Decent ride home last night. Although it was about 50F when I left, it feels colder as it is getting darker as I go.

This morning it was 28F, about the same as yesterday, so I just wore the same thing. The cold makes me want to push the pace a bit more to generate some body warmth. There is one mile in particular that I can sometimes ride at 20mph if I force it. It was tough to get it going this morning, but managed that mile in 3 minutes even. Then I rode slowly for to recover.

My mantra this week is "this will be a typical week in January." It's great weather for trying out the cold-weather gear and remembering what works. Yesterday my feet were the only cold parts, so I put the toe warmers on this morning and all was good. I wore my lighter gloves on the ride home since temps were in the mid-40s, but regretted that later as the temperatures really dropped fast. My fingers were so numb when I got home that I couldn't key in the combination to our garage door opener. Temps were in the upper 20s again this morning, and I dressed just a little bit warmer than yesterday but ended up sweating more than I like.

Woke up to snow here in Montreal and my winter bike isn't quite ready. Regrettably, I think I will have to sit this one out.

Finally, a full frost on the ground, icy patch 28° morning commute! No schadenfreude for me though because joggers and walkers were all animated and cheerful, and no one was out scraping windshields. Great morning.

A better one?!

27F, sunny, no wind - pretty nice. I think this is the hardest time of year for clothes - 20's in the morning/40-50 in the evening. Feels like I never have the right stuff on

Yesterday's 21°F made today's 27° seem balmy. Still playing mix and match with gloves, balaclava and layers to stay optimally warmed. Toes were a little cold and my head was sweating. Great ride.

PS - thinking balaclava, fingers want to type baklava. Do not want baklava on my neck.

finally feels like November. I miss the abnormal warm temps haha
 

[MENTION=86492]tarwheel[/MENTION] "My mantra this week is "this will be a typical week in January." It's great weather for trying out the cold-weather gear and remembering what works. Yesterday my feet were the only cold parts, so I put the toe warmers on this morning and all was good. I wore my lighter gloves on the ride home since temps were in the mid-40s, but regretted that later as the temperatures really dropped fast. My fingers were so numb when I got home that I couldn't key in the combination to our garage door opener. Temps were in the upper 20s again this morning, and I dressed just a little bit warmer than yesterday but ended up sweating more than I like."

I too was concerned with being too warm on the way home yesterday but I wore basically the same (minues overshoes, 1 pair of gloves, and balaclava) and it was pretty cold. GPS said that it was low 30's not the 40's they were calling for. Glad I had the gear.. 28 miles total yesterday bringing my my November total to 223 miles and basically shattering last year's 51 miles for the month. ;) I got home yesterday and family was like it is cold get in here quickly. I said it is not too bad. :innocent:

This morning I was pretty comfortable until my dumb glasses fogged up again. I popped the prescription inserts out and they eventually cleared. I feel/ think it was colder today than yesterday but it might just have been higher humidity because I basically wore the same thing as yesterday. I think that I am going to use some HSA money and buy some clear Oakley lenses to go into them. They are great lenses. Such great periphereal vision compared to glasses with inserts. :D

I hope to ride to work 3 days this week and I was told that I could go for a ride Friday and Saturday if I wanted. :love: Saturday is a Burn the Turkey Event at a local park with some mountain biking and chili.. should be fun and such a different kind of riding.

[MENTION=397406]snow_echo_NY[/MENTION] I rode with a friend around halloween and she has the spurcycle bell. It sounds awesome and looks great. She rang the bell often.. It has a pretty sound to it. Expensive but sure looks like it is worth it.

Finally got back in the saddle after, something like a week and a half. Couldn't be bothered to fix the flat on my Peugeot yet, so I decided I would eat out (or there are rumors of a pizza party...) and pack my clothes up in my Carradice, so I grabbed my Raleigh Comp GS and away I went! I haven't been on that bike since the century I did almost a month ago. It's definitely one of my favorite bikes in the stable. If it had more friendly gearing, I might consider getting rid of my fred sled and just riding that (yeah right...who am I kidding?! If I got rid of that, I would have an excuse/money to get a Milwaukee).

Anyways, I finally fixed the cleat position on my road shoes, knee felt great (had been having some pain lately when wearing them - determined there was too much angle). Slipped my new neoprene shoe covers over. I had toasty tootsies the whole way in! Starting temps were around 30, finishing around 37. Felt pretty good by the time I got out of my subdivision.

it broke b/c the plastic is cheap and b/c of cold weather. i've not had good success with bells in freezing (or below freezing) temps.
every bell has some plastic component so it's hard to gauge whether a bell has a good plastic supplier or not. or whether the maker has thought out the bell in varying weather conditions. considering the cost, i'm guessing not. i really don't want to spend on a spurcycle...

I've got 3 of these, http://www.amazon.com/Mirrycle-Incre...ds=incredibell and can't remember having one break in 5 years of winter riding

Super-glued my tail-light back together last night. I left the bike at work yesterday because of the broken light, and also because my wife picked me up to watch some college basketball down at the Sprint Center. Caught a ride to work with a co-worker this morning and will commute on the bike this evening... hopefully with the tail-light staying attached to the bike.

38F and raining

I've got the Incredibell on my winter bike too, and it's held up great for about 6 or 7 years now.

I have what looks like a replica of the Incredibell on my hybrid. Even though it looks the same it's not nearly as loud. Although it has held up pretty well for about 5 years now too. I ride my hybrid in lots of cold, but not snow.

I decided to drive today because of some errands to do after work. We've got some family coming in tonight for the Thanksgiving weekend. Half day today and then off until Monday.

I'm closing in on my goal of 5,000 commuting miles. Around 300 to go. Unless weather gets really bad in December, I should be able to get a bit over that.

A regular heatwave 38F, bit of a headwind. I noticed a little chain squeak yesterday so when I got home last night I shot some wd40 on it. Some wisdom - don't spray lubricant in the dark. Apparently I got it on the rear brake disk. Imagine my surprise this morning when I grabbed a handful of rear brake and nothing happened! One good thing is the brake's not squeaking any more.

First and only commute this week, mainly because I overslept yet again yesterday morning. I don't know what the deal was with me but I was super-duper sluggish this morning. Headwind was only 8-11 MPH (compared to 20-25 last Tuesday) but I was only 3 minutes faster than that day last week. Every hill and incline just felt monstrous today.

The good thing is I get to leave early today, should have a tailwind going home, and I plan to stop on the way for lunch. :thumb:

Maybe the coldest morning yet this season at 28F. I got to wear my cold weather gear and not arrive at work all sweaty. :)

I'm in the same boat, although you've got the edge on me. If the weather cooperates, I should have no trouble topping 5,000 miles commuting on the year ... but that's a pretty big if. We have had so much rain lately that it's really cut into my cycling. We are now 14" above normal in rainfall for the year, and much of that has happened over the past three months. I also will miss an entire week of commuting in December due to holidays and vacation time.

Consecutive commute #147 :

37F this morning with fog and drizzle, and a fairly stiff 17 mph headwind. The temps have mostly been above freezing the last couple of days which melted off a good portion of the ice on the road from last Friday's 16" of snow. The previous two days I had been riding my winter bike, which really kicked my tail with the extra resistance from the weight, geometry and studded tires. I decided today to risk riding my hybrid without the studs.

There were a few icy spots, particularly in some parking lots I cut through to avoid a good portion of a busy road. My rear wheel slid out a little a few times, but I never felt like I was at risk of going down.

The biggest thing was how slow I was moving. I was in a full gear lower than I normally ride, and working extremely hard just to maintain a slow speed in that gear. I knew the head wind was a factor, but even so I was struggling more than normal. I was worried that maybe I was coming down with some sickness, my diet was way out of whack or perhaps the previous two days on the winter bike zapped me more than I thought. It took an extra 15 minutes to get to work compared to my normal rate.

I was putting my bike in the rack and thinking about how tough the ride had been when I looked down and noticed the rear brake cable had come dislodged from the holder, and now was holding the calipers partially closed. So basically I rode to work with the rear brake engaged. That would explain why it took so much effort. I did notice that when I pulled the lever the rear brake grabbed unusually fast this morning, but apparently I didn't connect the dots in my head. I'm guessing I knocked the cable out of place the other day when I was cleaning jammed snow out with a knife during Friday's blizzard.

Oops.

[MENTION=86492]tarwheel[/MENTION] i was looking at the weather for next week and it looks like the showers are back next week here. I am not sure if that will translate to rain for you as well. I am trying to decide if it is worth driving to go a recruiting event for my college.

another good commute even found a buddy and we rode together some this morning. I am not sure why he was riding so dang fast (especially after saying "I feel slow today") but I caught him up a hill today. Interested in seeing that strava segment. :)

it was kinda cool ride with someone this morning.

I saw a big heron again this morning two days in a row standing in the stream by the greenway. It is such a gangly flying bird but totally unexpected!

Last commute this week but hope to run some and maybe find my way onto some trails to do some mountain biking! :D

Traffic was very light this morning due to schools being closed and people taking off early for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, that didn't translate into a faster commute because I caught all of the long red lights. My legs are also very tired and could use a few days of rest, which I will get over the holiday as I'll be out of town with no bike for 3 days.

My commute home yesterday was interesting, with huge traffic jams on all of the major roads. Apparently there was a bad wreck on one of the main thoroughfares, which caused a ripple effect. The traffic barely affected my commute time at all because I mainly ride on side streets, but it was interesting seeing all of the jams when crossing larger roads. It was one of those days when it might have actually been quicker to commute by bike than by car.

Happy Thanksgiving!

You guys are awesome! I was pleased with this year's total of nearly 4,300km, your totals are closer to 2x that.

Good luck with that! With our terrible roads I have zip tie everything on twice. I've lost 3 back lights before I wised up! My new ones though have rubber bands which held up quite well (so far!).

Very light traffic on the ride in this morning. Looking to be another beautiful day.

Freezing rain overnight, snow pellets this morning. Not only did I not ride my bike, I didn't take my car either but used public transport instead.

We have a significant advantage on you weatherwise because winters are generally mild here. As long as the precipitation is light, I really enjoy commuting here in winter. The coldest temps we get are usually in the teens and that happens on a few times each winter.

The commute in this morning was very nice with the temp at 23f degrees and mostly clear skies.

41F/5C and a persistent headwind for 11 miles. I feel slow in general compared to others on the trail but today I felt particularly slow.