I'm preparing for the commute tomorrow. -16C with a wind, but the paths are clear and dry. I think I will go with the face mask and probably take it off when I warm up.

Cold

Hot-diggity! Really nice this morning--~40F/4 or 5C with about a 10mph/16kph headwind (my apologies to our northern tier/non-sealevel brethren). Knickers and a light merino turtleneck were spot on, and I felt as though gliding...

I think this bike thing might just work out. :D

+10 :D

No ride for me this morning. 2.5 mile hike to the bus instead. Going out to the bars after work. :beer:

I would have had a heinous headwind, so I dodged that bullet. On the MUP, a woman was riding her old cruiser and her dog was several yards ahead, galloping along. It was cute. We were both a bit ninja-ish but it was twilight (~6:50AM) so I saw her well ahead of time.

stayed up too late but still felt good on the bike this morning, decided to take the little trail near my house again and then through the cemetary...someone was out with their dog and he really liked running beside me it's quite annoying when they start running out in front of the bike but he was pretty cute and didn't try to bite me

The ride today was fine, but someone else left a shopping cart from the supermarket right in the middle of the sidewalk. This was the situation that caused me to take a spill last week when I didn't see it in time (happened after dark). This time I was able to avoid it since it was broad daylight. I think I figured out why someone is deliberately leaving shopping carts in the middle of the sidewalk.

There is an apartment building next door to the supermarket, and the shopping cart was one of those with an attachment for a baby. I figure someone takes their kid with them to the supermarket and then rides him/her home in the cart with the groceries and leaves the cart in the middle of the sidewalk for someone else to take care of. This really burns me up. I'd love to give whoever is doing this a piece of my mind. They were the cause of my spill last week.

Stake out the place!

Commute was great today..thank goodness. First time going to work in the AM on a weekday so it was a little busier, got a wiff of exhaust gases.:( Other than that it was a great ride, only had like 4 hours of sleep but feel energetic and awake and can't wait for the ride back home.

Yesterday's ride into DC, chilly ~27F, my fingers got cold, and in the last two miles my, ahem, netherregions developed frostbite from the wind blowing through the tights. Not good.

The ride home was about perfect. Had my blue LED battery-powered christmas lights on, it was warm, only saw 5 other cyclists the whole way home.

George

yikes...i picked up some shorts that have extra material in the front for blocking wind and they really work well...gotta protect the goods, they are by sugoi found them at an outlet store

15 F

I'm still kind of new to this winter riding and learning about these nice technical material available to us.

Today I had on Sporthill 3SP pants and a new Gore Windstopper jacket that I was skeptical about. It just seemed to thin to do much good.

Well, I couldn't have been more comfortable today. :)

Apologies for no updates...It seems BikeForums has been blocked by the almighty USMC network administrators.

It's been cool here (low-30s/high-20s) for the last few days and there's been heavy frosts. The riding has been good and all is well. :)

Continuing the theme...it's surprising to me how little I have to wear to be comfortable while riding. Yesterday it was ~26F as I rode in. I was OK just wearing 2 layers of UnderArmour (the bottom layer is just the regular thin stretchy stuff; the 2nd layer is their "Winter gear", 2 layers thick but still not much). On my legs I had brushed-fleece tights (medium weight, not the heavy stuff) and cycling shorts over them.

Walking into the building I was surrounded by people leaving their cars wearing heavy winter jackets. I'm ALWAYS cold (I have no body fat for insulation) so the fact that I can be comfortable wearing that little speaks volumes.

I watched a beautiful sunrise on my commute into work this morning. It was one of those glowing sunrises where the entire sky is neon-orange and pink. Absolutely breaktaking. The weather wasn't too bad either.

Yesterday was mid-50s in the morning, got up to 70, by the ride home was in the 40s. This morning's commute was in the 20s. Welcome to Texas.

Especially when you ride hard like most of us. :)

Thought I'd get away with a windvest and armwarmers today, but it just wasn't quite enough. It's not like I froze but I never really got comfortable.

cold - ice on deck, frost on cars, but no black ice on road, so the big apples live to roll another day (vs get replaced w/ studdeds although, I know, it will be better to put the studs on a day early than a day late, but we'll see how it goes...).

I've done a partial-commute three days this week so far. It's been cold. It's also been windy every single day this week. It's always a headwind on the way to work, an a tailwind or crosswind on the way home. Oh well, I'm not in a hurry when riding anyway.

I can't ride the recumbent on a partial commute (doesn't fit on my car). I may do a full-commute tomorrow so that the 'bent doesn't get lonely.

I'm really glad to be riding in December. I want to ride year-round, and now I think I can do it.

I'm now riding with a neon-green reflective vest. It helps me be seen in dark, rainy weather. I also was given some scrap reflective vinyl sign material, and I've "decorated" the bike with it for better visibility.

No wonder it felt cold yesterday -- the low was 25F when I rode to work. It felt great though as I've got my winter wear worked out, and I didn't even break a sweat. Rode in the dark both coming and going because of a meeting that ran late in the afternoon. I'm used to riding in the dark in the mornings but not in the afternoons, so my ride home almost felt like a different route.

This morning the low was about 32F so it felt much warmer. Hopefully I'll be able to leave work before it gets dark.

Today's commute was the first since I got my wallet stolen. This one went decidedly better than the first, although not perfect.

Headwind this morning made my eyes water for a while at the start. I can't wear my glasses because they would be iced over in no time, so I just dealt with it until my eyes adjusted. The rest of the ride to the bus stop was no problem.

Then, when I get off of the bus, I have about a 1/4 mile ride to the office. I'm riding down the road, when all of a sudden my front wheel goes all squirrely on me. I slow down as I thought I hit a small patch of black ice and survived, but when I got to work I realized that the QR on my front wheel was extremely loose to the point that my wheel could rock side to side pretty easily. I guess the last time that I took it off to transport it, I did not tighten it back down enough and the riding mixed with the bus vibration loosened it up.

Compared to my wallet being stolen, it was pretty minor, but if I had to bunny hop or something, I could have been in deep ish. Dodged a bullet today, and learned something to add to the pre-ride checklist.

Today's commute was MUCH nicer than yesterday's, even though it is around ten degrees colder today (upper 20's today, upper 30's yesterday). The wind is light today, compared to the hurricane-ish winds yesterday (25-35, with gusts over 45 all day as a cold front moved in).
I'll take colder and calm over warmer and windy any day....

Missed out on commuting today. I had to bring supplies and cloths for the rest of the week, also brought the mutt to work with me to day. She likes to meet and greet the people that come in. Back at it tomorrow. And looking forward to it.

This morning was the coldest commute so far this winter. -16C with 10km/hr wind, but with a headband over the ears and forehead, neck warmer pulled up over my chin, booties over my shoes, mitt shell over my gloves and lots of layers (4 on top half, 2 on bottom half) I felt warm for the whole ride. The ride home was only -4C and seemed balmy in comparison! I am off to Hawaii for a well deserved holiday for 10 days!

Blown inner tube after the ride home. It did not actually blow until I had it parked at home, fortunately for me. It was the rear, as usual. I used my spare tube and ordered a replacement online, since I was not in the mood to head down to my LBS.

See, guy in the SUV blowing your horn behind me, I'm in the middle of the right lane and going slow because I'm turning right (just like I'm signaling) and don't want you to right hook me and slaughter those pedestrians in the crosswalk, OK?
Otherwise a beautiful commute.

Phew, first week with the studded tires, and a headwind to start on Monday, but I can see improvement today, four days and 100 miles later, that I'm starting to adjust to the extra drag of the studded tires, and for sure I needed them this week with thin coatings of ice and light snow on Monday and Tuesday. It was really funny at red lights . . . the bike was locked to the road if I kept the brakes on, but when putting my feet down they slid all over. +1 for studded tires.

Today was my first "winter" commute. Mid-20s, light layer of snow on the ground until I got to the main roads. It was exhilarating!

I hadn't commuted for a bit over a week and I forgot my lock so I had to bring my bike into my office. That isn't a problem, though trying to be the good employee, I don't want to bring a wet, salty bike into the office. So it goes.

It was a great ride. :D

Usual route along the RR tarcks until I hit the real trails. Recieved my new Voler jacket yesterday and it kept me warm even when the temps at the end of my ride was in the mid 20's. The pic below is at the start of my ride and the sunset is at my back. The second photo is my route heading east.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...r/IM000006.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...r/IM000007.jpg

sweet pictures

Awesome ride home
 

It was a balmy 26 degrees Fahrenheit! I stayed pretty toasty in my makeshift winter riding gear aka unvented rainpaints and jacket. I figured I'd go totally fred, so my beard is growing in thick...and it does help somewhat with staying warm. Anyway, I am starting to love riding in the cold!