How Was Your Commute Today?

Strange ride to work. Last week, heck even yesterday, it was cold. That is, cold for L.A. Upper 30s, lower 40s f. This morning, a Santa Ana wind was developing (blowing down from the north/north east). It's a dry warm air mass because the air is friction heated by going up and over the mountains, and from the air molecules rubbing against each other. By the house, it was in the upper 40s, but when I reached a major intersection, the temperature shot up, like I was standing next to an open oven set to 300f. Crossing the street, the temp dipped again. It kept doing this all the way to work. Wild swings in temperature block by block. And the winds got stronger as I crossed across the valley floor.

Must have been 75 degrees on the way home, with a great tailwind.

Back to cycling to work for past few days-- it's been -14 C to -10 C with a wind at 30-40 km/hr. So my eyes are watering even with wearing protective glasses.

Then into a building, I'm sweating.... But feels good, even if the ride is short. I load up on groceries ....if there should be another snowy/storm this winter later on. :)

Yesterday someone said "It's supposed to be in the 50's next week." I replied "I guess if I can't have snow and ice, 50F in February is a decent compensation." Not an hour later I looked out the window and the snow was coming down hard! I'll take both!

It was pretty warm for the amount of snow. The ground was mostly slushy. My snow tires performed beautifully.

Today was the first time I've ridden more than a mile since September! I had a major knee injury then and haven't been able to do anything for months. It was 60ºF today (in Iowa? In JANUARY!?) so I went out and now that I'm home it still doesn't hurt! This is so exciting! If all goes well and I don't feel any aches throughout the night I can finally start back to bike commuting in the morning.

It was so nice out today. This morning was 45 degrees, and then 65 with sprinkles in the afternoon. I could get used to this. Can I bottle it up and have some to pull out during the Texas summer?

Congratulations Atlas on getting back on your bike! I spent 6 weeks last winter nursing a badly sprained wrist, and I remember feeling so relieved and happy when I was able to ditch the bus and bike commute again. Isn't it nice?

First commute of the year today and I left my work keys at home.... ten or twelve (not exactly sure...) miles away! :p

I think I have hit my salt quota for the week. The roads were still dusty with salt from the storm that never came a few days ago. I road on my new Tricross and those hills are definitely more difficult on the tricross than the ruby but it wasn't terrible either! I'm still using a backpack. I hope to have a rack and fenders by the spring.

Only one person was mad and honked at me today. We were on a very narrow road with no sidewalk or shoulder. I consider it one of the more dangerous areas of my commute (aside from some poor viz street crossings and places where traffic is merging on to a road). But with the tricross I can minimize my time on that narrow stretch because I can cut across a public property to get to work instead of needing to stay on the road.

It was cold. (currently 34 degrees) I wore my ski pants over my long cycling pants. I am IN LOVE with my gortex gloves that have two fingers for shifting/breaking and then bundle up the other three of my fingers for warmth in a single compartment. Best ever!

Ok, time to focus and get to work! :D

When it's this cold, I always feel I lost an extra 10 calories just to stay warm for my short commute ride..

It's snowing lightly at windchill -23 degrees C (-9 degrees F). If it weren't for the wind, today's early morning ride to work could have been @ -14 degrees C ( 6 degrees F).

I just hope there won't be ice when I ride home after work.

shootingstar, your weather is much colder than mine. :eek: Mad respect for you.

Cold is relative. What's seriously cold weather in one area is unthinkable in another. Or to put it another way people in milder climates suffer as much at 36F as someone in a harsher climate suffers at 10F.

At least that's my theory, based in part on the few climates I've experienced, and how cold 34F seems at the beginning of winter and how WARM it seems at the end!

We were walking to the grocery store a few weeks ago and it was so cold and windy that both my husband and daughter complained their faces hurt. I was surprised, because it didn't seem that cold to me.

Then a few days ago I learned that there are physiological changes that happen in the skin of the faces of eskimos and in the feet of barefoot runners--any place where skin is routinely exposed to extreme cold. That explains why my face didn't hurt from the cold wind.

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Then a few days ago I learned that there are physiological changes that happen in the skin of the faces of eskimos and in the feet of barefoot runners--any place where skin is routinely exposed to extreme cold. That explains why my face didn't hurt from the cold wind.

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Wonder how folks in extreme cold do it without risking frostbite initially. Seriously. (And I get warnings from long-time locals here about frostbite.)

Yes, what I feel though still cold on the face, etc., is warmer than what it was a few wks. ago when it was colder than -30 degrees C (-22 degrees F) for several days. :rolleyes:

If you can believe this: twice in my life within the last 14 years, I have been interviewed for jobs in extreme cold climate zones --1 in the Canadian Arctic and the other about 400 km. probably south of the Arctic Circle.

It is not surprising actually various folks in our area have worked in the Arctic for a stint...no wonder after experiencing similar cold ..as a "taster" before going way up North.

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Originally Posted by shootingstar

Wonder how folks in extreme cold do it without risking frostbite initially.

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Good question. I know that my face is "hardened" now, but I don't think my fingers are. Fifteen years ago when I was in college, only a couple hundred miles south of here and during years when winters were milder, I biked 5 minutes each way to campus with inadequate gloves all winter and got a touch of frostbite. For years afterwards, my hands would swell up if the water in the bathroom sink was cold! I'm very paranoid now about my hands getting cold.

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but I don't think my fingers are.

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I can appreciate your panic about easily frozen fingers.

I have Reynauld's Sydrome where my fingers get numb at zero degrees/right at freezing temperatures.

So when I lock up my bike in today's quite cold winter temp., I try to be fast...and park near a building, making sure I have my gloves nearby. I have lobster claw winter cycling gloves, so I have to take them off to deal with a lock.

Great commute for me yesterday. Parked my car at work and rode to radiation, which is only 5 miles, but at least it's all uphill coming back. I'm really glad I rode. It's a lot of effort to bring my bike and clothes for just 10 miles, but it's so worth it for the way I feel after.

I'm not sure riding has helped much with fatigue, as I've been sleeping a lot, but I'm convinced it's helped me stay otherwise healthy. I haven't caught any of the viruses my coworkers have had this year. I'm the only one who hasn't been out sick.

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Originally Posted by Melalvai

Good question. I know that my face is "hardened" now, but I don't think my fingers are. Fifteen years ago when I was in college, only a couple hundred miles south of here and during years when winters were milder, I biked 5 minutes each way to campus with inadequate gloves all winter and got a touch of frostbite. For years afterwards, my hands would swell up if the water in the bathroom sink was cold! I'm very paranoid now about my hands getting cold.

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This is all very interesting. Growing up I was the kid that wore shorts year-round (in NC so winters are relatively mild with some snow). I then went to college in the mountains and some of my favorite memories are when friends and I would go out snowboard in blizzards. We spent a lot of time outside in really really cold weather. Once or twice so cold that water would freeze before it hit the ground. Then I moved to Northern VA and spent a little over a year as a working student for a horse trainer. I was outside from 6:30am to sometimes 8 or 9 at night, 6 days a week. The girl I worked with and I shared a house on the property but we made so little money that we kept most of the house at 40-50 degrees so the pipes wouldn't burst and our individual rooms at around 60 degrees. In the winter I was sleeping in a sleeping bag with my normal bed covers and in sweatpants and a sweatshirt. Ever since that year I've been super sensitive to cold weather. It has been nearly 4 years now and I am finally not shivering when it is lower than 70 degrees! It has been very strange and I am always dressed in more layers than anyone around me including gloves in my work office with the thermostat set at 70 degrees. I've decided I'm just weird. (But my tolerance for cold seems to be returning slowly.)

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In the winter I was sleeping in a sleeping bag with my normal bed covers and in sweatpants and a sweatshirt. Ever since that year I've been super sensitive to cold weather. It has been nearly 4 years now and I am finally not shivering when it is lower than 70 degrees! It has been very strange and I am always dressed in more layers than anyone around me including gloves in my work office with the thermostat set at 70 degrees. I've decided I'm just weird. (But my tolerance for cold seems to be returning slowly.)

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Maybe that's just it and better: your tolerance to cold is slowly returning. (You were tough!)

We have to give ourselves time to acclimatize ...while we're still young and healthy.

But I don't think I will solve my Reynauld's syndrome --I've gone to 2 doctors about this. I just have to be careful.

I was either tough or stupid. :p Probably a mixture of both.

I found a great pair of gortex gloves that keep my hands wonderfully warm. My hands and feet are always cold and it gets hard to move my pinky and ring finger. These gortex gloves have made it a non-issue when I ride. Would something like that help?

Someone got dumped last night on Valentine's Day.

Saw a bouquet of flowers dumped on the side of the road this morning on my ride in. Bummer.

Or, they could have been left on the roof of the car when he was loading in the giant heart shaped box of chocolates.

Either way, it's sad.

I love that we've already made up 2 stories to explain the flowers on the road. That's one of the things I love about biking, even more so with walking, is making up stories to explain things.

Here's a silly one I made up about a couple kids' bikes that had been left out in the yard.

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Originally Posted by Melalvai

I love that we've already made up 2 stories to explain the flowers on the road. That's one of the things I love about biking, even more so with walking, is making up stories to explain things.

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Yeah, but I still can't come with a good story to explain the big pile of sweet potatoes I one time saw on a ride! :p

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Originally Posted by 7rider

Yeah, but I still can't come with a good story to explain the big pile of sweet potatoes I one time saw on a ride! :p

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A body was hidden in a sweet potato delivery truck, and the killer had to dig to find it because his unique lapel pin was stuck in the corpse's hand. ;)

Okay, I stole that from Hitchcock.

I saw owl porn and pretty much got dusted by a unicycle on my commute this evening... yes it was a surreal sort of day....

I bought my first road bike a few months ago and use usually on the weekends, but I commuted for the second time today to work. I feel great and am able to get in 1.5 hr of exercise I wouldn't have got normally. No stops or problems today whereas the first commute last week my chain fell off twice.

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Originally Posted by kweber

I bought my first road bike a few months ago and use usually on the weekends, but I commuted for the second time today to work. I feel great and am able to get in 1.5 hr of exercise I wouldn't have got normally. No stops or problems today whereas the first commute last week my chain fell off twice.

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Fantastic! I hope you have many chain-problem-free commutes.

Been having the most massive allergic nightmare - Don't know what it was that caused it, but I have been unable to breathe through my nose since last Friday. So I was off the bike all week till today, as I am finally starting to breathe with my mouth closed again. Had to break down and use a nasal spray (hate those things, so addicting) because I could not sleep. It felt so good to be back on the bike, and it wasn't really cold or windy this morning either. It rained a bit earlier this week so the air felt clean and crisp. Can't wait for tomorrows MTB ride.

Been seeing more people commuting by bike than I've been seeing before. Older people on comfort bikes and cruisers, others on old steel MTBs. Two years ago it seemed like I was the only one on a bike who was not a kid. And for the first time, when I got to work and stopped at the guard station to dig out my badge this morning, another employee rolled up on his bike. Never saw another rider at the gate before.

Okay. More bizarro sightings on the ride today, and I am at a loss to come up with a story for this.

Today was Adidas Slide Day.

This morning, I ride down the sidewalk and turn left onto the road out of my neighborhood, per usual. On the sidewalk off to my right was a pair of these black and white Adidas slides. They are distinctive for their 3 broad white stripes. Huh. I ponder, as I ride by. I briefly wonder if I should pick them up, wash them and donate them to Good Will (since they were a pair, after all).

Fast forward to the end of the work day. I'm five miles away, in the heart of the city where I work, crossing a street with the light on my ride home. There, in the middle of the intersection is another pair (a pair!) of Adidas slides. What the heck???? :confused:

Alas..got side tracked on my ride when I got close to the spot of the first pair, so I didn't see if they were still there. Oh well.

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Originally Posted by 7rider

Okay. More bizarro sightings on the ride today, and I am at a loss to come up with a story for this.

Today was Adidas Slide Day.

This morning, I ride down the sidewalk and turn left onto the road out of my neighborhood, per usual. On the sidewalk off to my right was a pair of these black and white Adidas slides. They are distinctive for their 3 broad white stripes. Huh. I ponder, as I ride by. I briefly wonder if I should pick them up, wash them and donate them to Good Will (since they were a pair, after all).

Fast forward to the end of the work day. I'm five miles away, in the heart of the city where I work, crossing a street with the light on my ride home. There, in the middle of the intersection is another pair (a pair!) of Adidas slides. What the heck???? :confused:

Alas..got side tracked on my ride when I got close to the spot of the first pair, so I didn't see if they were still there. Oh well.

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That's an easy one. There was only one pair. They walked.

I finally mapped my ride into work online and discovered it is 13 miles, almost exactly! :D That means I've been putting down 26 miles each time I commute. I'm liking that.

Yesterday I skipped work (told them I wasn't coming in) and decided to explore one of the trails further than what I normally ride when I am commuting and I found some GREAT hills. Normally the trail isn't as hilly as the road because the DOT used different grading but not in this section. I had to work! So now I know where I can go when I am coming home from work to add a couple miles of more difficult hills if I want.

Nice S wind yesterday made for a fine afternoon commute. I love tail winds.

Yeah, that wind was something else! It was a challenge getting to work, but coming home, I FLEW. 20 mph on Jefferson St! That speed on that street might not be a big deal to some, but it's hard to get much speed out of my heavy commuter bike, especially with its studded tires.

I keep wondering if it's safe to take off the studded tires yet. I'm sure if I remove them we'll get an ice storm!

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Originally Posted by Melalvai

Yeah, that wind was something else! It was a challenge getting to work, but coming home, I FLEW. 20 mph on Jefferson St! That speed on that street might not be a big deal to some, but it's hard to get much speed out of my heavy commuter bike, especially with its studded tires.

I keep wondering if it's safe to take off the studded tires yet. I'm sure if I remove them we'll get an ice storm!

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I took mine off last week, and it snowed yesterday, of course. I was probably premature.

We had a blizzard today and I went around all day feeling smug that I had not gotten around to taking my studded tires off. But when I went home, the snow had melted. I think I'll get them taken off next week.

HOLY MOLY- on my commute on Wednesday, I saw another bike commuter riding to work. It's been ummm.... gonna say about a YEAR since I saw another bike commuter on my way to work.
We have so few people here that bike for work (which is sad, but not surprising since we are one of the fattest states in the nation).
Anyhow- I was so excited I wanted to wave and yell hello. But I refrained.:p

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Originally Posted by Tri Girl

Anyhow- I was so excited I wanted to wave and yell hello. But I refrained.:p

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Why? I often wave or ding my bell or give the "head bob" to other commuters. We're a small fraternity.

Some, I know by sight. I've assigned them names, as most I don't know (but a few, I've chatted with enough at stop lights to actually get a name). There is
"Guy with the really bright lights."
"Old Guy on the Older Schwinn Who Always Dusts Me." (saw him this morning in his bright shiny blue tights - true to form...he dusted me.).
"Mountain Bike Dude"
"Lady on the Cool Electra Bike". (she's the only other woman I've seen).
A few others I haven't seen in a few years. I suspect their job situations have changed.....

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Originally Posted by 7rider

Why? I often wave or ding my bell or give the "head bob" to other commuters. We're a small fraternity.

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I should have- although I imagine with my excitement I might have wound up looking like a loon (arms flailing, ringing my bell). Plus, he was a half a block away on a street perpendicular to mine. :p I did see another one yesterday as I was leaving my driveway. He rolled right past and we exhanged niceties. Is it bad that I love that gas is going up? Last time it went sky high there were more bikers for transportation than I'd ever seen before.

I love that you name the commuters you see. If I start seeing them with any frequency I might just do the same.

My ride to work today was into a strong southerly headwind- blowing at 30 mph, gusting into the 40 mph range. It was rough, but it was kinda fun because it's trash day so I had the added obstacle of slaloming around trash cans in the road (I actually enjoyed that part). ;) It took me twice as long as usual, but I'm looking forward to the SAWEET tailwind I should have going home. I'm hoping to not have to pedal at all on the way home. :p Wind- you better not change directions. You hear me???

TriGirl, do you think maybe he saw you commuting and that inspired him to give it a try? How cool would that be?

I had to look at this thread to get inspired. My commute is a whole 4.5 miles, and I put gas in my car only once in every 3 weeks, but still - why waste the money? (and the gas?)

Hmmm -

OK, I "commuted" for the first time in 4 years. I rode 5.5 miles to a client's house and prayed that their driveway was clear of the ice they didn't plow from last week's storm, which was covering the driveway on Monday. It was, and the parents didn't think it was weird at all that I arrived for couple's counseling on my bike.
I plan to schedule more sessions with the parents, without the kid, since my regular visit to work with their son is at the end of the day and I am coming from a distance in my car. I have another client that is 9 miles away and as soon as it's a little nicer out, I will start riding there, too.

I took my studded tires off tonight. It took a couple hours to get it all switched and I ripped up a tube in the process.

If the entire nation is blanketed in an inch of ice tomorrow morning, it's my fault.

I also changed the battery in my cateye and re-set it. I guessed at the mileage but I think I'm pretty close. It quit letting me cycle through the readings 200 miles ago (3 weeks) so I estimated my mileage based on what I remembered plus calculated from the last time I wrote it down (October). I came up with 8550 +/- 50. Close enough.

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Originally Posted by Melalvai

I came up with 8550 +/- 50. Close enough.

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WHOA!:eek: How long did that take you to accumulate that many miles? Impressive!



The start of the week and the end of the week couldn't be any more polar opposite than they were for commuting. Monday I was riding to work in short sleeves and capris and today I was bundled up in my wool winter coat, winter boots and heavy duty mittens. Go figure... ;)

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Originally Posted by Tri Girl

How long did that take you to accumulate that many miles?

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I got my bike in Oct 2008. So ~3.5 years? A little over 2000 miles a year.