How Was Your Commute Today?

[blackhillsbiker]

The -12° this morning made the +13° this evening feel almost delightful. Seriously, I love winter riding (I had to keep telling myself that this morning when my gears wouldn't work). It's supposed to be almost 40° tomorrow!

Deb

[radacrider]

What started out as an ordinary rainy commute (with son to school, then me to work) turned into a flat adventure. I wrote it up here, http://portlandiapedaler.blogspot.co...-it-pours.html.

Other than that, have to figure out why my knees got soaked through my rain pants (Showers Pass). Looked pretty funny at work for about an hour or so.

[7rider]

The -12° this morning made the +13° this evening feel almost delightful. Seriously, I love winter riding (I had to keep telling myself that this morning when my gears wouldn't work). It's supposed to be almost 40° tomorrow!

Sorry, Pfunk12. In my eyes, you have lost your lead as the baddest of the bad-a$$ bike commuters out there!

Holy cow. I'm a native New Englander and I still cringe at the thought of -12! The thought of bike commuting in it? No friggin' way.
(of course...I've gone skiing in it!)

[pfunk12]

Well, then...I'm hoping for some serious cold weather in DC so that I can get my bad-a$$ status back. Yes, that is ridiculously cold. Blackhillsbiker - wow. I'm not sure what my limit is yet since I haven't reached it. The 15 degree wind chill this morning wasn't that bad but it's nowhere near -12 degrees. Yikes.

Sorry, Pfunk12. In my eyes, you have lost your lead as the baddest of the bad-a$$ bike commuters out there!
(of course...I've gone skiing in it!)

[girlsubobscura]

Today was my tenth commute of the year. It was snowing and the back streets were rutted and bumpy, making this the first day I wished I had sprung for studded tires. The sun is shining and the plows have been out though, so the ride home should be better.

[Atlas]

I had been commuting 2-3 days a week on my Cross Check but it pained me to see it get all mucky and dirty. We had a Gary Fisher frame that we got from a neighbor but it was a bit too small for me so we traded with a co-worker at the shop who had a mountain bike frame that was a bit too big. Win-win. Now I have an older Diamondback with fenders and lots of lights to get me through the rest of this winter. Downside is that it's really heavy compared to my other bikes and the 'morning hill' is a lot bigger it seems.

This morning was my coldest commute yet at about 4ºF. I need something more than a scarf around my face, that's for sure.

[redrhodie]

I commuted yesterday. The forecast was for snow starting after 4 pm with light flurries to start. Plenty of time for me to get back to the park and ride, where I keep my car, if I went in a little early. Well, imagine my surprise when at 11 am there were already a couple of inches, and it was falling hard. I was thinking it would lighten up, and I'd still be able to ride, assuming the main roads were probably clear. I called my lbs for a pep talk, figuring they'd tell me it's cool, mellow out, you'll be fine. Instead, what I heard was concern about the plows, and nothing he said made me feel better, telling me the roads already looked bad. For the next few hours, I waffled about whether I would ride or take the car ride my friend was insisting on giving me. Finally, at 3:30, I decided to wimp out.

I realized I made the right decision after we were stuck in a several mile long traffic jam, on unplowed main roads, in heavily falling, slippery, heavy snow. I was glad to not be on my bike in that.

[kmehrzad]

I commuted yesterday. The forecast was for snow starting after 4 pm with light flurries to start. Plenty of time for me to get back to the park and ride, where I keep my car, if I went in a little early. Well, imagine my surprise when at 11 am there were already a couple of inches, and it was falling hard. I was thinking it would lighten up, and I'd still be able to ride, assuming the main roads were probably clear. I called my lbs for a pep talk, figuring they'd tell me it's cool, mellow out, you'll be fine. Instead, what I heard was concern about the plows, and nothing he said made me feel better, telling me the roads already looked bad. For the next few hours, I waffled about whether I would ride or take the car ride my friend was insisting on giving me. Finally, at 3:30, I decided to wimp out.

I realized I made the right decision after we were stuck in a several mile long traffic jam, on unplowed main roads, in heavily falling, slippery, heavy snow. I was glad to not be on my bike in that.

Wise choice you made. The DC area was in total gridlock yesterday. There were so many horror stories about traffic and the length of people's commutes - amazing. Car Mageddon for sure.