davei1980

RidingMatthew

Nice ride warmer than I expected and had to be proactive in my venting. Plus saw/ felt some rain drops on my face. While at my desk this morning I saw the clouds roll still cool to be in the tallest tower in town. But thankfully the sun is out. I wont be able to commute tomorrow so thinking about going for a run in the morning before work. Tomorrows high is 16 degrees less than todays with the potential for snow Saturday over SUnday.

CrewFan

Took advantage of the warmer weather (60s!) and biked in to work.. the ride in was great! The ride home was super windy 🌬️ - 20-30 m/h head wind/cross winds. Still it was nice to ride in this morning. tomorrow is going to be coooold, so back to the bus I go!

mgw4jc

Hmm, didn't even post here yesterday. I did ride though. Strava proves it!

Yesterday afternoon was warm enough (60F+) to ride home in short sleeves. I started with a jacket because I thought the winds would make it chilly, but got warm after 4 miles and stopped to shed a layer. Temperature drop overnight though and high of only 50F today. Same weather forecast as @RidingMatthew with temps dropping and chances of snow this weekend.

Kind of bummed about Saturday's forecast as I was tempted to sign up for a local Polar Bear 100k ride. If it's rainy or snowy, they'll postpone until next weekend which I will be out of town for.

RidingMatthew

@mgw4jc Wouldn't that be a perfect polar bear ride? I rode a Polar bear ride on January 1st a few years back low 40's and rainy off and on the whole way. I was glad I had brought my fendered bike even if it was heavier. I will say that a cyclocross bike starts to get uncomfortable around 60 miles or so.

Beautiful ride home yesterday. I wore the jacket home and shorts but was comfortable until i got to into my garage. STUFFY warm in there.

I was going to go for a run this morning but reset the alarm and slept in. My legs are feeling it from 85 miles already this week. I am hoping to ride Thursday and Friday too.

Tundra_Man 

12F this morning with a 20 mph headwind which drove the wind chill well below zero. Rutted ice is dissipating, but at a much slower rate than I would have hoped. There are still areas on the MUP completely covered in the stuff for long stretches.

Needless to say, I didn't set any speed records. But I made it.

pdlamb

Leaving work last night I heard a timberdoodle (aka woodcock). Silly bird, doesn't it know it's supposed to be in the wilderness instead of across the drainage pond from that big parking lot? Also, it's two or three months too early to start mating behavior!

Winter is coming back. Today's high will be cooler than it was all day yesterday, and tomorrow will be a near repeat. At least it was sunny, felt 5 degrees warmer since it was so bright.

I had to deal with a plethora (OK, n=3) of drivers who pulled out in front of me and went really, really slow (and I'm the one on a bike!). You ever wonder why 6 or more people line up in the right lane when the left lane is clear? I ended up taking the LEFT lane on slowpoke #2 to get through the light (don't worry, I gave it back undamaged).

Steely Dan

so, winter decided to finally happen in chicago.

20 degrees with a whipping 18 mph NW wind dropping wind chills down to 5 degrees for my ride in this morning.

80% of my morning bike commute is due north, so i was feeling all of that windchill. i had to break out my face mask.

PatrickGSR94

Finally my first commute of 2019 yesterday! And of course we had a cold front move through, which meant wind in my face in the morning, AND again in the evening. Those are the worst days. But it was 50's-60's which wasn't too bad. Should have brought the battery charger for my e-bike, the battery has over 6,000 miles on it now and it's getting to the point where a 90% charge just won't last the 30 mile round trip commute.

Darth Lefty 

PatrickGSR94

Your lack of bike balance prowess is disturbing...

robertorolfo

Haven't posted in here for a while, but I've been enjoying these first few commutes of the year.

Last night, going over the 59th St bridge, I noticed a guy up ahead of me on a citi bike. I wasn't catching him too quickly, so I started thinking, "wow, that guy must be riding that thing pretty hard." Then, as I got closer to him, I noticed he didn't seem to be pedaling hard at all, and sure enough, as I went past, I saw the big battery pack on the downtube.

Can't say that I'm a supporter of this idea. The way some of these people (not you, noglider) ride the regular citi bikes is bad enough, so I don't see how having large numbers of them being aided by a motor is going to make things better (safer).

robertorolfo

Not trying to pick a fight, but those drivers are actually doing the right thing. If you wish to proceed at the same speed as surrounding traffic, or perhaps slower, a car driver should absolutely be in, and stay in, the right lane. The left lane should be reserved for passing only. If everyone did this (as they do in most of the civilized countries in the world), our roads would be significantly safer and more efficient.

But just how slow were these people going that you were passing them on your bike?

wphamilton

All states have slower keep right laws, most allow driving in the left lane if faster than traffic, only a few have left is passing only law. It doesn't apply on municipal roads unless there is a local ordinance.

IMO, when I find my bike going the same speed or faster than the traffic, I'll use whichever lane I need to. Or up the side or shoulder.

Archwhorides 

This Fall I bought a dedicated winter bike with Suomi studded tires, belt-drive and internal hub - slow but bomber-reliable and maintenance-free. Immediately after I mounted the studs after Tgiving, the weather dried up, and I've been riding my fast commuter with slicks from 18F to 50F, occasional rain, but virtually no ice. Obviously Ullr was intimidated by the new bomber setup and I've reaped the benefits. Today was bright and 40F on the ride in with a light tailwind - passing cars everywhere.

RidingMatthew

So it happened again... I rode this morning and it was 21F plus wind chill. I noticed about mid point (in my 10.5 mile one way ride) that rear brake was not releasing. I could feel the drag. This is the second time that it has slowed me down. Last time it completely stopped the rear wheel and would not release at all. So not only was I fighting headwinds my brake was slowing me down.

I am not sure what I need to do about the brakes. 2018 Salsa Journeyman 650b with mechanical disk brakes. Why would the brakes stay applied? The lever is in the right position (as if it was released) I will post another thread about this issue.

arsprod 

I've had my disk brakes stick when either the lever or brake actuator freezes. Usually it breaks free by moving it once - might you have a frayed cable? 19F with spitting snow, but the brutal winds have subsided.

Tundra_Man 

14°F this morning with a steady cross/tail wind. I got out the door about 1/2 hour late due to dealing with a teenager. About a mile down the road I came to the intersection where I could either do the 8 mile ride to the office (my original intention) or the 4 mile ride to a client location. I came really close to giving in and taking the short ride, but I decided to tough it out and go to the office this morning. I'll ride to the client location over lunch.

By the time I got to the office my feet were pretty numb. I just wore old tennis shoes rather than my hiking boots. The old shoes have some holes that I discovered let the wind through.

davei1980

pdlamb

Nice sunny ride in today, though it was below freezing. The tail wind helped -- I was fairly comfortable until the quarter mile jog into the teeth of the north wind just before I got to the office. Brr!

On to comments about yesterday...

First, I'm surprised to be reading this from a Queens commuter. I expected traffic there to be like it was in Brooklyn and Manhattan -- 3-5 lanes full of traffic dashing from one red light to the next. I'm going to have to stop next time I'm through there to watch miles of traffic sitting in the right lane because someone might be coming up faster behind them.

To answer your question, the vehicles I passed were stopped, then accelerating from stopped. I hit about 20 mph before the last vehicle in the right lane (the guy I called "slowpoke #2 ") passed me.

To answer some other questions you might have asked before starting the lecture, it's a 35 zone. I was the last vehicle through the light in the left lane. After the last vehicle in the right lane passed me, I moved right and was passed by 3-4 more vehicles that turned onto the boulevard I was riding. I caught up to the entire pack at the next light, so while I might have slowed traffic in the left lane (had there been any), I didn't delay anyone.

Finally, if you're really a bike commuter, there's a far greater chance (just looking at demographics) that I could have taught you to drive than that you're old enough to have taught me when I was learning to drive.

Was there anything else you feel qualified to nag me about?

clengman

I had my first beard-freezing cold day today. Looks like next week we get down to nosehair-freezing cold. We've had a few little flurries the last couple days, but still not enough accumulation to put my new winter tires to the test. I'm ready for some snow dag nabbit! Bring it on!

robertorolfo

Queens isn't really any different to Brooklyn, although I would say Manhattan has some unique characteristics and traffic patterns. In any case, there was a pretty big 'should' in my statement. As wphamilton confirmed, these are indeed the rules of the road in most locations, but here in NY (and most other places I have observed in the US), these rules are not strictly enforced and generally unknown to most drivers. Traffic was always chaotic in the city, and now with the plague of Uber drivers everywhere, the situation has only gotten worse. I never thought it was possible to make the cabbies seem reasonable, until the Uber crowd showed up...

Anyway, it wasn't meant to be a nag or anything like that. The situation wasn't completely clear, so I was only commenting on slow cars keeping to, and thus lining up in, the right lane, and how that actually sounds rather refreshing. Your actions, as described, sound perfectly reasonable given the situation.

mgw4jc

I thought perhaps you were answering Nature's call and this was the view you had.

Took the morning off to help the wife with an appointment. Left home at noon. Sunny, 40F, low traffic. Midday riding can be pretty nice on my bike route.

kevincgove

First day this week, I didn't get rained on. No complaints because we need rain in our drought stricken state. Otherwise uneventful ride into work.

mgw4jc

Cold. My commute was cold. Low 20s for the ride in, maybe even 19F to start. 45 minutes later, my knees are still cold. I wasn't too bad for the ride in I suppose. Toes felt the worst for the last couple of miles. Rest of me was alright.

A co-worker saw me ride up to the building and said, "There's a real man! Props for riding in this cold!"
I replied, "Here's a real COLD man."