caloso

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.

Flimflam

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

https://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 ...

trombone

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!

charly17201

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!

Flimflam

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

knatchwa

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

chephy

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.

DCvision

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.

trombone

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.

MIKEnDC

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...

bikebuddha 

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.

pinkrobe

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

HardyWeinberg

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

caloso

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

Itsjustb

Lost my temper on a driver this morning. I take the lane for part of my commute (2 lanes-each-way-plus-a-center-turn for this stretch with a gutter pan, hard kerb, and 45 mph speed limit; I don't trust drivers to share the lane with me on this piece of road). Approaching a line of cars stopped at a light, 2 cars in the lane to my left managed to fit themselves into the space in front of me as I closed the gap. The 3rd driver--the one I got angry at--tried to do it too and cut me off. If I hadn't seen her about to make the move I could have easily gone over her hood. I smacked her passenger side window, glared at her, and yelled, "What the hell are you doing?" She mouthed something at me thru the windshield but I couldn't read her lips.

tarwheel 

I was moving slow this morning and left for work about 10 minutes later than usual. The upside was that it was almost totally light outside, which was nice for a change. I only needed my light so drivers would be sure to notice me, and also wore a red jersey for a change rather than yellow. It's supposed to get very windy during the day, but wasn't bad this morning. The next few days are supposed to be very cold with lows in the 20s, but perhaps this will be winter's last hurrah in NC.

jyossarian

After working remotely for a month, I commuted to work today. Had a near miss w/ a couple peds and almost got doored in front of my building by a taxi passenger exiting on the driver's side in stopped traffic. What a welcome.

pinkrobe

Warm! +7C on the way in today, and the temperature is still rising!

shamen71

hello,

i am new to this bike forum. i am a daily bike commuter. 18 miles each way. Friday will mark two complete years without missing(knock on wood). My two year mileage total in that time is about 24,000 miles, just using goodle earth and averages, etc.

Anyway, this seemeed like a good thread area for me. I have lots of experience commuting in bad and cold wheather as i live in vermont, so hopefully i can be a resource to some of you.

Today's commute to work was slow, we got 6-8 inches of snow last night. the first 6 miles i did today were before the plow came through so my legs really got a workout. The ride home will be easy by comparision becuase all the backroads will be cleared.

peace,
dave

caloso

Welcome, shamen71!

Here, the weather is warming to the point where I'll soon be ditching the vest and skullcap. And I really don't need the lights if I'm working my normal hours (although I'll probably keep them on the bike for a couple more weeks just to be safe).

SDBluefish

Got out the door in time for the early bus this AM, only to find I had a FLAT (grrr). Fixed it in the driveway, and headed out. Nice morning - warmer than it's been, and dry. Stopped along the way to help a guy fixing his own flat - his CO2 cartridge wasn't working so I lent him my pump. And even with the pause I managed to catch the not quite so early bus.

This is my 2nd flat in a month - if it keeps up I may just spring for the Armadillos to save myself some aggravation. Dinged up my fingernails too.

JoeyMac

good looking out with your fellow commuter SDBluefish.

chephy

-14 C (~7 F) out there today. As I stopped at a traffic light, wiping sweat from my brow, a woman standing at a bus stop exclaimed: "Aren't you cold?!" She looked rather uncomfortable herself, standing there waiting for that bus to come, in that 20 mph cold wind ... brr... And she thought I was cold? Too funny.

trombone

Overcast and warm today; had a nice ride in. Met up with a work colleague half-way in; chatted for a while as we cruised along. Makes a nice change from my normal head-down take-no-prisoners sprint!

Since I arrived at work the rain has returned, so it could be a wet ride home again.

And my bell broke - I dinged it at some peds, and the little dinger thing flew off. Also yet another of my blinkies has succumbed to the wet weather, and the mounting for my cycling computer came apart, I think also because of the rain.

Anyone have any recommendations for a truly waterproof light? I'm cycling through well-lit streets, so don't need a huge headlight-style thing. I just want a small set of blinkies that will withstand Sydney rainstorms. The 'water resistant' models I have tried just don't cut the mustard.

gbcb

Traffic was nuts today! Not just a lot of cars, but huge numbers of mopeds, scooters, and not a few bikes. I barely got up any speed at all, and hit pretty much every red light along the way. Kind of disappointing... I might have to do a longer ride home tonight