile RT commute for Friday. Another nice January day in Orange County, clear skies, no smog, light breeze. I tried out a Fenix LED flashlight (2 AA batteries) mounted on the stem for a front headlight on the way home. First impression is good, pretty bright light and the cars seemed to notice of me as well as my larger lighting system.

Uneventful ride in last night. Cold with a few flurries. this morning's ride home was colder with a dusting of snow. I stayed warm enough but the ride was lacking something. I got into my driveway which is pretty much solid ice with a dusting of snow and decide to "play" a little. I hammered on the pedals and spun the rear tire. It quickly got out from under me and started to come around. the front tire started to slide with it and I was sure I was gonna go down. By the time I got my foot out of the clip I was already straightend out. Somehow I managed not to fall but I did rip one of the stitches in my back loose. I'm sure by now my Dr. hates me.

the air temp was - 9 f, with -26 f windchill, and I commute at night. I chickened out. :(

That's what was in the forecast. I haven't experienced any of those winds out there though. The gusts were 20 km/h tops, and otherwise it was just calm for me.

Did you end up biking in 60 km/h head- or crosswinds? I've done that a few times?.. Yikes. It's exhausting in the former case, and very scary in the latter. (If that's a tailwind, that's a little scary too, since you can easily pass freely-flowing car traffic with that though, as long as they're not doing too much over the speed limit. :D)

Wow! What a day!. This morning it was 27f. A light 10mph sw wind. Stopping at the BP had another cager say to me "You're crazy!". That's the third one this week. Then this afternoon the temps drop to 21f with the windchill at 9f. It felt like it. I had to stop and put my headband on because my ears were getting cold under my balaclava. I had my glove liners on under my mittens but my thumbs were still getting cold. I'll have to double up on the liners. Back in Dec. I remember ridin' in 13f, but I think today felt colder. Had to ride down High St. to Graceland and got quite a few double-takes from folks. I'm planning on going out tom'rw sometime in the morning to get a taste of some single digit ridin' to see how my gear works in it and if I have to make any changes. The toesties I bought from Performance are working great with the Snow Sneakers, toes don't get cold anymore.
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single digit temps and subzero windchills on the ride in last night and home this morning. Had to go out of my way on the way in last night to pick up some coffee because I'm tired of the crap we have at work. I actually stayed warm and started to sweat a bit on the way home

Baltimore, Md, 7 Mile ride today, air temp 20, windchill put it to 0 (wind gust up to 30mph,). I wore the least amount of clothes ever for this weather. mid weight base layer top and bottom, turtle neck, sweatpants, windbreaker jacket, balaclava, gloves and goggles. I was sweating when I got home. Nice fun ride

Still raining in Sydney. Geez, I know there's been a drought and everything, but this is starting to get boring.

Missed the most of the rain by leaving between showers; only hit the real downpour about 2km from the office. We'll see what the weather is doing when it's time to go home!

It's not cold though. Probably 20C. This is, after all, supposed to be summer...

C-c-c-c-c-o-o-o-o-o-l-l-l-l-l-d-d-d-d for this southern boy. 15-17F this morning. But the moon was bright - real bright and beautifully lit my way. And since it was bitterly cold out, my ride took a long time. 43 miles @ 2:30.

I have a pair of Giordana windtex tights that are really working out for me. They come up high in the front and keep my buddies warm.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr toes still warming up.

Finally above 0 F. Well +2 anyway...sort of like a spring day compared to this weekend!

Evening commute in the snow was slower...lots of accidents!!

-6F / -21C. :p Invigorating. I could have used a heavier layer on top, but it wasn't bad. I just felt the chill on my skin.

You guys are hardcore. I commend you.

18F when I left and as soon as I stepped outside, I knew I was wearing one too many layers. Oh well, didn't have time to remove it so I took off and enjoyed the calm traffic a holiday (MLK Day) brings. Spent an extra 5 mins outside of work cooling off. I could've used some ear warmers, but it's a short commute and I only felt it when the wind blew.

left for home at 0545. A very light dusting with a bit of fluff falling. Temp was about 8-9 with a windchill of -2. By the time I warm up and have to stop for my first stoplight, my glasses fog up no matter what I've done. At that point the next 6 miles are all teary and sorta amusing as the tears freeze to my lashes.
Saw a set of tracks on the MUP. Prolly the same fella I rode behind the other day...
Studs kept me upright even with some patches of ice. Got sideways on the front and rear at the samew time on a a downhill turn. Kept pedaling and both ends recovered with minimal puckering on my part.

Come on Spring!!



please?

Accuweather said it was 19F when I left the house, but it didn't feel that cold at all- must have been warming up quickly. Commute took longer than normal because I had to hike-a-bike a number of times where the MUP was iced/snowchunked over.

coldest day yet this season for me...14F. Tried out some new gloves I got from Performance (Neoprene II) - they sucked! Supposed to be windproof and found out about 2 minutes into my ride that they are not at all and my digits were numb about 5 minutes later. 20 minutes later, I was in extreme pain as my digits started to thaw - really bad pain. I think I rode one-handed the whole way in since I was shaking one hand or the other just to keep the blood flowing.

The rest of me was nice and toasty with my nice mix of cheap wicking stuff from Target and my old Army polypro. From what I could remember when I wasn't concentrating on de-thawing my hands, it was a beautiful morning.

Any glove recommendations from you northerners (used to be one in NH but since being down in NC for the past two years I have become soft ;) ?

I didn't commute this am, but I did 12 miles on Sat in 14F temps with 15mph winds, and 8 on Sunday in 18F with less wind.

My Performance balaclava, gloves, and toesties are proving to be worth every penny.

I picked these up at EMS for about $20, and they've been great on the coldest days. I got XL's (I have pretty big hands) and can fit a slim liner under them if I really need to. Not too bulky, pretty good dexterity, warm and windproof.

http://www.ems.com/catalog/product_d...=1200934750332