31 degrees and cloudy but little fog and no rain. My favorite winter riding conditions. I got passed by 2 cars this morning in my 9 mile bike ride. This was my first bicycle commute of the year; I rode my motorcycle on Tuesday, had Wednesday off, and drove my pickup yesterday as a test drive after doing some work on it.

After 7 hard years, my beloved Jamis has earned a total off-season rebuild. Of course, this means we're having the mildest winter in a long time, and I haven't missed a day's commuting in months. Only had 3 below-freezing days so far. Temps in the mid-50's today. I may have to buy another bike to get the Jamis off the road. :)

Q: How many bikes does a cyclist need? A: N+1

You should know that by now. Think of all the money you save by bike commuting. It will pay for itself.

My commute began at 51 Deg.F @ 5:30 AM, so dark for sure but not cold, nor was it windy. I tried out a new route to the Metro Station, which is a tad longer and has a tad more traffic, but has lot fewer stop signs and traffic signals.

So . . . I like it because I can keep moving, keep my speed up, but being next to more (and faster) traffic is the downside. There is no bike lane, but there is adequate room to ride, except getting around parked cars (of which there were a few) is a bit more dicey. So I can't decide if I should stick to it or go back to my old route.

Rick / OCRR

This is really crazy. On Tuesday, it was 14 degrees, Wednesday, it was 16 degrees. Today it was 38 degrees and on the return leg it was 63 degrees!! WTF!! Not complaining.. ;)

However, this was interesting. On the return leg of my commute (8 miles), I get a flat 2 miles from home. I got a fresh tube, pump and tire blades in my back pack, plus it is 60+ degrees.. I stopped pulled out my pump, and spare tube, getting ready to take off the rear wheel, and then I stopped!! Aw fack it, put the tube, pump all back in my backpack and walked the two miles!! ;)

Life is dam sweet!! ;)

Today it was 29 degrees on the ride in. Unlike yesterday I stayed on the side streets and avoided main streets, it was very peaceful. The period just before sunrise was made for cyclists. Another tailwind on the way home, and on a Friday! I commuted 4 out of the 5 days this week

Today it was windless (or nearly so) and 43°F.at lunch time so I drove home just so I could ride back to work. Good ride in and even though I hit a few red lights I logged my third fastest time for my to work route. The trip home was good as well. I had planned to restart commuting by bike on February 1 if the roads are snow free but might change that date forward if the weather holds.

I was off for the holiday on Monday, but rode to work the next four days this week. The weather was dry all week, but with a wide range of temperatures. It was 26 degrees as I rode to work Tuesday morning and 73 degrees as I rode home this afternoon.

2012 days ridden to work: 4
2012 commuting mileage: 98

' been very nice here in Chicago today. It actually got up to low 50's.
I managed to do a 30mi ride before coming to work.

Beautiful in Pittsburgh. Low 30s F this morning and almost all the snow/ice from earlier in the week had melted away. Was cold for the first ten minutes with just a base layer under my cycling jacket and running pants, but warmed up after the first hill. Hands and feet were fine. Riding the studded-tire mtb commuter as my default bike unless I know the roads will be clear, so the going was a little slow, but on a day like today, who cares?

Afternoon was another story, and an even better one. 58 F! Anticipating that, I brought shorts for the ride home and shucked the jacket halfway through the commute. My favorite 12 miles of 2012 so far. Sun was setting, sky was beautiful, roads were dry. May not see one like that again for months, but I'm glad I got the chance today.

Next weekend is going to be on the teens. I'm prepared are you??

I'm ready for you to ride in temps in the teens. I, on the other hand, will likely be riding in the rain. Like yesterday.

No cold here today and not much rain either, but a beautiful day for a supermarket grocery run. Even the auto traffic behaved.

Not a commuting day, but enjoyed a family ride to recycle, have lunch (outside), and do a little grocery shopping. 54 degrees in January in the NE. Unbelievable!

-4C, little to no wind.
Only frost, no snow.
Happy, happy.

wet wet wet... and chilly
Typical German winter :-)

Another warm January morning at 28 F (-2 C). It is difficult getting used to chilly mornings and warm afternoons in Jan, as this is usually the pit of winter along with Feb, for which I am not here.

very nice ride in, new front and rear pads mean a quiet stop. Temps just over freezing.

Warm ride in for this time of year. Fellow DC commuters rest easy. It'll be a warm winter free of snow. How do I know? I got studded tires for Christmas. :) So it should stay nice and warm straight through to the spring.

Day three riding clipless. Still no falls (knock on wood) and I'm gaining in confidence, but I'm trying to remain vigilant, lest I topple over at slow speed. It's almost happened twice so far. Really liking the new pedals and shoes so far.

45F and sprinkly, not bad. Today was my 7 yr old's 1st day commuting w/ hand brakes, she successfully used them to avoid getting flattened by a school bus.

http://home.comcast.net/~adrian_spidle/jan09.jpg

Coldest morning ride yet for me @ 37 degrees Fahrenheit. 14 miles commute. I know that does not sound too bad to many of you in colder climates (ala Chicago, Minnesota, Canada, etc), but for us in Arizona that is darn chily. I noticed on my last morning ride that my fingers (without full-fingered gloves), ears, and feet got the worst of the cold. So this time I wore wool socks, some full-fingered gloves, and a scarf over my ears and under my helmet. That with just a base-layer cycling jacket and pants made it not too bad at all. I think I am getting the hang of it.

Rural setting, 25 MPH speed limit, hill apex coming up, pickup truck coming up on me fast from behind, stayed my course and did not take the lane cause he was going real fast and seemed to have that I'm going to teach you a lesson line picked out.

Sure enough completely buzzed me over the crest of the hill. Raised my hands in bewilderment, police cruiser coming the other way ( which he didn't see entering the scenario because of the crest ) saw the whole thing. Pulled him over and he was telling me I was "parking" in the middle of the road ( I average around 18-19 MPH year round on my commute ). He got at least a ticket for speeding, I explained how uncomfortable I felt to the officer who seemed to "get it".

Older guy, truck covered in hunting stickers, typical non-sharing type trying to teach me a lesson. I'd like to think he got the lesson but I doubt it, he'll probably run me off the road next time I see him.

Other than that a beautiful morning and after fighting a cold for the last few days, seemed to have my wattage back and feeling good.

Be safe out there :)

No riding on the weekend or today. On Friday I slipped on some ice while walking around campus and landed flat on my back. A backpack containing a laptop isn't the softest thing, but it did cushion my fall. At least the way I fell my weight was pretty evenly distributed.

My back and neck was pretty stiff yesterday, but today I'm feeling much better. Another hot soak in the tub tonight and I should be ready to ride tomorrow.

30*F this morning, 37*F with a stiff SW wind (gusts to 25 mph) this afternoon. That wind was great when I was going east, but was a real bugger going south though. But hey, it's January and I'm riding. Life is good! :)

DNR (Did Not Ride) today and probably tomorrow - ice on the streets here in my hometown. It doesn't happen enough to justify buying studded tires here in the Desert - so I'll just relax a couple of days!