I had a great ride to work- people in cars were cool, and the weather was really nice. A few miles into my ride, I came up on bobcat that got hit; such a beautiful animal, and sad to see it on the side of the road.


When I came up on the spot that got tagged by gang bangers last week, most was painted over, but it would appear that there is now a turf war going on as there was a ton of new tagging with names, and some not so friendly language. While I certainly wouldn't consider the area "ghetto", I do tend to haul a little ass through that stretch...lol. If I'm in a picture taking kind of mood, I'll snap some photos on the way home. I particularly liked the colors the taggers selected; neon orange, and gold. snazzy. It'll make for an interesting backdrop for photos of my bike.

I had a nice ride home last night. There were so many commuters out. I passed at least 18 cyclists going one way or another. The were two or three more I didn't catch or turned off before I did. This was one of the busiest days on this route I have ever seen.

I met my first BF member yesterday; we did a joint order from CRC and he ever so kindly dropped it off at my work on his way home. Thanks!

The ride was nice this morning I again saw lots of commuters, but I was on the busier route today. The weather was perfect and the views excellent.

I have a wholly irrational fear that I won't recognize people I know, ie picking my wife from the airport I fear I won't recognize her, it is ridiculous. Again this morning I disproved it. Cycling up a hill I saw someone from my teaches college group. We were in classes together for at least a semester. The most recent time I saw him was probably summer 2012 and I recognized him and knew his name instantly. He was on his was to teach and said he would have ridden this morning but he was getting another bike off CL after class.

First cycle-commute of 2015, but only the second time I actually had to go to the office, so 1 out of 2 isn't too bad.

-8C/18F this morning, noticeably colder in the valley. My fingers got quite cold, even under heavy gloves. This afternoon should be just above freezing, which will be nice.

Awesome. My kid almost knocked my teeth out at the end, he was so excited. He loves lynch & wilson--watched every game this year and really learned a lot--everything from basic math to "keep your legs moving".

I had Graston done once. I think it feels better when it's done because they stopped scraping you. I'm not sold on it.

Commutes were good yesterday. Today was freezing but dry and no ice. I like this weather. It's starting to not be completely dark for the commutes, as well!

Since my goal is to ride to work two days a week for now and to increase later, I rode in yesterday but not today. As I rode the subway and couldn't concentrate well enough to read, I felt bored, and I asked myself why I didn't ride to work. Maybe I should start increasing to three or four days a week now.

Go for it. I have had that feeling before and just end up wondering what I was doing the whole time.

I was on vacation yesterday but between sunday and tuesday I had rode almost 70 miles. my commute this morning was supposedly around 38degrees. My legs were sore but I am glad I rode.

Today's subway ride home was hellish. The train was astonishingly crowded. The conductor was yelling at people to let people off the train before getting on and to stay clear of the closing doors. Then suddenly, he yelled, "Last stop, no passengers" and hundreds of us had to exit the train at 42nd St. Well, as luck has it, that's in the Citibike service area, so I got outside and rode home, so I did get to ride a bike a little. It was dark out, and traffic was crazy, and all I had on my head was a cowboy hat, but hey, I got to ride my bike.

Stopped and gave blood on the way home. More fun to drink a pint & ride, rather than give a pint and ride. Oh well, for a good cause. 20 miles after donating - and I am super tired. The ride went OK considering. This warm weather makes it too easy - temps right around freezing.

They tell us not to do vigorous exercise after donating, but I never heed that advice, and I've never had a problem. It doesn't even make me tired.

Either I'm just lucky, young, or both, but that's been my experience after donating as well. I go to school in hilly Ann Arbor and generally don't even think of taking the buses. Not that I have a single problem with them, it's just way more fun to bike every day. Last semester, excluding work and stuff, I'd usually make two round trips between North and Central campus a day for classes, a proper workout I would say.

Anyway, I donate as often as possible and last time I did, it just so happened that it was a day that I had to go to class, run errands, help out another student on something, and go to work. After sitting down waiting 10 of the 15 minutes they suggest after donating, I told them I had to pee real bad and was about to be late for work, which was true, and left early. I ended up making four round trips and then some that day, carefully but not slowly, and didn't feel any more tired than I usually do.

As mentioned above, I ride to and from class and stuff every day in Ann Arbor. I don't take many long rides, so 150-200 miles a month is pretty average for me. It has been pretty wet and snowy for the last two days and it has warmed up to maybe 30 degrees F so there isn't much ice, just mud, salt, slush, and whatnot. Not much to say about the ride, aside from the fact that the roads are pretty disgusting (thank goodness for fenders). My bikes would agree.



I looked down to find the bottom area of my beater 10-speed seemingly covered in fecal matter, although I assure you it is not the case. Also, don't worry about the bike itself - the frame and all of the components were rescued from the dump so I don't have much invested in it. It has never been perfect and probably never will, although I will most definitely keep it alive and running.

I had a few vacation days this week, so today is my first day off work. The commute was a chilly 27f degrees with dark skies when I left the house this morning. A nice uneventful ride to work!

~50°F this morning. I'm wearing 3 layers. Yes I'm a wimp about cold. As I'm getting my gloves on in the street in front of my house a young lady jogs by wearing shorts and T-shirt. lol

That's alright. Still glad I had my layers. Sweated a little but not too much.

Chilly morning with temps about 30 F and heavy frost after several relatively mild days with lows in the 40s. My daughter took me to breakfast for my birthday, so I met her at a restaurant downtown, a few blocks from my office. It was hard to give her my precise arrival time due to the vagaries of bike commuting -- eg, red lights, wind, locking up my bike, etc. -- and I was a few minutes late. I normally eat breakfast at home when I first get up, so it was harder riding to work on an empty stomach. Despite all that, it was a nice change of pace, and I had a big country breakfast with eggs, sausage, potatoes, toast and coffee. That should hold me a while.

My legs are fried due to riding 7 days in a few without a break, totaling more than 270 miles. I doubt if I've ever ridden so much before in a week during January. Basically, I've been "making hay while the sun shines" because we've had a week of really nice weather after relentless rain, freezing rain and fog the previous week. I won't be riding the next few days, and that will be a welcome rest.

Good ride home yesterday. About 60F. We've had pretty sunsets and sunrises all week.
A bit colder this morning at 33F, but quite manageable. High today reaching almost 60 today.

My apologies to those in the frozen north. I'm definitely not so hard core, but coworkers are still in awe I ride everyday even in the "winter".

Chance of rain tomorrow.

First commute of the week this morning. 29F and light winds... so not too bad at all!

Two days in a row!
Cold morning again, -22°c, some headwind, I was an hour earlier than usual so the traffic was heavier.

Why skip the first breakfast? Your commute distance easily justifies two breakfasts!

That's -7ºF. Damn, that sounds cold. I have never been comfortable on a bike when it's below about 28ºF, and I've done it plenty of times. Maybe I never will.

Since I felt really stupid taking the subway to work yesterday and most of the way back home, I rode my bike today. It was a little colder than I expected, so my feet got a little cold but nothing terrible. Every so often I wiggle my toes. The problem with cycling is that so much of the body is entirely still. My face got cold, too, but that's not so annoying. I'm getting used to it. I now have my GPS on a wrist strap, so I can watch my speed. My current goal is to keep my cruising speed at 13 mph or above. Over the next few months, I might increase that. Either that, or I'll start doing intervals. Or I'll do both. I want to race on the track this year for the second year.

The weather channel says it's 26ºF now.

I'm really getting to like this commute of mine. I've been at this job since December 2.

[MENTION=396286]JMONAY[/MENTION], I've donated platelets a few times, and I very get tired from that, which makes no sense, since I end up with the same amount of blood in the end. It must be fear or something. Or maybe it's the lying there for so long.

31F and met some fellow winter commuters for breakfast downtown. I hate to admit that in all my years of winter commuting this is a first and it was an excellent diversion from the daily grind. So far I only know men that winter commute but we're all certainly open to having some women join us. We decided to make it a regular event - I hope that works out

This is why I have so much trouble losing weight! I'm always using my cycling as an excuse to eat more.

Lots of bike commuters seem to eat breakfast once they get to work. I don't know how they do it. When I get up in the morning, I'm hungry and it's hard riding on an empty stomach.

I rode on a bike tour (Cycle NC) in the fall, and my friends and I established a routine of riding from the campsite each morning to a local diner for breakfast, usually just a couple of miles. One morning, we couldn't find a diner and foolishly passed by a McDonalds, and ended up riding 40 miles before we finally got breakfast. That was really tough.

Nice ride home yesterday, despite a very light headwind. I swear these Nashbar Mansfiled II bib tights are so comfy compared to my bike shorts of other brands which are all scratchy in certain areas. I need to find some Nashbar bib shorts with the same chamois. Had a couple incidents, one person pulling out on my left, to turn left, as I was about to turn left in front of him. Had to yell out. And then a truck honking as they changed lanes to pass me with plenty of room. Arse.

This morning I had unexpected light rain for the first ~8 miles or so, but the last ~6 miles was pretty dry, and my bike and outer clothes were pretty dry by the time I got to work. Had a decent tail wind which was nice. If it's not raining this afternoon I'll probably ride home again (car is sitting here at work).

Today at the house, the Santa Ana winds were blowing, and usually, that means warm temps. I always walk out front to guage the temp before getting suited up, and sure enough, it felt pretty warm. A couple miles into the ride, the winds died down, and I started getting a little chilly; just enough that when I arrived at work, my fingers and toes were in slow motion. The weather this afternoon will be perfect, and seeing as how I'm off the next couple days, I may take the long way home just because I can.

A little frosty this morning temp averaged over the 9.5 miles 5*F. Wunderground had one of the home weather stations along my route reporting 1*F. Winter is back for a couple of days at least.
Justin