tim24k

A absolute beautiful day here. Sunny clear day with snow in the surrounding hills. Much too nice not to ride. Too bad I had to work. The drunks must have been out in force over the long weekend, glass everywhere. Thank goodness for kevlar tires.

MIKEnDC

Riding in company with the moon again this morning, though it was mostly obscured by clouds (and for you Pink Floyd afficionados, I was actually think/playing an old Beatles song to myself, Mr. Moonlight).

A bit colder (mid-20s F) and calm. Forecast has a snow advisory up for this afternoon. Rain/snow mix, and probably for the rest of the week. And due to UPS's monolithic, faceless, corporate inefficiency, my long-awaited Nokians have been driving around without me for the past week or so. I should actually have them in my hands later today, so they may well get right to work.

<sigh> I wish I was still humming along quietly in the moonlight...

tarwheel 

Another nice day in NC -- chilly this morning (low 30s F) but warming this afternoon (low 60s). The wind is the big factor. Yesterday we had sustained winds in the 20s and gusts over 30 mph, which made for a pleasant ride home. It was calm this morning but the wind is supposed to pick up again later today. It was so much brighter this morning that I didn't need my light to see by, so I put it on a lower setting to conserve batteries. I also wore a red jersey for the first time in a while, as I try to wear yellow or neon jerseys when riding in the dim light and it's been dark every morning for quite some time.

srober19

I just did my first commute of my life this morning. It is 12 miles to the University of Tennessee campus from my house. It felt really good!

pinkrobe

Hey srober19, welcome aboard!

The ride in today was nice. It was calm, just below freezing and quick. I'm remembering how to spin again! LOL

mikepop

Great ride this morning - clean bike and dry roads for a change.

Pig_Chaser

Brrr... a tad cold (-11C), or i was a tad underdressed. Heavy fog too, very patchy.

DataJunkie

Industrial sized staple + rear tire= Flat.

That and my backup pump is almost garbage. Time to replace my defunct road morph.

HardyWeinberg

Very nice. No jacket. Did stop for full-finger gloves though. Fog but no ice.

caloso

No rain, but very wet streets from the pre-dawn torrents. These are the days for which God gave us fenders.

savethekudzu

Pleasant ride this morning once I warmed up (long-sleeved T-shirt plus windbreaker; about 32 F). Had a riding partner for most of the route, which is rare for me.

Let's see how strong this evening's winds are... if they're the 40-mph gusts one TV station forecast, a bus ride may be in my future.

teamcompi

Dare I say spring has sprung, it was minus 6 this morning but a balmy plus 8 on the ride home in the sun no less. If I stays this way my bent will be on the road in a week. We still have a little too much ice on the road for the bent but its melting slowly.

JoeyMac

Congrats and Welcome to all the new commuters on here! I hope that you continue to enjoy the daily adventure of Bike Commuting. As for me, it's been rather average this past week, nothing substantial to report, although today in the mail I got my new Fenix L2D flashlight with handlebar mount, and HOLY CRAP is that thing bright, in "Turbo" mode. I had to wait till the ride home to really see what it was like, and it lit up almost the whole road in front of me. I could tell that I was super visible to oncoming cars, cars came on me, some even slowed as if trying to figure out what that bright light was, and some even pulled over to the right in their own lane, as if I needed more room on my side. When I got home I parked the bike in front of my building and walked across the dark parking lot so I was a good distance away and the light was still blinding from about a hundred to a couple hundred feet away! In my opinion, well worth the investment, I think it was about $70 with shipping.

craigdurkee

weird week thus far for me the weather here in Melbourne has been all over the place, 34 degrees mon tues, pissing down beyond belief and cold yesterday and beautiful riding weather today

I wonder what 2morow holds

JosephPaul86

It was lovely in the morning at about 8AM. On the way home I had some light rain, so I made note to stuff a poncho in the bag. I had a nigh class at 6pm and weather was nice, cool in the higher 60's and wind going in my direction. On the way home at 7PM I had some bad rain, had to stop at star bucks to let it calm down. Ordered a coffee and finished "Monster" by Frank Peretti.

So besides a little harsh rain in the afternoon, the ride was swell. Little traffic for some reason and didn't get anything thrown at me.

tarwheel 

Bizarro commute this morning. First it was nearly light outside when I left home after riding in the dark for months. Everything just looks different. The wind was blowing strong out of the East and NE, which is unusual. So I had a tailwind much of the way, but a stiff headwind on a stretch of road that I can normally fly on because it's slightly downhill and rarely into the wind. The wind has been brutal all week in NC, but fortunately I've had tailwinds or crosswinds on much of my commutes. The morning lows have been about the same every day (30-32 F), but it felt much colder today because of the NE wind blowing right off the Atlantic. It felt a good 10 degrees colder today, which was born out by the windchill in the low 20s.

CVB

Windy as tarwheel described -seemed like no matter which way I was headed there was a stiff headwind. But still nice. Today is my 5th bike commute in 2 weeks after many weeks off. Tomorrow is slated for "wintry mix" according to the NWS, so it's looking like the bus for me tomorrow. (Yeah, yeah, I know, and I've got fenders and a rain suit, but I just feel like giving myself a little rest for a day.)

pinkrobe

We're coming into one of my favourite times of the year, where almost every day begins with a beautiful sunrise. We got a nice one today, with splashes of colour along the horizon to the SE, and a mostly clear blue sky above us. No wind, -4C and quiet.

mjw16

It wasn't the cold so much as the constant headwind that was unpleasant. I left late and was slower than usual but otherwise felt good, I've been working on taking in more carbs at dinner-it's making a big difference. Looking forward to the "wintry mix" tonight and tomorrow morning.

Pig_Chaser

Ditto on the sunrise. I had perfect timing, leaving just before it broke and arriving after it was up. Enjoyed a beautiful sunrise the entire trip. -8C and this morning i dressed abit too warm using windproof layers.

CliftonGK1

Clear sky and a full moon lighting the roadway for me. The city ran the street sweepers far into the shoulder last night, so most of my ride was swept perfectly clean of any debris. It was a little bit chilly, and I've got to investigate this clicking noise in my bottom bracket (once per pedal rotation, same place every time, only when under heavy pressure like climbing hills,) but the ride in was great. A tractor-trailer driver flashed his brights behind me to let me know he was passing and hauling a tandem dumper. That level of courtesy at quarter to 6am made me really happy.

caloso

Awesome to see a big bite taken out of the moon on my way home last night. I'd totally forgotten about the lunar eclipse until then.

mjw16

CliftonGK1-maybe this should be under "mechanics", but I get the same thing periodically and usually start by re-greasing the pedal spindles (a quick, easy fix for a common culprit of such noises). If the clicking persists, clean and re-grease the crank arm/bb interface and then remove, clean and re-grease the bottom bracket and bb shell. Beyond that you're probably looking at a replacement bb. I think commuter bikes that see daily use need more attention in these areas than most bikes. I use generous amounts of Phil Woods waterproof grease.

HardyWeinberg

Pea soup fog made the last turn into the work parking lot from one bike lane across 5 car lanes (4 travel and 1 turn) plus another bike lane a little more exciting than usual, but still uneventful. Woohoo!

JoeyMac

So I have seen a vespa/scooter type vehicle also parked at the bike rack outside my work building, and have seen the same scooter parked in a parking lot at a nearby apartment complex I pass on my way in. Today, as I rode past the complex I saw the owner, a woman, getting on the scooter, I nodded hello and she nodded back and I continued on my way. A little ways down the road I hear a buzzing behind me and she slowly passes me on the left. I was able to keep up right behind her for a little while, and caught up with her at the next stop sign, which we both turned left and then right to enter the company campus main gate. I ended up following her all the way through campus to the bike racks and had a little chat with her as we were locking up our respective steeds. She said, "If I had known we were going to the same place I would have given you a tow!" I mentioned that 2 wheeled transport was definitely the way to go, and she said, "I just wish it was warmer" I smiled because I was all hot and sweaty from my ride and said, "It doesn't bother me much." It was a nice little interaction, much different than if we had both driven our cars to work.