bad forecast for today, great weather though.

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

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.

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.

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.

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. :D

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.

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.

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 :p

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.

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.

Went down hard on my right side today. I was coming down a little slope where the bike trail passes under the road. It was wet under the underpass and my rear wheel slid out. For an instant I thought I might save it but the bike fishtailed under me, and when the wheel caught traction again it just slammed me over. Road rash, torn knickers and bartape, but the bike is okay.

Funny how after you go down the bike feels totally out of control for the first couple of miles.

Much much warmer today, very sunny and looking rather lovely. Decided to mount the camera today on the handlebars:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjwCDdoaJPo

All I did was speed it up and add music for now, the lighting sucks in places and the jitter is really pronounced when sped up ...

Warm, sunny morning. I overslept and left later which made the traffic worse than usual.

And every trafifc light was on red. Every single one. Makes for a much more tiring ride; felt like I'd absolutely hammered it this morning, even though it took me longer than usual. Still, better exercise, I suppose!

The ride today was absolutely wonderful!!!

I got my new 'bent on Friday, spend the afternoon and evening putting it together..... tried it out on Saturday morning (snow and ice on the ground). Road in yesterday to try it out..... and this morning was wonderful. Still learning the 'bent (my first) and oversteering it.... but that is coming along too!

And the ride home was windy, which gave me a hard time as well as one particular rider toward the end - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHP47OxsEDk :)

amazing change of weather not to much wind and smooth road the whole way always nice to enjoy it then hate it.

The fastest morning commute yet, beating my recent speed record. Commuted later in the morning than usual, so rush hour was over and roads were clear.

Pleasant interactions with the humankind today. Some guy on the sidewalk gave me two thumbs up as I went by. A polite pedestrian apologized for slowing me down a little bit while jaywalking (I had plenty of time and space to avoid him, so it's not as though he jumped right out of nowhere or stepped off without looking - it was very civilized). Drivers were friendly and were not impatient when I had to take over lanes due to snow and cars parked in bike lanes (cars often park in bike lanes year, but in winter bike lanes get converted to de facto parking spaces - it's difficult to find a stretch not occupied by parked cages). Quite a few drivers insisted on letting me go first at stop signs - yes, somewhat annoying, but at least their intentions are good. I'll take that over *****holes every day.

This winter has been pretty extreme, as far as temperature swings and the amount of snow go. That must have really affected Toronto roads: they're in the worst shape I've ever seen them in. The asphalt is crumbling like a shortbread cookie. So far on my winter beater with 2" knobbies I'm doing quite all right, but life will get more difficult once the spring comes and I migrate to my beloved slicks.

Beautiful day for commuting, about 75 in the am, and 83 or so for return trip.
This week should be my first nearly full week of riding both to and from work and not using the train.
First trip using both panniers, with a slightly heavier load. It's amazing how the panniers really make the bike feel more stable and sturdy.

I just rode home through this. Very exciting. Huge thunderclaps right overhead, torrential rain, rivers running down the paths etc. In places the water on the roads / bike path was 6-12 inches deep. Luckily no hail. I got very very wet. And had lots of fun.

Now I'm home, the storm has passed, and there's a beautiful rainbow outside.

Life is good.

38F with showers in the area, though none fell on me. Lighter weight tights, Seal Skinz, and neoprene gloves were a nice change. With the wet pavement, no wind, and my POS hybrid riding like a <fill in name of fav racing bike here>, I felt like I was gliding in.

Aside from one a-hole passing me about a foot-and-a-half away and laying on his horn right next to me, it was a thoroughly enjoyable ride.

I'm not anti-car because of the machines themselves (though we clearly have issues with what powers them), but rather because of the immature, self-absorbed evolutionary failures that pilot them.

Sorry, just had to get that off of my chest...

Anyone in Atlanta ride through that hurricane this morning? At first I thought there was no way I was riding this morning, then 10 minutes later it was gone and it was just your regular wet ride.

Great sunrise? Check.
Not too cold? Check.
No ice [of any consequence]? Check.
Making most of the lights? Check.
Good ride in? Check.

Brisk, foggy. 1st ride pushing 16mph avg since summer. Not rolling w/ the kids helps to keep the average up, it seems.

Managed to keep the rubber side down today. So that's good.