cicadashell

mid-30s this morning, clear and calm and a promise of much warmer temperatures this afternoon. it will be splendid. yesterday i had to drive to detroit and i saw a guy riding a chrome bianchi pista on jefferson, heading for belle isle i imagine. he looked very happy.

Grasschopper

Mid 40s today and it was great. Spring is finally here which in my area means rain rain rain. It has been rainign for 3 days but is supposed to hold off for the next 2 so I will be riding. Roads were still very wet this morning and on my way home I am going to FINALLY buy those fenders I need.

High of 55* today and supposedly 62* tomorrow. I see lots of miles in my near future.

EnigManiac

A bright, sunny 4c this morning and an early start allowed for a very pleasant and unhurried commute. Even the ice has melted from the curbs!

RicardoJM

Wow, temps in the mid 40s this morning and little to no wind. There were seven others out on bikes that I saw this morning. We had yesterday off, the temp was up in the 70s and wind was blowing, so we took my niece to fly a kite. I think she enjoyed riding on the swings better than holding the kite. This is a great time of year to be outside doing things.

vtjim

Mid 30s. Overcast. No rain today. Trail continues to clear of snow/ice patches. A roadie came out onto the trail about three-tenths of a mile ahead of me when I was on the last stretch of ice. Once I got off the ice I tried to reel in the roadie but it had too much lead-time before my "exit." I cut the distance roughly in half, which wasn't bad for a big heavy MTB on knobbies.

RonH

Awesome! Mid 40s (8C) and bright sunshine. I have to go out in the middle of the day to visit 4 bike shops and the temperature should be 65-70 (20C) by the time I head out. I'll think about everyone who is stuck inside while I'm out riding.

Szpirit

Lovely morning, finally, 3 C. My first commute of the season. However, just learning to go clipless and after having a bad fall on Sunday I was really nervous about cycling to work. However, I did it--at least I got to work in one piece. Now I will spend the day worrying about the trip home. My time is way off. It took me longer to get to work as I was constantly thinking about unclipping at every stop and slowing down, etc. and I'm really worried about any sudden stop that I can't anticipate. I'm not sure this is for me although it seems that everyone swears by going clipless.

balto charlie

Well the 2nd deluge in a week is over, got soaked last night but today's rdie was nice, windy but dry. The sun is trying to stick it's nose out. I feel shorts on the return are in order. Hopefully March will go out like a lamb cuz it came in like a lion. Temps could hit 70F by Weds. Finally!!

bikebuddha 

Let's just say I love spring in Georgia. The only thing that sucks is that I can't ride again until 4:30.

madhouse

Only my 3rd commute in 2 months I'm good at coming up with excuses but I won't bore you with the details.

Great ride because of the weather and I was finally back on my bike… Sucky ride because any conditioning I had built up has long dwindled away, and I was pushing a 12mph head wind.

Even though I am out of shape I noticed a HUGE difference as this is the first commute without my studs.

Looking forward to the ride home! The forecasted 10mph tailwind will make me feel strong, and I should be in shorts for the first time this year!!!!

OldShacker

Great ride to start the season off here in Kettering, Ohio. The thick fog made it kind of adventurous. My route to work now is mostly bike path now. They just open another part that takes me off the streets in a very bad part of town. I really put the Trek 1000c to work. The fenders did a really good job for the leftover rains. 12.5 miles one way.

ollo_ollo

Wet & very windy ride today but I managed to stay upright.

spidercyclist

Warm weather today. Had to be close to 60 F. The ride home was about 50 F. Got to race another train on the way home. I also saw a lot of people riding their bikes on the way home. All in all, a good ride. Have a good night.

Zin

Here's a trick with the thought process for riding clipless. It really helped my wife when she started with clipless 2 weeks ago.

Riding clipless is similar to driving a car with a standard transmission. When you have to stop the car, you disengage the transmission by pushing the clutch. Likewise, with clipless, when you have to stop, you disengage the shoe from the pedal. As you get better at driving a standard transmission, it becomes automatic to use the clutch. You will notice the same automatic responses develop with your clipless pedals.

Good luck, stick with it.

ridealot

Great ride home last night, tempature right around 65F. Slight tailwind and I had to stay late at work so when I left, rush hour was over and traffic was light. Not a bad ride at all!

Good ride in this morning. The tempature was right around 40F. The high today is supposed to get up to the mid 70's. I should have brought my shorts.

Grasschopper

Man I was not interested in riding in today but I resisted the urge to hop in the cage. Yesterday I did my commute and then did a family ride with my son and wife. Hauling that trailer bike up hills is a bear. Well later that evening I had a volleyball match and this morning every muscle is sore.

Well I did it anyway (yea for me) and it is going to be a great day, high of 65* and bright and sunny.

Rixtory

First bike commute ever for me this morning - I am finally close enough to work to ride now (no more 88 mile R/T commutes).

What a gorgeous day - Was 34 degrees when I left at 6:40 pulled in at 7:30 AM, 12 miles later. Shocking to see how heavy my bike is when the panniers are stuffed with work clothes. Maybe I'll leave a few sets here at the office, or perhaps at least my shoes.

I found the ride in was really nice except breathing the heavy truck diesel fumes as I sucked wind while going uphill through a small town about 45 miles NW of Boston.

I found the toughest thing was getting my bike and my gear into the back loading dock door, and unloading my panniers to go to the shower room down the hall. What a hassle - worse than the ride.

How does everyone else carry all their gear? Backpack? Or do you pull the panniers right off teh bike and carry them with you?
Thanks
Rick

sweatyworker

First Commute for a year or more on Tuesday. I have a new bike which is always an encouragment to ride My butt hurt like hell for the first 5 minutes and the legs felt wooden, I got blown away by a few other guys but I'm just sticking to my pace for now to let the knees warm up to it. I'm delighted to find that there is now a cyclepath for the majority of my ride, the path runs next to a railway line. Woops, looks like it have been more than a year since my last ride https://www.dpi.wa.gov.au/cycling/pbn....html#maylands.

Man the ride home was hell with a headwind all the way and extra wooden legs. I had a rest today and I want to ride tomorrow but it may be raining with lightning so I don't know

Paul

map

My first commute today, too! Man, it feels good to be back on the bike after a long winter. Moved from Texas to DC and this has been the first time in a long time that cold has kept me off my bike...It is good to be back.

For any of you who live in DC - how in the world do you get from the Key Bridge (coming from VA) down to the Capital Crescent (K Street) without going down M to Wisconsin?

sweatyworker

Hey Rick, What I used too do was leave as much stuff at work as possible, Heavy stuff like shoes. A good routine I had was to ride 4 days a week and then on Friday I would take in 4 days worth of laundered shirts and leave them in a locker or hanging inside a suitbag or whatever. I'd take a pair of trousers for the week as well. That way when I rode I only had to carry fresh socks and undies! that all goes in a pretty small backpack. It may sound like a cheat to drive one day a week but we used to socialise on a Friday night anyway so it would be a late ride home.

I worked in the city and had to use and elevator to the basement so I tried to keep the bulk down. I used to keep a lock on the bike rack at another workplace instead of having to carry it every day as well, Just leave it locked to the rack for when you return.

Happy and Safe riding

Paul

bikebuddha 

Couldn't be better. 50F no wind, light traffic. Think I'll ride across the street for lunch.

SaskCyclist

I don't find it to be a hassle. I park the bike in a bike cage, remove the panniers and change in my office. I don't find that I need a shower once I get to the office. I shower before I leave home; 5 minutes after I get here I am dry and feel as clean as I would if I had caged it. I have huge panniers that I carry a suit, shoes, jacket, lunch, extra clothes and tools. Yes, my bike with all my gear weighs alot but I don't focus on weight or speed. I bike all year around so it is going to be tough for fairweather riders to catch me.

Today was 0C and cloudy with a head wind. It is supposed to be 12C by Friday. I am looking forward to a family ride this weekend. We will be able to put both our girls in the trailer (26 months and 11 months) and make some miles.

cicadashell

props to all the first-evers. stick with it!

already mid-40s today. i got some extra riding in this morning when, about 4 miles in, i heard this thwack sound fading off behind me that i recognized as my cell phone hitting the pavement and tumbling to the curb. i realized i had forgotten to zip my pockets and noticed that my wallet was missing, which explained that other, softer noise i heard near the beginning of my ride. so i retraced my steps all the way home, where i learned that a neighbor had found it and picked it up. the things we do to get an extra 8 or 9 miles of riding!

our fair city took a stab at sweeping the winter's detritus from the streets a few days ago. in many places they only succeeded in loosening the hardened materials and spreading them uniformly over the bike lanes, which are now covered with a soft, well-graded mixture of grit, gravel, cigarette butts and broken glass.

the red-winged blackbirds singing in the reeds that surround the stormwater detention ponds are quite enough consolation, however.

kf5nd

Beautiful lovely warm weather here in Houston. 68 deg F when I left the house at 5:45 am. Warmed up even more as the sun came up. Short-sleeves all the way!

I get to ride home in a commuter van, so I don't get the afternoon heat or the afternoon road-rage. Love it.

Szpirit

Thank you for the encouragement. This morning was a little better though I'm not totally convinced that riding clipless has improved my cycling. However, I'll keep at it.