Another foggy, damp but warm ride in. I took an alternate route reversing my home commute with the way in today...so I have a great ride along the Annacostia River in SouthEast DC, past the Navy Yard and a large museum Destroyer, I passed our re-developed new park area, passed the baseball stadium, up to the SoiuthWest Waterfront fish market, passed the Jefferson memorial, then along a very quiet Potomac River (this area is full of tour busses when I ride home), passed Lincoln Memorial, and finally to my office.

A very nice warm ride again at 62f (17c). Everyone is talking Sandy for the begining of next week, so I guess we will see how much rain/wind we get. The blustery mornings are a pleasure, in which to ride. It's those cold windy mornings that are not so nice.

Haven't yet but I'm going to see how long I can bike-commute this year. We can get significant snow during the winter which means that the roads narrower and narrower as the snow plows can't push the snow as far off the road later in the winter as they can during the beginning. However, there is at least one hardy bike-commuter that I will occasionally see during the winter. I would also have to decide what I'm going to ride during the winter, I don't want to use my current bike although it is the only one with disc brakes.

What about you noglider? In NY, you should get significant snow too, especially upstate.

No biking today. Halfway home yesterday, I started to suffer pretty sharp and severe stomach/upper GI cramps and pains. I've never experienced that before to the best of my knowledge. I "hobbled" the rest of the way home, had dinner (no real relief), went to a funeral wake and then straight to bed. I decided to take a break today.

Hammer day. For coming off being ill, I rode one of my best today. 12mi in 37:10.

Still failed to crack the 20mph average for this ride though. I gave it everything I had this morning. Whew! Tonight I'm going to recovery ride nice and easy!

I live and work in NJ, where our snowfall varies a lot from year to year. Some years we get no snow at all. Our worst weather, in my opinion, is heavy rain and wind together at around 32F. Snow is less painful. I used to have a rule of no riding when there's snow or ice on the ground, but I've lifted that rule. Unfortunately, since I did so, there has been no slick stuff to test my skills on. Last winter was a dud.

Another bad thing is that the temperature fluctuates above and below freezing, so the snow melts and refreezes many times, leaving the surface in patches of completely clear and plowed snow banks turned to ice, plus patches of snow, ice, and wet slush. I don't know what tires to use in that case. I guess knobby tires are safest, but I'll be spending most of my time on clear surfaces.

I've been reading the winter cycling section of bikeforums for two or three years. Apparently, the folks there go by the Minnesota saying: there's no bad weather, only bad clothing. I want to see what my limit is. Maybe I won't find one if I find suitable clothing for our worst weather. We get a lot of humidity and wind here, though our milder temperatures will make you smirk.

Ooops, I missed that.

My brother-in-law doesn't live too far from you, in Short Hills.

In the mid-60s, we lived for a couple of years north of High Falls, in Oswego.

Short Hills is the next town over. Actually, Short Hills is a zip code in the town of Millburn, which is the next town over.

High Falls isn't anywhere near Oswego. High Falls is near New Paltz, NY, about 100 miles north of New York City. This is where we just bought a weekend house. Cycling there is very pretty. I might try cycling in the winter weather there. There might be some real snow there.

Near perfect day although southerner that I am I needed arm-warmers and gloves. It's been of a no-driving month of commutes, two months actually, minus a visit to the surgeon for my clavicle. It was a risk going back to the bike two weeks after surgery but it turned out well and I'm glad now that I did it.

I'm finally getting my conditioning back, such as it is, and was able to play the "rabbit" yesterday. A few miles at 21-22 mph, but I'm cautious with mup-bikers at underpasses and he passed me there - I could never catch up. LOL the truth is the speed-racers are actually slacking until they get around you but it's still fun to play rabbit and hound with them.

Wind is beginning to shift around from the north as a cool front is approaching...
http://mapmyride.com/view_workout?w=197885391

Further away than I thought.

I have heard that the finger lakes (?) are beautiful to cycle around, love to try it sometime. Have a great day!

-4C with a light dusting of powdery snow. I'm getting to the limit of my lightweight tights and summer shoes with covers. Spots where cars repeatedly drove had a glazed look, so I was careful when cornering since I didn't have my winter tires on. It was starting to cler near the end of my ride, so the sun should melt that snow quickly.

It was just about perfect on the way in today.

About -7C/19F, no appreciable wind. A light dusting of snow overnight was enough to collect on the roads and trails. There were times I wished for studded tires, as I had a bit of rear-tire slippage when mashing up hills or braking down hills. Next week might warm up a bit with highs above freezing, so I'm not sure if I should put the studded tires on yet or not. Slow ride today - I'm blaming the snow for increased rolling resistance.

Hey, I've been to Short Hills!

Today's commute was quite nice. about 5 Celsius but once I warmed up it felt good, except for the runny nose.

Here is a picture of Kilometer 24 going over the Waal river. I get to go over the Rhine and the Waal on my daily commute.

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...874E545A10.jpg

Beautiful photo pepox369! My commute is way ugly compared to that . . . warmer though. 63 Deg.F (17-C) this morning, no wind (though Santa Anas are on the way!), no worries from motorists, so a very good commute!

Rick / OCRR

no riding this week due to a cold that hit me full swing monday night. was home sick tuesday and wednesday and drove the rest of the week still not feeling 100%. i'm bummed because this week the colors in the leaves are definitely their most beautiful. starting next week they will all turn brown and fall :(

80 degrees on the way home...Hammered all the way new personal best time 12.5 miles @ 40:05 It was windy as ever though. A couple of places it was at my back, and it was on.

Still no prize only 18.4mph avg.

two for one ..well three for one
 

i was able to ride Wednesday through Friday this week. Wed was quite perfect commute. warmer or less humid maybe and therefore warmer around 53F. I hit green lights all the way down 4th street downtown. about 6-7 lights all green. It was weird there were no cars really out wednesday morning. Plus Coworkers had Krispy Kreme doughnuts that she did not want to take home so I helped her with two of them :lol:

Thursday it was chilly 50 some degrees but higher humidity and felt pretty cold. Wind made my eyes water at first but decided to carry a coffee flask and that made the morning even better. A panera bagel from another coworker was very generous and delicious with my coffee. It was a tough ride home! :twitchy: I have decided that I would rather ride a longer route home than ride the reverse of my to work commute. Too much traffic and Dumb Drivers in the evenings. To work is more downhill so maybe I am just going faster so the cars are less frustrated. average around 15.8-16 miles an hour to work and less coming home. I got home grumpy and the Mrs. did not like my attitude. She said "but you rode your bike!" Almost to say you are not supposed to be grumpy.

Friday warm morning but still pretty humid. Wind made the eyes water but coffee in my cubicle set me up to power through the day. I rode home a different route and it was one of my fastest times yet. It was a good ride minus one stupid Mercedes SUV driver. :mad: Passing me in a construction zone with other cars coming the other direction.

PS my legs are kinda tired I also went mountain biking the Saturday before this week. Highs in the low 50s next week. Might have to find alternative transportation. I don't have the equipment for rides in that cold of weather.

Today was my first ride ever in a merino wool base layer. OMG, that stuff is made of magic pixie dust. I love it!! Perfect comfort, great temperature and sweat management, and zero stink, just like I had read (but doubted was truly possible). They must get merino wool from magical flying unicorns, that stuff is truly unbelievable.

On a more serious note, I'm wishing good luck for my east coast bicycling friends next week... that Frankenstorm looks serious. Don't be afraid to take a day or two off - that storm sounds like a freak occurrence and possible danger. Be safe out there!

I wore mine yesterday. I wear it under my Mavic leg warmers. I agree very lightweight and warm.

Thanks! I will see if I can get a good shot of the Rhine. the bridge that I cross it on, is not particularly pretty.

I've found the same thing. I love how I can wear it and sweat in it all week and there is none of that B.O. that synthetic material gets. It's also perfect in the rain no matter how wet you get.

What brand of merino base layers are you wearing?