Fall and Winter Commuter Challenge!

[Aggie_Ama]

I live 20 miles from work, 7 highway miles from the nearest supermarket 11 miles by hilly but bikeable roads. DH is 26 miles from work. We chose the house for the road riding we could do on the weekends and schools (even though no kiddos) knowing we would be car bound. But I think it is a Texan thing, we love our cars and driving. DH was never happy until he got his last truck, before he had a sedan. We make changes but we still love driving and taking trips by car. I miss the Sunday drives on county roads we used to do growing up.

22,000 lbs! That is a whole lot of beans!

[Biciclista]

believe it or not, I rode again today so i got my two commutes in this week (if i survive the home trip!)

i missed getting drenched by minutes yesterday, but today seems a bit safer in that respect.

[Geonz]

Gore-tex and smart-tex came in handy today, as it was gently raining the whole way. Yesterday I had to dodge backhoes and the guy directing traffic gave me a howdy; today he wasn't directing traffic but we exchanged grins... I'm thinking he likes "rotten" weather, too. Hey, it's 50 degrees - that ain't bad for November!

Tomorrow's supposed to be 25-30 mph winds, high temp 42; expected wind chills int he mid-20's with snow showers and flurries. I think I'll just get out at dawn and attack it, just for fun.

[Grog]

I rode in this morning... I was not a happy camper as I was supposed to run at 8 a.m. (at a place near my work) and when I put my helmet on I realized my rear tire was flat. $*W"/&%_/$ Sent a text message to my running partner, fixed the flat (it's nicer to do it in the basement than on the sidewalk tho') and took off. I had my run at 8:30 instead.

So it's a 3/4 this week. I am a little disappointed, but considering the fierce winds yesterday, I think it was a safer decision.

[kfergos]

Despite my best mental excuse-making efforts, I still rode both ways every day this week:

Mon - 2/2
Tues - 2/2 (the evening ride was fast; I really pushed myself since I had to get home, shower, and leave in a tight time frame)
Wed - 2/2
Thurs - 2/2 (got rained on)
Fri - 2/2 (got rained on, then misted on -- glasses + mist = gah!)

I may add in another 25-mile commute to church this Sunday. It's supposed to be thunderstorms, but I don't know if I can resist the opportunity to ride in 58-degree weather in mid-November. I hope the rest of the winter is this mild, although coworkers are already saying it's supposed to be a nasty winter. How can anybody predict this kind of thing ahead of time?!

[Eden]

The stripes on the wooly bears?

(more seriously - our winters on this coast are often more predictable as to amounts of cold/precipitation depending on whether its an el nino, la nina or neutral year. Maybe there's something like that out east too?)

[indigoiis]

12 miles today, and 16 last week.
A LOT less than in summer... but... it's something!

[Transmutable]

Bad commute today, I think I need to reevaluate this biking on ice thing. Going in it was snowing fairly heavily, and I didn't really have any glasses or goggles or anything... on the plus side I could open my mouth for a drink of water! Fishtailed once as I was coming up to a stop sign, but no biggy.

Coming home however, I bit it not ten feet out of the parking lot. I was fine, a little bruised, but hey, learning experiences. I lowered my seat (to lower my center of gravity, you see) and while it was a little annoying to bike with my knees up in my ears, I made it home. Welllll, almost. I decided to cross the road before the intersection because there weren't any cars and turned a little too sharply. I've never fallen so fast! Falling in the road was actually pretty scary and I walked the last block and a half. Curse you winter, you win. For now...

[SouthernBelle]

Trans, that sounds scary. Do you have studded tires? If you have a lot of snow and ice to ride through on a regular basis, they would be worth the investment.

[indigoiis]

Rode 20 today - 5 more than I was expecting to. Yay!

[indigoiis]

6 today... that's it for the week...
10, 20, 6 = 36 for this week.

[kfergos]

Not a good week. I came down with a cold just as the weather turned wintry.

Mon - 2/2
Tues - 2/2
Wed - 0/2 (home sick)
Thur - 2/2
Fri - 0/2 (husband drove me)
Total miles commuted: 81.25

In the future I think I'm just going to stay home if I'm too sick to ride my bike. If I can't ride and function for the day afterward, I probably just need to rest. I just feel incredibly guilty taking time off work for anything -- it's the culture of my company to drag yourself in no matter what. Probably that just spreads disease rather than actually getting work done, but I have a hard time bucking that and saying "Hey! I have a cold and I'm going to stay home, drink hot tea, and take soaky baths because that'll help me get better sooner." Oh well. Next cold, I guess.

[SouthernBelle]

Don't feel bad for that!

I was just a total slacker this week.I only commuted once. Some days I had to have a vehicle, but one day I was just sorry.

[tpage]

Hello everyone,
I appologize for not checking in on my commuting progress, but I have been very busy with school and a family. But I have been very diligent riding my bike at least 4 days a week, that was until these past two weeks. Last week my bestfriend died and this week was Thanksgiving break. I plan to get back on schedule this Monday. I have even found that one of the teachers at school rides on the weekends, so over the fall/spring break (dec 17-Jan 13) i am going to meet with him and a few other friends and ride. I am really looking forward to it. I made them promise not to ride off and forget i was in the back lagging behind.

[lph]

ah, well, I'm not really signed up for this but it seems that this is where we go to gripe about our winter commutes so here I am

Made a bad decision yesterday about my commute. Several, actually. The day before yesterday I rode home in WAY too much clothing, on my heavy winter bike with full studs - on bare roads in a very unusual warm wind. Got home snorting like a walrus and soaked in sweat and tossed all my bike gear in the wash. Bingo, yesterday morning my winter jacket and tights were still damp, and the temperature had dropped. Oh well, still just around freezing and the temps were going to rise again, so I layered up with other stuff and took my mtb w/o studs. Got 10 yds before I realized I NEEDED studs in front at least, turned around and grabbed the studded front wheel off my winter bike. My dh laughs at me cause I spend more time getting ready than he does on his entire commute.

Even after a full day of warm weather it was sooo slippery out and I had to take every turn at a snail's pace and remember to only use the front brake if possible. I really missed studs in back as well. And my ride home got delayed for a million reasons, all stupid, so by the time I rode home I was hungry, tired, and it was dark and COLD out. I was literally skating all over the place with frozen feet and hands and chattering teeth by the time I got to where I was headed.

Uerg. Just needed to gripe. I hate it when I miscalculate both food, clothing and bike like that.