Bluish Green

I had to be at work early today, so I was already planning on being on the streets at 6 am. Glad I was that early, before car traffic picks up on my routes.

1 inch of new snow over frozen rain ice, untreated streets, and a 25 mph crosswind. Kind of a tough slog with variable drift thicknesses, but not so bad in light early morning traffic. Definitely a good workout for the legs.

This winter has been brutal so far here in Illinois. I normally like cold weather, but I'm ready for this garbage to end.

mjw16

No work today, Gov't closed, however, I decided to go for a spin and see what the trail/roads were like. I had put my CX tires on the bike yesterday and removed/cleaned the cassette so, I went out in the blizzard-like conditions for a shakedown ride. The snow is starting to stick to city streets and the Mount Vernon Trail, while untreated, is plenty grippy with an inch or so of powdery snow. I made it as far as the rugby fields where the wind was really stiff with white out like conditions. I figured that was as good a place as any to turn around. I saw a few runners and one other cyclist, on a mountain bike. Assuming the snow stops around midnight and, in the absence of re-freeze, I imagine the trail will be rideable tomorrow. That is, if we have to go to work.

Mr. Hairy Legs

Insanely foggy this morning, I was questioning the wisdom of riding in such conditions, but I survived. I actually get a kick out of near-death rides... they keep life fun.

rodentcloister

I went the extra mile tonight...literally.

My usual afternoon commute: Leave work around 4:25 to make the 5:04 train, get off the train at 5:35, and then 10 minutes home. Today, though, the train in front of ours was in an accident involving a fatality--apparently someone wandered onto the tracks, and the laws of physics took over. So our train was held at the station before mine, for about an hour. We got going again, and then had to pull alongside the earlier train, which was still stopped at the accident site, so that we could take on its passengers. In order to do this, the train had to switch tracks, which put it in the wrong position to stop at my station, so I had to get off at the next stop, which is a mile further from my house. They did set up a bus bridge back to the missed stop, though, for those who don't have bikes.

This whole ordeal cost me two hours--but not as much as it cost the crash victim.

acidfast7

ugh ... needed to drive today to dispose of some large boxes.

missed the ride in

dcb23

That was a rough one. 11F/-12C, fairly strong headwind, but the biggest issue was the side streets and wider sidewalks I use, crunchy snow in most places with some packed ice.

Made it in in one piece though.

FenderTL5

teens, I went multi-modal only riding 4.5 miles.
Extremely busy day at work planned for today, it was probably the right decision even without the cold.

DAME

Wind chill in the single digits and wind speed at ~25 knots. Commute of 6.75 miles took almost 40 minutes. Cold toes and frozen pant legs....the rest of me was nice and toasty. Roads were bare of traffic and I was able to ride on the busiest roads with almost no cars passing me. Best commute yet!!

tarwheel 

Foiled by the weather for second day in a row, when I probably could have ridden safely both days. However, I would rather err on the side of safety since my commute is fairly long, 30 miles RT, 2+ hours of riding time. Yesterday a strong cold front moved through the area, and forecasters said it would start raining in mid-afternoon and quickly turn to snow and sleet. They were right on the forecast but wrong on the timing, and the rain/snow did not start until about 7-8 pm, well after the time I would have been home. Today I drove because forecasters said there was a huge risk of black ice on roads, but the streets were fine on my drive to work at 7 am -- although perhaps they weren't so clear on the back roads and neighborhood streets that I bike to work on. Hopefully I be back on my bike tomorrow and Friday, although temperatures are supposed to be in the teens F both mornings.

redvette

A crisp and clear 21deg f. Love how the bike feels with new spokes...

arsprod 

2F, don't know (or want to know) what the wind chill is. To my Canadian friends, I know how friendly you are to us below the border but it's really no longer necessary to share your polar temperatures with us... really... Supposed to be colder tomorrow

DXchulo

I crashed on the way home.

It was my own damn fault. I had my right hand off the bars to blow my nose and I ran over a concrete block (in the middle of the bike lane for some reason) because obviously I wasn't paying attention. I went down on my right side. It was early and I had plenty of layers on, so there's not much skin damage. My arm feels like it took the brunt of the fall. I'm hoping I won't have to go to the doctor later.

A lady stopped to see if I was OK, which I thought was super nice. She was insisting on driving my home, but I was more focused on being pissed off about crashing. I went back, grabbed the concrete block, and threw it in the grass as far as I could. She noticed that my front tire was flat, which made her want to drive me home more. I think I had to tell her no at least 4 times.

The bike is fine.

Here's the Strava link. Looks like I was only going about 15mph at the time.

enigmaT120

Concrete block! Yuck. Good thing about the layers this time of year.

It was about 35 F. this morning and the moon was still up. I didn't expect the drizzle as I was going over the ridge or I would have worn my contact lenses, but it was light enough that keeping my head down allowed my helmet visor to block the worst of it. I have a meeting after work tomorrow so have to drive, so I'm glad I got in a ride today.

Oh yeah, the road was busy today. There must have been 5 or 6 cars that passed me in my 9 mile ride.

balto charlie

Balto/DC area hammered with lots of snow and 5F temps. Hard ride, lots of ice. Few cars so just took the lane and cruised. Wind was also nasty. Temps going to stay like this for another 10 days. I wore lots of heavy wool so was comfortable, except for exposed bits of skin here and there. Tomorrow, same as today.

walrus1

This snow and cold is insane! No cycling for me untill the snow, ice and slat is gone from the roads. Plus it seems that the plowing job is truly sub-par this time.

dcb23

Another cold one coming in...ride home last night was actually not basd at all.

15F/-9C, slight headwind, mostly clear streets but the entire area in front of the monument to President Lincoln is a sheet of ice!

trailmix

I am starting to think that 8°F is too cold for riding in running shoes. A bit chilly with a 15mph headwind with a fresh dusting on top of ice; perfect conditions for commuting on 23mm Gatorskins

balto charlie

Today was a tad easier, shoulders came went. Traffic higher than yesterday, started early @ 6AM with temps @7F. I think I'm getting use to it.
@trailmix: I wore boots and use Nokian studded tires. Much better way to ride with current weather.

trailmix

I know, I am an idiot. My winter commuter is down, after 20 years of service everything is worn out except the frame. It is an old MTB and I am in the process of a full rebuild but it isn't ready yet and I am too stubborn to stop riding.

tarwheel 

Finally got in a commute this week after a holiday on Monday and then two days of icy weather. Temps close to my record low, in mid-teens F, but I was dressed perfectly and wasn't too cold or too warm. My water bottle froze solid, which is a sure sign that temps dipped below 20 F. If the forecast holds and I ride tomorrow, I should set a new record low. We've already had more days with temps in the teens or lower than any winter since I started commuting 7 years ago, and winter still has a long way to go.

redvette

Oklahoma has odd weather. Today was -1 with wind chill. It's a constant 18 mph north wind. Funny how tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and upper 50's.

spivonious

Looks like this week is a total loss. Too much snow and ice on the road to ride.

wphamilton

2010 was worse here, about two solid weeks with under 20 lows that January. Not quite as cold as now on the lows. But 2011 was funny with the "ice storm" shutting down the entire Atlanta area because of three inches of snow! And cars skidding on the ice, literally everywhere. I did drive that day - and realized I'd have been better off cycling.

I got yelled at by a ninja on the MUP yesterday night. Although I had completely covered my light with my hand when I saw them approaching it was still evidently too bright for them. It figures, since they were both wearing all black, no lights or reflectors, and so would object to any light at all I guess. There's no pleasing some people.

dramiscram

First week in almost two years without at least one day of bike commuting, It was too damn cold and icy.
I should be luckier next week

arsprod 

-3F, -25 with wind chill - new low temp record ride. I waited until almost 9a to leave hoping the temps would rise with the sun but they didn't budge, actually got colder because the wind picked up. All in all it wasn't a bad ride just really slow and I had to stop twice because of fogging. I'm discovering there's a threshold of fogging issues - I have it figured out to about 15, below that is another story. And it's official, one of my work colleagues said "you're a f$@%in idiot!"