Studded Nokians = Worth their weight in gold.

We had some freezing rain this afternoon, and by the time I left work, the MUP was a 5-mile ribbon of glare ice. (Except for the bits that had snow on them.)

I got down from the saddle a couple of times and let my foot drag on the ground. No traction whatsoever.

I came upon a young woman who was walking. Her feet were sliding all over the place. She heard my studs crackling on the ice, turned to see what I was, and said, "How do you ride a bicycle on this ice?!" I said, "Studded snow tires!"

A calm, mild commute day today but the 16 miles RT was the shortest ride so far this month. I was running late this morning and had to take the dreaded "short route" to work. I don't like it because it passes right in front of a large high school, and the traffic signals are timed with red lights that seem like 5 minutes.

Great respite from the winter this morning - 51F and a nice tailwind. The great weather combined with the new wheels and drive train allowed me to set a new PB time for my 18 mile jaunt to work this morning.

Bicycle commuting ROCKS!

weather was great this morning - 53 when I left - nice change in temps! But there was a killer headwind the whole way in - really slowed me down. Felt good though!

Yesterday's ice had largely cleared off except for some spots. Easy to tell when I was on ice. The stud noise changes. Mild headwind, but nothing too bad, and some light rain for a few minutes. Temps in the mid 30Fs. Very comfortable.

-8 °C

Partly cloudy
* Feels Like: -18
* Wind: W 41km/h
* Wind gusts: 69km/h

And I rode in from the East end this morning... it was... 'windy'

Got to work at around 9am, my water bottle is still thawing out from the ol' windchill

Wasn't cold, just careful with the blowing around and sporadic ice sheets that the wind was making on the roads - the only major gust that almost blew me off happened when I was stopped at a light ironically - almost blew me off the back of the saddle so I got on the hoods and started creeping into the intersection to get moving against it

Had to cheat - put the bike in the back of a coworkers pickup and got a ride home this morning. The ride to work last night was rainy, 40F and 20+mph winds. Mostly good with a tail wind. During the night, temps dropped to 12F with 30+mph winds gusting to 50mph. I think the wind chill was -11F. Really wanted to try out some new gear but 30-50mph headwinds on the way home would've taken forever. The NEOS villager overshoes worked fine in the rain even with a couple foot drag stops because of wet brakes. It was probably a good idea to get the ride but now I keep wondering would it really have been that bad and what are my limits and my gear's limits? Will have to test them another time.

a bit of drama this am.. I changed tires and tubes from the '99 original Kenda MB knobbies on my Giant Sedona on Monday night to Innova Swiftor City tires. Being a first time mechanic, I was worried about pinching the tube on the rim, but everything seemed to go well. This morning was going to be the first commute, but came to the garage and the rear was flat...threw my spare tube that I had taken out from the old tires in my bag and took a chance and filled new tube with the air compressor (about 80lbs) and made it to work. (1mile to train, about another mile after train ride..soon will be doing whole 10 mile commute!) I found a small leak right next to the valve, almost looks like a manufacture defect... glueless patches didn't work, so reinstalled old tube, and will see if I make it home tonight!

All this drama, and I still wasn't late for work..

Bought some new winter boots last night (after a cold toes ride home at -10°F with a strong wind) and rode in this morning.

-15°F with a -30 to -35° windchill. Was actually pretty comfortable. Feet were very comfortable. Hands were fine. Would add one more pair of long undies next time.

Cold and misty but no rain, thankfully.

50-ish. Extremely windy. I was commuting to a different location than usual today, on more city streets; I actually took the sidewalk at times because of the wind and badly scarred streets due to ongoing construction. (I took this same route at one point yesterday without any desire to take the sidewalk; there was no strong wind, so I felt stable.) Due to the wind, very unpleasant... for a bike ride.

A balmy -28C this morning. I think our cold snap is winding down. It's supposed to get all the way up to -15C tomorrow. Time to break out the short sleeves!

Crud, I wimped out. The wind was howling all night, and we still had 30 MPH winds with 45 gusts in the morning, 6*F and it had been raining the previous night. The rear door was frozen and there was ice all over the deck. I didn't want to face very icy roads AND high, gusty winds at the same time.

However, when I got in my car I realized that there was NOT any ice on the roads. And that would have been a TAILWIND. Lose.

Left a slush roostertail the whole way in. That could be pretty interesting tomorrow after an evening freeze if it doesn't drain in the meantime.

I love my new bike. It's soooo much fun. I am commuting to and fro with a big smile on my face. And the weather is gorgeous; warm, sunny, blue sky.

It amazes me that practially everyone else seems to be commuting in sub-zero temperatures, through high winds, blizzards, ice...
I know it's winter up there, but surely there are folk who are having slightly milder, dry weather? Or is the entire northern hemisphere in the grip of some sort of ice-age?!

Today I rode to the designated meeting point to get a ride in the station's 4x4. Overnight snows at higher elevations left roads in the south hills too treacherous for anyone without a metal cage protecting them from other vehicles. I understand there was some national news coverage showing a garbage truck sliding down a hill here in Eugene.

Yesterday I rode up in the snow, but had to shoulder the bike the last 1/3 mile on the station's steep driveway.

Second day of commuting to the new job from the new home in the new state. Thought I might be able to just slip into the side entrance of the company campus again like I did yesterday, but they added a new fence, as if to mock me! I saw a security guard there (also new since yesterday) and thought maybe he would see me and just let me in the swinging gate thing, but he told me to go around the main entrance. The guards at the main gate (two in the booth and then another two actually guarding the gates... overkill?) looked at me weird when I rolled up, but I flashed the ID badge and they let me go through. As I passed the gate, I thought I heard one of the guards behind me say "That's great" as if they were genuinely impressed that I was riding in the winter. Might have just said, "that's the gate." oh well.

Then when I was leaving at the end of the day, I rode across campus to the company health and fitness center to drop off my enrollment paperwork (they have an on-site masseuse!). I noticed on the way over there that my front tire seemed soft. I figured while I was at the fitness center and since I actually knew someone who was working there I'd ask if they had a bike pump, possibly to fill the various balls they had there. They went and dug it out, I went out to fill up, and right away something was wrong. It seemed to be letting more air out of my tire than in. I soon discovered that part of the air hose that went from the main shaft to the gauge was ripped, and that my tire was now flat! I brought it back in to show them, they tried taping it, it still didn't work. So my old friend working there offered to throw my bike in the back of her boyfriend's car and just drive me home. Not feeling like walking with the bike, I accepted. I really need to go get a portable pump of some kind. Can anyone recommend a good one?

Another mellow mild day for a 27 mi RT commute in Orange County. Tomorrow will wrap up the month with commute day #21 and year to date commute miles a bit over 500. Off to a good start for the year.

The cheapest one you can find from a reputable brand / store. You hardly ever use it, and when you do you don't need it to work perfectly, just well enough to be able to ride home. Not worth spending a load of money on, IMHO. I bought the cheapest one my LBS sells; I figured they wouldn't selll complete rubbish (Wal-mart-esque), but didn't see the point of paying more than that.

I think I've used it twice in the last 12 months. Worked just fine each time.

In the 30s with a headwind going to school and a backwind heading up the hill on the way home (yay!). Just got a pair of Ortlieb panniers and have been riding with only one on the left side, so I am unsure what is just unstableness of me getting used to the off-balance weight or the wind gusts!

Raining all day, but not pouring or mixed with ice like yesterday. That was a bit rough, but the balaclava helped! Started dragonboating this week down on Commencement Bay, so my commute working one set of muscles and my dragonboating working the others will make my legs either really sore or strong as steel (probably the former then the latter).

Meh.. due to vacationing in Russia for a couple weeks, followed by being sick, I've effectively been off the bike for 3 weeks. Was very nice to finally be able to ride in. The time off and amazing food they have over there are showing themselves in the form of some noticeable sluggishness (as well as a few extra pounds) on my end.

Otherwise, it was a nice 31 degrees and not a cloud in sight and aside from hitting a HUGE pothole at one point and quite the headwind, it was as pleasant a ride as ever.

Lazied out one day last week and drove in, which ended up in a $95 parking ticket and being stuck in traffic on the way home. No thanks.

Morning edit: Grr.. snapped the chain less then half way home on the way back. Ended up catching a cab. I'd like to say the I simply overpowered the bike with all the rest I've had, but in reality it's probably more due to the fact that it had over 4000 miles on it and should've been changed last month.

@ Trombone... I agree with you...It seems like the majority of the riders are suffering (I think they would disagree with that term!) through winter commutes.. My winter commute in south florida is sunny and beautiful

But then, come summer time, when my tires will probably melt into the pavement....

It was raining and extremely windy when I got up on Wednesday, so I drove. Of course, the skies cleared and the wind died down about an hour after I got to work. That's OK because I generally need to drive one day a week to restock supplies and run errands.

I was back on my bike again this morning, however. My legs felt fresh after the day off. Will finish up the month with about 550 miles, slightly short of my goal of riding at least 600 miles/month. Not bad for a January, though, particularly since all of my mileage was on the road (no trainers or spin classes). Also, we had several days when it wasn't safe to ride due to ice and sleet on the roads.

Had snowed a bit, some slick spots, now rain, no real problem.

It was cold this morning, for Arizona, 34 F. Ride was good and I was warm. Unfortunately my legs felt like lead this morning, guess it is just one of those days. I did notice that all the car and bus drivers were very considerate this morning, not one line hugger.