tarwheel 

Very foggy this morning with heavy mist that made it hard to keep my glasses clear. Normally I would have driven in weather like this but I painted myself into a corner yesterday. I dropped off my VW at the dealer yesterday afternoon for its annual service and inspection, so that meant I had to ride my bike to work. The last time I had checked, the weather forecast called for partly cloudy with no rain. Last night, they suddenly started talking about the fog. Oh well, I made it to work OK and the skies should be clear this afternoon.

dramiscram

Heavy and wet snow last night. The ride was slow and hazardous at some point.

KCBikeCommuter

Nice ride in this morning! 26F (-3C) and not much wind. Actually caught up with a fellow commuter on the ride in today, which is strange as I can go days (sometime weeks) without seeing another bicycle commuter in the KC area. It was sort of nice to have a riding companion if only for a few miles.

PatrickGSR94

Nonstop clouds since Monday morning, which makes everything feel so dreary. After not feeling up to it yesterday morning, I was back on the bike today. Dry, about 40°F, and no problems with wind. Still slow as usual, but I was dressed pretty well.

I stopped at Lowe's last night on the way home and got some new clear 3M safety glasses, which say they have an anti-fog coating, and no frames along the bottom which makes it much easier to turn my head and look behind me. My other clear glasses I have are all scratched up, so this was nice having pristine new glasses.

caloso

Dumped on yesterday, flatted twice. Not my day.

joeyduck

@PatrickGSR94. New glasses are such a treat. I got a new windshield two falls ago and that was even nicer.

I forgot that last week I almost crashed into a shoaler. He passed me at the red and then went ahead. I then started to pass him when he turned hard left right in front on me. He decided to stay far right and turn 3.7/4 across the intersection. I yelled at him to but shoal and signal.

This morning was a really beautiful morning. I had a great ride and f felt nice.

I noticed I got a trophy on my commute. I have to check old times, I am not sure it is legit. But it made me feel good.

PatrickGSR94

I also got a new windshield a few years ago, and then it was promptly cracked again within 1 year. The crack runs all the way across but way down low by the windshield wipers. I haven't been quick to fix it because it doesn't affect my field of vision at all. I hate it, though, because I refuse to buy my beloved Bosch Icon windshield wipers because I believe the crack has been tearing up wipers prematurely. So I buy cheap ones and deal with it.

PatrickGSR94

Dang that sucks, any idea what caused the flats? What tires do you use?

I decided last week that I should attach the helmet mount that came with my Cygolite ExpiliOn headlight, just in case something happens in the dark. Then I can take the light off my bars and attach it to my helmet to see what I'm doing during repairs.

joeyduck

Yeah I had two rock chips which were fixed according to BC standards, but when I moved to Ontario they required a replacement. Everyone it seems in BC has chips, it is due to shotty winter road maintenance. They think crushed stone is sufficient. And since they are contractors with no recourse they use it since it must fit the price-effectiveness ratio.

timvan_78

I overcompensated for all yesterdays' mistakes today: Took the MTB instead of the road bike this AM--I thought it would be icy. It wasnt.
I wore more clothes since I was cold yesterday. Today I sweat like a pig.

The mountain bike is a lot of work to pedal: 2.75" knobby tires, full suspension, heavier, etc. I usually pedal it slowly up logging roads and then coast down the mountains (trying not to break bones). Now I remember why. I took skytrain part of the way to not lose even more time.

Hypno Toad

Sunny and 15F this morning, felt good compared to Monday (below 0F); also felt good to air up the tires since the road are dry.

Additionally, I celebrated mile #5 ,000 of 2014 on the way to work - this is the first year I have exceeded 5K, I've been close over the last few years, but never officially hit it until now. 2015 goal???? I think it will be the year of centuries - see how many I can ride in one year.

ThermionicScott 

All hail Hypno Toad!

My commute in was pretty good -- temps in the 20s with no extreme winds, ground was dry and clear the whole way, except for sand/salt accumulations along the side like one would expect. I've been a little grumpy lately, and I'm pretty sure it's because I haven't been riding my bike enough.

Archwhorides 

Back on my commuter after replacing broken spokes, re-truing the wheels and installing winter (studded) tires. Nice riding in rainy conditions this week. This morning I passed a lady on a three-speed who was being written a ticket by a Cambridge cop after she ran a light at a mid-sized intersection. Getting close to my office, a delivery guy with a hand truck jumped out into my lane from behind his truck and side-swiped my front end. Fortunately there was no damage and after dusting off, I departed after a friendly exchange.

ThermionicScott 

Same conditions on the way home. An annoyed guy in a pickup mentioned the "...trail over there" while passing me.

Gee, there is? Can't wait to try it out!

enigmaT120

I liked it. About 36 degrees but fairly dry, on the pavement anyway. Yesterday I started out but it was so foggy I couldn't see the road, at least not at my downhill speeds. I guess I could ride all the way at 10 mph but I would have missed my bus at the end of the ride.

This morning was much more clear. Rain is forecast for tonight, so I brought my jacket in my pannier.

joeyduck

I had a nice ride this evening. It was a few degrees above freezing and I was just slightly overdressed. I felt like I was performing well.

I have been having issues with either my gloves or my new Sora shifter. I keep missing upshifts since my glove is catching on the front lever. I am not sure which is the culprit, but it gets annoying.

I took a slightly route deviation to avoid some traffic.

I caught up with another rider and gave her a courtesy ring and then decided to not pass her. She was great and waited for me, but I told her I was just letting her know I was there.

At the bottom of the hill she turned right. As she went into the turn she unclipped and held her right foot out as if to catch herself if she slipped. Does this seem like a bad idea to anyone else? Her leg was straight out. I have seen other people unclip on 180 turns, but not with the leg out straight.

heywood

My cut off is -5C i've tried it colder but it just ends up not being fun for any distance. i'm lucky i have a train to leap onto whenever i want..

Archwhorides 

I've gotten more respect from truck guys since I started wearing line worker reflective gear.

mgw4jc

It seems like there are a lot less posts in this thread these days.

They started tearing up the road by our office building. I think it's related to the construction of a new office building across the street. They blocked off the main parking lot entrance with pylons and barrels so cars couldn't get out that way. Being a bike commuter has its advantages. I was easily able to go between and ride on the closed road to get out on my normal route. All drivers had to exit through a back way creating a traffic jam so I hear.

About a mile from my house there is a new neighborhood being developed and apparently the trucks drag mud out onto the road. To combat this, they have a watering truck go through to rinse it all off at the end of the work day. It hadn't been too bad, but last night it was like going through a 100 yard long mud puddle. I knew I was getting wet, but when I got home I looked down and my shins were covered in mud splatters.

Cool, but nice ride in this morning.

tarwheel 

Nice ride this morning with the fog gone for now. My commute schedule and route are all out of whack this week, but it's a change of pace anyway. Yesterday I had to ride to the VW dealer after work to pick up my car, which was having its annual inspection and service. It ended up being about 2 miles shorter than my usual route, boo hoo. Tomorrow I will probably have to drive so I can attend a retirement luncheon for my wife, which is on the other side of town. I might ride home tioday the long way on greenways to make up for the lost mileage, if I can get away from work earlier enough. The city just completed two greenways that have been under planning and construction for years, which allows me to ride almost all the way home on MUTs rather than roads, but the distance is 15+ miles longer. Once the days get longer, I'll be able to ride a 60+ mile commute if I ever get the compulsion to do it.

spivonious

Way overdressed this morning. Showed up at work sweaty. Around 30F, slight crosswind. I thought it was colder, so I put on tights under my pants, a t-shirt over my base layer, ski gloves, and a face mask.

I'll hit 4000 miles on my bike computer on the ride home today. I got it at the end of March in 2013. That means I probably have 4100 miles or so on the bike.

@mgw4jc - that is such a waste of water.

KCBikeCommuter

My ride home was difficult last night because I broke two spokes on the rear wheel. Luckily, the wheel stayed ‘true’ enough to complete the ride. My ancient Wolber rims are starting to fail from the nearly 3500 commuter miles I put on them this year.

I didn't have time to fix the spokes last night, so I dug out my 2000 Klein for the trip this morning. Actually, I just did a short commute to the bus stop this morning, but plan to ride home. Going from my everyday commuter to an extremely stiff aluminum frame road bike always takes a little getting used to. Although I only rode a couple of miles this morning (home to bus stop... and then downtown bus stop to office), it's a vastly different bike. For one thing, it's much lighter than my commuter, which means the acceleration is so much faster! This is partially because it's a newer bike, but mainly because I don't have it set up with all the accessories of daily commuting. I had to wear a backpack since I don't have a pannier rack on it, but as much as I hate wearing a backpack in the summer, it didn’t bother me today because I don’t get drenched in sweat this time of year. We’ll see if I still feel this way after a full commute home tonight.
Mainly I noticed how stiff (i.e. punishingly rough) this frame is compared to the commuter. Yes, it’s fast, but I think I loosened up a couple of fillings on the short ride this morning.

Zapdaba

How hardy is that Brooks saddle in the wet weather?

PatrickGSR94

I think those water trucks usually use recycled, non-potable water for rinsing construction site mud off of roads, which can really be quite hazardous to cars and bicycles if it's not taken care of regularly.

Nice ride this morning, but man my commutes have been really slow lately, on the order of 75-80 minutes for 15.5 miles. It's been awhile since I've had a nice, strong tailwind.

Should be up near 60 when I leave today so I brought my half-finger gloves and low socks in the trunk bag, and will go without the long tights for the ride home.

dramiscram

Icy roads, big crosswind from the west at 40-65 kms. I went slowly.