jyossarian

Jammer, are we talking about 6F or 6C? At 6C, I'd agree, but at 6F (-14C), I'd be less inclined to agree.

pinkrobe

'Twas a nice, warm, easy ride in today. Only -4C, but felt much warmer. More snow tomorrow...

thdave

I rode into the snow this morning and it felt great. I had to stop twice--one to put on my rain pants as I was getting too wet, and another to remove a hat. Wore a thin bacalava and a hat over it. I get real sweaty in that thing, but get chilled with nothing more on it. I had my heart rate up high for almost half of my 35 minute ride.

When my head is too hot, my trunk gets too hot. Despite two tees, one thin microfiber type, under my windbreaker, I sweated too much. I got to figure this out. Maybe I'll try wool.

The snow hasn't stopped in Cleveland. Should make for a crazy ride home! I love my Nokians!

Itsjustb

I beg forgiveness from the commuting Gods. I didn't ride today--a little too much like the weather that caused my accident last year (temps right around freezing after light rain the previous day/evening).

And I'm not even going to attempt haiku!

First day for the year where I didn't ride.

Two Buck Chuck

It felt balmy out today compared to the last two days.

There was an Alexandria police cruiser riding down the MUP this morning. Once she saw me, she pulled all the way off into the grass to let me go by. She got a friendly wave as I pedaled by.

Flimflam

Ride back to my old place went well - felt the ride more, but it was nice to work at it. No real wind to speak of, plain sailing other than a little "oops" I did on Chester. I was used to riding as usual on the clear major streets, when I got onto Chester I continued, until I crossed from one wheel track over to another (one way, one lane street with parking on the right side) and got one hell of a slide/drift/slip going on that scared the crap out of me, slammed on the back brake to take a few MPH off and shook off the "whoa! close one!" factor, heh. With it being dark it wasn't immediately obvious how bad the street was (and that my current lights don't light up the road really)

Rode in my old commute (7.5/8 mi.). Had lots of wind in just about all directions (stupid wind!), and the start of my ride was in falling snow, which soon stopped. 37 mins isn't so bad, 7 mins slower, part of which I accept for myself being generally slower still, having had a bit of a sabbatical over the holidays.

Drama.. well, I noticed I was getting buzzed more today on Broadview heading toward Pretoria (and then to Bloor), seemed odd given the weather, and I rode the street the same as I always do, same hi-vis vest/ankle straps, lights on, etc.

Wasn't so cold this morning, I was wrapped up nicely and the backpack provided copious insulation for my back meaning my dual CRT screens are drying my shirts. Noticed my toes colder on the longer distance ride, I've been wearing hiking shoes and regular cotton sports socks which I prefer when having to get through the crap at the side of the road to get onto the pavement to park up, etc. Probably just have to layer my socks up to avoid that again.

TRaffic Jammer

I though it was C before , at -14C I'll do a zipup over my poly stuff, but nothing heavy or i'll over heat as well. Like I said my shell is sooo good a wind stopper I get nothing against my body. Fingers and toes will be my concern at that temp. I'll put a cycling cap on at about -10 with my fullface. I wore just a cool weather cap with the ear covers day before yesterday

DataJunkie

Yup. I live in Fahrenheit land.

I am fine while ridding. Though, with the current setup I am a bit on the warm side. My issue is when I stop. Perhaps I should unzip on my final downhill to the light rail station. It appears that my body can not stand it when I go from producing my own heat to stopping all of the sudden. I have even managed to overheat at long lights. What a bizarre balancing act. Coupled with a bad stomach, the results can be quite disturbing. Stripping down at almost 0F is just plain odd.

caloso

Easy ride in this morning. Got lots of hard miles planned for tomorrow so I was content to spin along leisurely. It was 32F/0C when I left the house. A while ago I would have thought this too cold to ride; this morning it felt like perfect weather.

HardyWeinberg

Nearly 40F, rain, blessed rain, I'm so happy to see the slush all gone.

However, the week or so below freezing seems to have flipped a metabolic switch, so I am wearing pants and a raincoat where a couple wks ago shorts and a l/s t would have been fine.

JohnnyOTS

Overcast and a balmy 50F or so. Weatherman predicted rain so I had the rain coat on over the jersey, but at the 3.5 mile mark with no rain anywhere the coat went into the trunk bag and it was a lovely ride the rest of the way in. Mix of headwinds and tailwinds, and hit a new high average speed. Beat the old one by 1mph. ^_^

jyossarian

Yeah, I wore a balaclava at 19F/-7C and was sweating up a storm when I got to work. Might've also been due to me not being used to breathing w/ one on which made it seem like I was exerting myself more.

Time for a haiku
Because I'm working from home
Just like last Friday

DataJunkie

My balaclava makes me claustrophobic. Bizarre, eh? Consequently, I go with a skull cap and face mask. One day I will purchase a different 'clava but that combo works for me.

TRaffic Jammer

i have couple ...one thin, for -15C and a thick one for -25C and lower, but at that temp I'm downright getting ready for a space walk. I can't keep it over my mouth or nose at all. I get full glasses fogging at lights, and under the streetlights..I totally dissipate steam from the helmet it's kinda freaky lookin' in the right light.

luckysnafu

Didn't ride the past 2 days since I was away on a business trip. Back on the bike this morning though. No snow or freezing rain this morning and the roads were just wet, not icy. Had a slow go though since I had my laptop and shoes in addition to my normal stuff. Sunny and 50 for my ride home, have a great weekend everybody

chephy

Inaugural 'Winter Bike' Ride

Finally took my winter bike out. Of course I waited long enough that the roads are completely dry and clear now, even on small streets. Which is actually pretty fortunate considering I forgot to install a small but crucial detail on my winter bike called "fenders".

The first few minutes into the ride I kept getting that paranoid feeling that there is a car creeping up on me from behind even when a visual check established there is no one there at all. Then it hit me - it's the noise of my own knobbies on the pavement! D'oh!

The winter bike feels very weird. I feared that since I got it used, it was going to give me a lot of trouble even after all the tinkering, but the fears so far have not been confirmed. It's mostly solid mechanically except for a few shot cogs (will probably just get a whole new wheel, the one on it now is crappy) but I'm too used to the bike I've been riding for the whole year. I was one with that bike, I knew exactly how it would feel and behave. Not the case with this one. I instantly feel it has a number of advantages over my usual bike: it's lighter, has a more aggressive and hence "faster" geometry. Still, it'll take me a while to get used to the whole new handling... will probably have to do a bunch of tweaking to get everything just right. So now I'm reminded how newbies feel when they just get on a bike for the first time in ten years...

This bike also has ridiculously low gearing. The largest of the three chainrings is teeny-tiny - the smallest I've ever seen on the bike. I have another set of chainrings lying around, but it took me forever to properly set up the front derailleur on this thing and the thought of having to do it all over again is just intolerable. Maybe I should convert the whole thing to a fixie or SS, given that the STX shifters are not working very well, even in this mild (around 0 C/32 F) weather (funny, but the Altus shifters from the 90's on my other bike are just fine!)

Aves

Wet pretty much sums it up.

DataJunkie

Wet for me as well. I was riding down a street, not paying attention, and hit a rut between one of our 6 inch thick ice sheets. Needless to say I went down fairly hard and covered myself in wet dirty snow and slush.
Anyhow, tore my jacket and my new wool jersey. The jersey is fine... just a small hole. Besides I put holes in everything sooner or later. My J&G jacket is toast. Too big of a rip. Guess I know what I will be hunting for this weekend since it takes J&G too long to ship. Must have something before Monday.
As for my bike, I bent my front left shifter. That was one easy fix. Just moved it back into place.
My elbow has seen better days. Ouch ouch ouch ouch.
My new motto: PAY ATTENTION!

chephy

Ouch! Hope there are no long-term consequences to the state of your elbow etc. Sucks about the jacket too... but I'm betting part of you is welcoming the excuse to shop for more gear.

Reminds me of an accident I had: I was actually going to a party, so I dressed up really nicely and was going to have a leisurely roll through a large university campus to get to the party... And about 50 metres from the start I fall into a HUGE messy mud puddle and totally wreck my outfit. So aggravating and hilarious at the same time. Hope that makes you feel better.

ken cummings

Downhill 2.8 miles to retrieve the pick-up I left at the Doctors' clinic. And why may you ask did I leave the truck there? Think a UFO type blackout indiuced by sedation and the Aliens/Doctor using a 5 foot long probe.

scottmorrison99

Ride in was 30F, and the city was flushing the hydrants at 5:30 in the morning on the main street through town. It was 6 inches deep! I rode up onto the curb because it was way to cold to go swimming. Got past it and back into the lane. Ride home was fast and uneventful. I took it easy because of the club ride tomorrow.

Private_Pez

Had the day off today but my last ride was, well different. Rode to work thursday in full Battle Rattle for training that day. Felt a little weird wearing a kevlar as a bicycle helmet.

buzzman

oooh the winter fall. They hurt. I usually get one every winter. Usually at night on the patch pictured below.

Hope you heal up well.

My ride was windy. A steady NW wind of about 25 mph with occasional gusts to 40mph. The temp was about 16F (-8c)so the wind chill was way down there. My ride home was pretty much dead on into the wind so any exposed flesh was really noticeable. I face masked it but a little bit of my forehead got kind of cold and I didn't wear an underlayer (on my legs) because I had thick jeans on nor did I wear my bootie covers (I had those and rain/wind pants I could have put on but didn't really need them)- just a little chilly through the pants and the feet were just starting to get a little tingly in the toes by the time I got home. The 11 mile ride is normally 40 mins or less and tonight was quite a bit longer. Judging by the speed I was going and the effort it was taking to go that slow it was the equivalent of riding my road bike up an 11 mile up hill at around an average 7% grade.

I was surprised to see another bundled biker or two on the way home. We definitely greeted one another as members of the same odd clan.

DataJunkie

Thanks Chephy and Buzzman.
The damage was less than what I thought it was. 2 little holes in the jersey and a 1/2 penny size rip in the jacket. Of course, this means I will need to replace the jacket eventually.
My elbow looks better but apparently I smashed my hip into the ground. That actually hurts worse. Anyhow, nothing is broken and no one ran me over.
At least I am feeling better than my 3 year old who fractured his left arm falling off of a couch. Poor kid. That and he brought a cold home so we could share.
No commute Monday due to snow and my cold. ugh
I hate this January. Massive snow, colds, hurt bodies, cold weather, etc have combined to make this the hardest commuting month ever for me. Oh well.

paperman

Cold and wet with gale force winds for company all week.