Fall and Winter Commuter Challenge!

[Geonz]

When it's really cold I wear ski goggles, tho' I ended up foregoing them the last couple times because they cut back on visibility, even with my mirror.

I broke a personal record THursday and Friday - 11 below zero. Friday, had my digestive tract and/or my will cooperated, I could have gone in at 17 below... but I made the tactical error of not wearing warm enough clothes to bed and when it's that cold outside, it just isn't warm inside, either... and the previous night's dinner was rather demanding that I spend extra time in the loo. So I called in and said I'd be in an hour late.

I then decided that since it really doesn't look like it will get better, that I need to, as the bracelet says, HTFU. (Hopefully harden the bowels up, too ) So I made sure to leave *early* today... fact is, that with enough layers, I don't get cold. I did yoga stretches and crunches for 10 minutes before swaddling myself, and then some running-in-place and centrifugal arm swinging before actually leaving, and my hands didn't even get cold. At nine degrees, I could even leave exposed skin so I didn't have the wet balaclava problem.

However, last Wednesday I took the bus home because truth be told, I'm not a mountain biker - I'm a weenie with roads that aren't smooth. Adn... they're forecasting snow for next week, again. Cold I can handle... but I don't wanna fall into traffic.

It occurs to me that I *could* order Bigger Studs... that is my plan as soon as these have put in WorthWhile Mileage... and I don't even know what that would be. 1000 miles? I have the "106 stud for plowed roads" tyres... but on the other hand, more studs would have been a bunbite this a.m. on the *mostly* clear and dry roads.... *and* getting the back wheel off my bike wtih chain guard and internal hub and brakes is a bunbite of its own.

Third option: get Monster Studs for the folding bike, which is much easier to operate on.

[keepclimbing]

Wow. 11 below. I'm not sure if I would go that far. But I've stuck it out pretty well this January. I've only used my car two days all month and that was because of some mechanical problems I had to get fixed. There was only one day that it plunged below zero here, and I was out of town on a business trip. Mostly it's been in the teens. A couple of days ago the temps rose into the upper 20s and it felt like a heat wave. Riding felt easy and caused me to wonder why I haven't ridden through every winter. My friends ask how I can ride in such cold weather and I keep assuring them it is just a matter of having the right gear.

Yesterday it was 27 when I rode to the office. By the time I left to go to an evening event about 7 miles away, the temperature was 57! I had to stop to remove layers and stuff them into my bag, but I was a sweaty mess when I arrived. What a grand entrance I made! The best part was that my doctor was at the event. When he realized it was me, he gave me a big hug and said that he was impressed, proud, and envious! He said that he had been driving behind me on the way there but had no idea it was me. He was impressed with how well lit my bike was at night. (That was good to hear, especially from my doctor!) When I left the event at 9:30, the temps were still in the 40s and I had a very comfortable ride home. I really like riding late at night when there are fewer cars.

But how quickly I got spoiled. This morning the temp was in the 20s again, but I didn't want to be overdressed in the afternoon so I used fewer layers. BIG mistake! The weather channel got it wrong and the temperature plunged. I thought I was going to freeze on my short little 3-mile ride home. I really do not like being cold.

Tomorrow I'm going to a friend's house 19 miles across town for an afternoon get-together. It's going to be cold again. I have to look decent once I get there, but she won't mind if I head straight into the bathroom for a quick change and freshening up. But I'm a little nervous about the return trip. It will be dark and some of the roads are not well lit.

What I'm learning this winter about bicycle commuting is that it requires daily planning. Mapping out my destination, figuring out how much time to allow, watching the weather reports, fussing over exactly which balaclava and gloves are the right weight for the day, deciding what to wear and if/how to change clothes at my destination--it does consume extra time. I suppose the more I do it, the more of those details will become second-nature.

It's all worth it knowing that when spring arrives and everyone else is dusting off their bikes, I'm going to be in good form already!

[indigoiis]

First time back on the bike since early December.

Today: 11 miles.

[kfergos]

First time back on the bike since early December.

Today: 11 miles.

Woo! I'm sure your bike was very happy to see you again.

Last week I rode ~26 mi/day M, W, Th, and F; Tues I rode 13.

Today it was so frickin' cold, but I did it anyway. My face-covering (now a complicated two-part Gore/Turtle Fur combo) got completely covered in a thick layer of frost from my breath, as did my fuzzy outer gloves. ...Is winter over yet?

[indigoiis]

Today it was so frickin' cold, but I did it anyway. My face-covering (now a complicated two-part Gore/Turtle Fur combo) got completely covered in a thick layer of frost from my breath, as did my fuzzy outer gloves. ...Is winter over yet?

I get the complicated face covering thing! I use an old cut off turtleneck, a polarfleece head band (and instead of putting it over my ears and head, I put it over my nose) and a polar fleece cap with ear flaps.

Can only commute 2 days a week as the darling dotta won't go near her bike in the cold... DARN!

Using my old steel frame mountain bike with tractor-style tires.

[keepclimbing]

It's going to be in the 40s this weekend! Woohoo! A respite from the snow and ice. (Hello, potholes!)

[out_spokin']

So January was all over the place - winter thaw, winter's revenge, a vacation, a head cold, and a new foster dog...phew!!!

It was my worst month so far, but I got back on the wagon for some frigid-y but getting lighter every day commutes, and just barely got to the 66% mark...I'm counting it as hitting the goal for the 4th full month of our challenge!

Off to the weekend bike projects...

[lph]

What a grand entrance I made! The best part was that my doctor was at the event. When he realized it was me, he gave me a big hug and said that he was impressed, proud, and envious!

You have a really cool dr.

[Geonz]

Welp, I rode in today feeling like I was getting on a bus with no ticket back home. The forecast is for a "winter advisory" starting at 6:00 p.m. ... I'm generally here 'til 9:30. Forecasts are amazingly vague ("chance of many snow showers or flurries," or words to that effect!) ...
... but I'm thinkin' I will skip out on my class (it's chorus, not for credit... I'll be sorry if I don't look at the music between now and next week but...) and beat the nasties home and then tell them to just stay away.
I looked at big studs for the Dahon but at $70 + each, well...

[indigoiis]

I did it again. I rode to the bus and will have to ride home again.
I forgot my helmet. I was in a rush this morning. I didn't even know til I was a mile down the hill from my house. So I am going to be riding extra carefully tonight going home.

(Back in the day, I rode helmetless for years. But I also didn't wear seatbelts, and smoked a pack a day. So yeah. I feel naked without it!)

[Geonz]

I rode the bus today, too. I think I could haev made it in... but we have a perfectly good bus system, I really can afford two bucks, and it would have been a car out of control that would be the problem. (five or six inches of snow over night, trailing off this a.m.)
Plus, I'd kinda forgotten how warm and fuzzy bus trips can be. Everybody called the bus driver "Linda" and the guy at my stop made sure I got the right transfer... he said " the bus will be packed!" and yea, looked like about half the seats *were* taken - such is the Midwest

[Biciclista]

i am off the wagon. between having a cold and crummy weather, I haven't ridden to work last week or this week

[shootingstar]

Well, lazy me finally tested my work security card several days ago which had to be reprogrammed to allow me access into the locked bike room near the underground parking garage in our workplace building. Now it's working.

So hopefully later this month, at some point when I know there won't be alot of cold rain or black ice... where black ice is ok if the route is flat, but this commuting route is not. Where I work is several degrees colder compared to home ..and it's only a 13 kms. away from home but the work building sits on top of a ridge.

[keepclimbing]

Yesterday was amazing. I was able to wear capris and a lightweight long-sleeved shirt! I left early for work so that I could take a long way and enjoy the morning. It felt so good! But overnight we had a storm. The sewers are still overworked from all the recent melted snow, so the storm caused some serious flash-flooding. The streets around my home were just too dangerous with high waters so I drove today. It seems to have subsided tonight. The temp has dropped again now to remind us that it's still winter, but I'll be back on my bike tomorrow.

[Eden]

Some crazy black ice around here this morning.... I didn't realize it until it was too late to take the bus in so ride I did. Pretty much everything was covered with a very, very thin layer of ice. I made it all the way with no incidents, but it was definitely hairy.