JDal

Well....not such a good commute today. I'm used to the cold, started out this morning at 4F and it was around 17F on the way home. We had rain then 5 inches of snow on top last Sunday and it has been well below freezing all week...it created ice skating patches all over the less traveled roads. Made it safely in this morning, but coming home tonight I was rolling down a big hill and there was a huge patch of ice at the bottom...Ouch! Nothing broken except my spirt...when will this nasty winter ever end? Maybe I should buy a studded front tire??

3bikes

Hey everyone,

So it was back in January I purchased a Specialized Globe 6 IG8 to replace a 26 year old Schwinn for commuting. I had a bad spill due to soap/grease/water and I decided to upgrade to a "real" commuter bike.

My new Specialized has the full fenders and all. Tonight, coming home I had rain all the way and I felt pretty much in control. The Specialized Nimbus tires held the road well. The dyno hub was fine with water. The fenders did a great job and my Axiom rear pack protected the contents well. The rim V-brakes howled a bit, I rode slower and braked carefully. Oh, I got soaked, but I wasn't uncomfortable and when I returned home it was time for a good cleaning of the bike.... all that road grime from the wet roads. Overall, I'm very pleased with how the bike dealt with rain. Now it's cleaner than new.

I should look into some rain gear, so I don't have to get soaked next time.

-3bikes

gbcb

Fun ride home last night. It was the last night of Chinese New Year (Yuanxiao Jie), and fireworks were going off EVERYWHERE. The smell of gunpowder in the air, and some mist or haze to add to the effect. A bit of a war zone.

neilfein

I had jury duty the last 2 days, and had a great ride into New Brunswick and back. Same length as my normal commute, but a longer ride - there are lots of stop signs and turns for the first mile.

On the way back, there's a nice climb going into Highland Park. The town is well named.

StokerPoker

I had a nice ride in last night. A little powder on the ground and falling snow combined with little traffic made for a very peacful commute. This morning on the other hand, wasn't all that great. it snowed most of the night, but there was only about an inch of powdery snow on the ground. I forgot that there was rutted ice on the 2-3 feet closest to the edge of my street. I was riding along watching the snow fly out of the front of my fender and I caught a rut and lost it. I hit the ground hard with my right knee and banged up the wald folding basket on right side of the bike. My knee is going to be bruised and sore for a while, my coffee cup got smashed and so did my cigarettes. I just sat there on the ground laughing for a moment because the whole situation was funny and stupid. All in all it was a fun ride home.

mjw16

Gross..... I was looking forward to the predicted snow/freezing rain, however, once I hit the streets it was just a cold, soaking rain. I came across periodic, small accumulations of granular stuff (mostly on the bridges/overpasses) which offered decent traction and a break from wheel spray. The temps for fairly mild and I didn't notice a headwind so, other than being a little wet, I was pretty comfortable. I guess they're predicting more freezing rain/sleet this afternoon. Also, it looks to be a fairly quiet day at work-many took the day off.

pinkrobe

'Twas another beautiful sunrise to ride into this morning. Pinks, tangerines, gold and blue. I was chasing a 911 turbo most of the way into work, and passed him about 2 blocks from my building. 375 HP, all-wheel drive, pwned by a bike.

Pig_Chaser

This morning there was a real cool full moon. It was low on the western horizon which is the direction i travel for half my commute.
The temperature range i pass through was fairly interesting. It went from -9(ish) in the city to -17c closer to the Edmonton International airport.

Mazaev

Ride in last night was nice, quick and uneventful.

This morning, on the other hand, was more interesting with the snow coming down. Almost wiped out doing a trackstand due to the rear wheel slipping. The Brooklyn Bridge had been plowed earlier, but still had some dicey spots. The wooden part is hard to walk on without slipping, but riding along seemed ok.

Stopped to help a beemer with rear wheel drive pull out of a parking spot. Didn't even get a thank you. Also took some pictures along the way :-)

J B Bell

I had my first commute with clipless pedals today! Very exciting. So far I have little trouble clipping out when I'm planning it well ahead, but the reflex is a bit untrained yet for more sudden stops. A couple wobblies but I'm not in the 0 mph crash club yet.

New saddle & grips on the Tikit are a huge comfort improvement too; those foamies where stressing my right thumb something fierce, irritating a tendon in it. Changing them out for pretty cheap rubber grips provided instant relief. With my improvements in training, and a few upgrades, I think my commute is a good five to ten minutes shorter (going in; more downhill). And definitely more fun!

Flimflam

Was snowing a bit this morning, had an on/off 4-day work week that I've ridden the fixie on most days due to possible ice related issues (I feel way more in control riding fixed in slippy conditions). Not bad though, it's looking to warm up too - and I've done a couple of after-work 25-mile rides, that's 3x25+ my regular rides since Saturday which clocks in some milage for me (on the roadie, though ).

Flimflam

That's it now, you've tempted fate!

roadiejorge 

Congrats! I got my clipless pedals in November and absolutely love it. Initially I found the dismounting process a bit trickier so I bailed twice the first day I went for a test spin but now I'm doing fine.

caloso

Streets were wet and the skies were threatening, but no precipitation on the way in. I hope my luck holds for the ride home.

HardyWeinberg

bad forecast for today, great weather though.

jostan1

Snow and Ice. I rode my winter mountain bike, so no worries. The front brake is disc, worked fine, but the rear caliper brake got filled with ice, and would not work.............hmm my first real applicable data on disc vs caliper

Sixty Fiver

The weather was beautiful in that it was above freezing, the roads were dry, and the sun was shining and I have never ridden slower in my life or enjoyed riding more.

It's been over 3 weeks since I have been on a bike... I could have been doing 5 kmh and been as happy as I was doing 20 kmh.

DataJunkie

Lovely commute home. 52 F and was riding in jersey and shorts with warmers.
Then I realized my keys left my messenger bag in route.
Yay.
Had to call my work to deactivate my secure id. Now to replace all the keys but at least I have spares for everything. I have been meaning to replace the locks in my house and this is as good a time as any.
Too bad replacing my windstar keys and remote will cost an arm and a leg.
I have never lost keys before. This blows.

MIKEnDC

Ugh! Losing keys/wallet definitely blows.

No commute for me on Friday. The called-for snow/ice storm fizzled (as it often does hereabouts--DC is often right on the freeze line and weather fronts, I think, get modulated by the Chesapeake Bay about 25 miles east). Most school systems shut down early, though, and when that happens the Fed usually goes for Open, unscheduled leave--it did, and so did I.

My week-long dance with the devil (i.e., UPS) finally resulted in the delivery of a snazzy new wheelset (Phil Wood/Velocity) and the Nokians I probably won't need now 'til next winter. That was the main reason I took the day--could've easily ridden in early. But the end of that epic and some (useful) new toys made it a classic case of a mental-health day.

MIKEnDC

Uh-oh. I hope this doesn't mean I'm a thread-killer. Oh well.

Well above freezing this morning, so I was very nearly over dressed. And I was paying so much attention to my MUCH improved drive-train that I nearly missed seeing a couple of cars. Not that many out when I ride in the morning, though.

But WOW! It feels like I have a new bike. I am thoroughly pleased with myself.

tarwheel 

Some fenders would have been nice this morning. It rained overnight and the roads were still soaking wet even though the sky was clear. I actually tried to reinstall my RaceBlade fenders last week, but they wouldn't fit with my PB Superflash mounted on the seat stays, and I would rather have the extra rear light than fenders. Another factor that will ultimately push me to buy a new frame with eyelets and mounts for fenders and racks. I've been getting by OK over the past year because we are in the midst of a drought and it seldom rains any more, but I need to work something out for when the rains finally return to NC. I might just convert my Merckx Corsa to my rain bike, heaven forbid, but it actually has a geometry that is pretty favorable for fenders even though it lacks eyelets.

pinkrobe

Foggy! It's starting to burn off now, but it was definitely hard to see anything beyond 2 blocks this morning. The lights stayed on high for sure. Other than that, the dusting of snow we had last night didn't provide any drama. Humidity was higher than I was used to, and gave me a bit of a chill. We should be back to warmer and drier conditions by tomorrow.

Pig_Chaser

Another steep temperature gradient, -8C in the city and -17C out in the country, wouldn't think that the temp could vary that much over a 20k ride. I was cold when i arrived, toes mainly. Still beats the tar outta driving

Intheloonybin

This morning was my first ride in two weeks (was sick). It felt really good to get back out.

The plus side was that I missed the cold weather.

It was about 30F this morning. Was a fast ride with "so few" clothes on. The roads were pretty clear compared to the last couple of rides I did. Was foggy, but not too bad.

HardyWeinberg

beautiful blinding sun. Damp, heavy dew last night. And warm! 40s, I just wore shorts and l/s t-shirt. Wimped out a bit w/ full-finger gloves but what the heck.

Also, plugged in headlight out of habit though I didn't use it Friday pm or this morning, and found that it held its whole charge over the weekend (this is my wife's newish Li ion minewt that I've appropriated while she's taking the dark season off). My cygo nimh totally would have lost half its charge over the weekend.