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Consecutive work commute number 700: 2F with a -14F wind chill. The MUP still hasn't been plowed since Sunday and Monday's snow. With the cold temps of the last few days the snow is now getting a little stiff, making it tough to ride through. I rode most of the way in my granny front ring.
The next two mornings it's supposed to be below zero air temp, along with a good chunk of next week. This is the part of the year where it really starts to wear on me mentally. |
20F, snow, 15-20 mph winds. I almost bailed because of the wind - I'll take ice, snow, rain, almost anything but high winds. It was due west and my route is almost all north/south so wasn't horrible. About mile 8 I noticed I was slowing down and it was getting harder to pedal. The snow had built up underneath my front fender and was actually causing friction. I'll raise that sucker up before the ride home.
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I needed to run some paperwork by the office last night, so I got to experience a bonus 10 miles into a 10-20 mile headwind. For some reason it made me tired. :twitchy:
This morning started off slow. Nothing on the weather radar or forecast today, so I got out the main bike (instead of the rain bike) for its first commute in nearly three weeks. Had to pump up the tires, since they were down to "bouncy," but I couldn't get the pump chuck to stay on. Took me ten minutes and two pumps to get the tires aired, by which time I had worked up a sweat. Grr. But it was a lovely, clear, frosty morning. Sunshine!! Traffic was pretty well behaved, if the lights didn't like me today that was OK. It was the kind of morning that wouldn't have been a bad thing if my commute was 5-10 miles longer. |
40F and clear. My first commute since my accident last week. I was anxious, but it went fine. My new front light is impressively bright - 1300 lumens, but the number doesn't do it justice. It's BRIGHT. Still waiting on my Cycliq for the rear. And my new jacket makes me quite literally glow in the dark, which is cool. I tried a new route today, but it was not my favorite. Too few bike lanes, I took the lane quite a bit, thankfully nobody flipped out.
It snowed quite a bit in the mountains this past weekend, and I left a little later than normal today, so I got treated to a stunning pre-dawn view of the snow-covered San Gabriels on my way to work. It looked like a Bob Ross painting. Awesome. |
Originally Posted by pdlamb
(Post 20792791)
Had to pump up the tires, since they were down to "bouncy," but I couldn't get the pump chuck to stay on. Took me ten minutes and two pumps to get the tires aired, by which time I had worked up a sweat. Grr.
Originally Posted by Tundra_Man
The next two mornings it's supposed to be below zero air temp, along with a good chunk of next week. This is the part of the year where it really starts to wear on me mentally.
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Originally Posted by OhLylo
(Post 20792797)
40F and clear. My first commute since my accident last week. I was anxious, but it went fine. My new front light is impressively bright - 1300 lumens, but the number doesn't do it justice. It's BRIGHT. Still waiting on my Cycliq for the rear. And my new jacket makes me quite literally glow in the dark, which is cool. I tried a new route today, but it was not my favorite. Too few bike lanes, I took the lane quite a bit, thankfully nobody flipped out.
It snowed quite a bit in the mountains this past weekend, and I left a little later than normal today, so I got treated to a stunning pre-dawn view of the snow-covered San Gabriels on my way to work. It looked like a Bob Ross painting. Awesome. AM commute - 20F-ish, clear and sunny, but fresh cover from overnight. Cross streets were slushy/sketchy, MUP was snowy but passable. Minimal windrows. Non-bike commuting story, cf. a neighbor. Last night, 10:30-ish, wife and I are listening to Jimmy Church and thinking about what project bike to put on the stand next, when we hear the familiar DzzzzZZZZZT.... DzzzzzZZZZZT of spinning car tires. Girl next door, a third-shift ER nurse, leaving for work, can't get her Prius out of the driveway. It's literally up to the floorboards in snow. It's packed in all around the bumper covers etc. So we go out, and all three start digging. Just as we're getting to where we can push her out, her husband comes out to "help". All that time, he didn't think to look out the WINDOW; he just noticed, by looking at his phone, that she wasn't at work yet. Dude is your textbook phone addict. Redolent with the smell of Bourbon, so he prob. wouldn't have been much help anyway. |
Originally Posted by robertorolfo
(Post 20792910)
I'm not trying to discourage you or anything, but you just hit a major milestone and have a legit news segment to memorialize it. If you really need to take a break, now wouldn't be the worst time.
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I show my wife you guys riding in the freeze and tell her it wouldn't bother me to ride in the rain and wind. I think if everything were stable right now she wouldn't worry, but with my procedure coming up and her stressed out over upgrading her business, it just seems fraught. Today is probably our biggest rain of the year, and I drove. Last night blew a gale, and there's likely down trees on the bike path, but maybe not - that's happened a lot the last couple years and all the stuff that died in the drought has mostly fallen down by now.
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Quiet ride home 37°F feels like 33°F
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40°F and sunny for the ride in. Traffic was fairly light. Legs felt dead so I ran a gear lower than I normally do for most of the ride. Bright spot of the morning - because the registers were down at Taco Bell, I ended up with a free breakfast.
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Hmmm, Taco Bell breakfast? Maybe, mayyyybee, if it were free.
Bit of a tailwind in places for yesterday's ride home. Then a cross wind. But managed to break 17mph for the ride which is rare. A bit cold at 26F this morning, but warming to the low 60s this afternoon. Nice! On Monday's ride home I heard a loud boom and even felt it. No clue where it came from but the local news reported on many people hearing it also. I thinks it's still a mystery, but may have been some blasting for construction. |
I don't really mind the cold, but don't mess with the snow/ice. Plus, I haven't had to since we've had fairly mild winter the last several years. This winter is different for sure. The first 7" snow of the season we had in November was more than Kansas City received each winter for the last 3 or 4 years. I've never had studded tires, because I've really never needed them since I started commuting. My commuting is so minimal this winter that I may break down and get a set.
That said, it was VERY warm here yesterday, with temps in the low to mid 50's. Even this morning was warm at 40, which I can't remember the last time it was that warm for a morning commute. It was also the first commute in a long time that all the ice was melted from the roads! Unfortunately, it won't last long as the next cold front comes through around noon today dropping the temp about 5-degrees per hour all afternoon until we're well down into the teens. :-( With the 20mph headwinds and gusts close to 40mph expected... I may leave work a tad early today. 3-5 inches of snow expected tonight. |
Tuesday's snow melted off the streets yesterday, and on the canal towpath yesterday evening it felt mostly like slush, barely slowed me down. But temps dropped into the 20's overnight and at 5 AM the remaining snow had a tough frozen crust, no way I could ride on that without studs, so I took the road to avoid the canal. Slightly longer, so I had to hustle; and slightly unfamiliar, so I don't know where it's likely to be wet. And it was fine, mostly a dry asphalt stained light gray by the salt. Uh, mostly. At one point I realized I was riding across a 40 foot black patch of snowmelt that had been running across the road during the night and was now either mostly frozen or entirely frozen. I didn't want to find out. I was going 15 or 16 mph and there was no time to react. I uttered an epithet and kept going. Nothing went wrong. Whew.
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Originally Posted by robertorolfo
(Post 20792910)
I'm not trying to discourage you or anything, but you just hit a major milestone and have a legit news segment to memorialize it. If you really need to take a break, now wouldn't be the worst time.
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Originally Posted by wphamilton
(Post 20794358)
I say the same thing sometimes, mainly because when I know that it's a choice and not feeling like "have to" it's a lot easier mentally. But sometimes it's alsoe kind of a kick to count "consecutives" in terms of years rather than days.
-2F. More brutal headwinds today once again made it feel like Sir Brad was giving me a tour of the Pit of Misery. |
Light overcast this morning, with clouds coming in. My first leg is SSW, and there was a stiff wind blowing out of the south (bring moisture so it can rain...). Uh-oh, I thought, headwinds along the 4- and 1-mile south legs. But somehow, it eased up so there was no more than a breeze. I don't know where it went, but I was glad the wind died down!
Right lane of four was blocked for some kind of road destruction, but a nice driver in a white van let me into the left lane to get by. (I know, shocked me too!) The half dozen or so vehicles behind him all made it to the still-red light, so I only slowed traffic, didn't delay anybody. Next light, though, the guy "driving" the car in front of me was playing with his cell phone, so the light turned yellow as I entered the intersection. I felt bad for the school bus that was caught at that light, but hey, the jerk holding up traffic was driving a Civic instead of a bike! |
Tried to ride today, was not doable; 4" of slush all the way
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I'm in the car today.
Yesterday riding home there was driving rain and sustained headwinds of 25 kts, gusting into the 40s. It was some kind of miserable. I basically had to grab my granny cog and hope for the best. I don't think any ride thus far has ever been more exhausting. This morning everything hurts and the forecast this afternoon is for more of the same, so car it is. Twinges of guilt for not trying to power through, but I know I'm not up for it, and I have a busy and active weekend ahead so I need to not be couch-bound. If it wasn't gonna be very high winds again, I'd probably just go for it and make it a recovery ride, but there's no recovering with 25+ kts in your face. |
Originally Posted by Tundra_Man
(Post 20794405)
In some ways I do "have to." I gave my vehicle to my son this last summer, so I don't have a lot of choice but to ride as my wife needs her car to get to work and my son takes mine to school. My wife would probably give me a ride, but I know it would really be inconvenient for her schedule. I'm not even going to ask my son.
-2F. More brutal headwinds today once again made it feel like Sir Brad was giving me a tour of the Pit of Misery. |
Came in an hour late today. Traffic was about the same I guess. Except I took the route that goes by a middle school and high school. One or both of them must start at 9 because at 8:40am that road was much higher traffic than I normally see there at 7:40am.
Just after that I come to a stop light where I wait kind of between the straight lane and right turn lane so I can go straight and actually get to a sidewalk / MUP connection on the other side. Whilte waiting for the light, I see a cyclist - looked to be on a rec ride vs commuting - who had come from the same direction as me, but was on the sidewalk across the road. I've seen kids use that because there is a crosswalk there. I'm not sure if he even checked for traffic or not, but he proceeds to turn right, not seeing the two cars that have a green to turn left onto the lane between the sidewalk and where I am. He ends up going around the left side of both of those cars into the oncoming traffic lane which luckily didn't have any cars coming. But he had to swerve twice to avoid those cars and was lucky one of them didn't hit him. I hollered, "Bad decision, dude!" after he got through. No response or acknowledgement. Friday! |
It wasn't bad this morning. Some patches of ice-crusted snow on the towpath, but hardly any bike tracks (just mine, from Wednesday and Thursday!) so I was able to chose a clean path. All that should be melted by this afternoon.
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Originally Posted by OhLylo
(Post 20795707)
You're tougher than I am, dude.
Today was -7F with a -23F wind chill. The headwind was less forceful than yesterday so even though it was colder it was a lot easier riding. |
Fairly nice morning, moderate overcast, not too much wind, and middle 50s. Borderline chilly with bare legs and no sun -- so much for that recovery ride. Had to warm up! I tossed some knee warmers and jacket into the pannier in case the temperature drops and the rain gets here early this afternoon.
Met another casual commuter at the bike rack this morning. I've seen his nice titanium bike a few times before, but didn't know to whom it belonged. I'll have to work on him to see if we can get another regular bike commuter riding in here. |
First ride on the trike. Made some adjustments, tightened some things down. I tilted the seat all the way up... this is going to start as a fancy wheelchair, after all. The boom length was too short even though I'd lengthened it last night, made me glad I made the new chain longer than the old one. Still too short after another adjustment but I'm holding off because it's obvious that I'd hate these giant toe straps even without the impending chest surgery and I need to get my SPD's installed and the boom adjusted to match them before I go under. Once under way, speed was about par with the MTB. Three 406 x 35, 50 psi tires on the wooden bridge made me already miss my 27.5+. The Topeak MTX track rattles harmlessly. When I got to work I wasn't sure what to do with the thing. It does not wheel through a doorway and it's got too big a footprint to hide in my cubicle. I had originally intended to park it in the motorcycle area for a lark but I'd forgotten the cover and it's a partly rainy day. So much for my lovely new chain! It does not fit in the new bike boxes. At least not upright... hmm, maybe I'll try it on its side. Edit: yeah it fits, not gracefully. Would want something like motorcycle frame sliders if doing it regularly. This is going to be fun for my recovery but I'm already seeing why this trike is made the way it is, and others are different, and wondering if I'd like the different better. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7f876e7b1.jpeg Yuck, that is badly compressed. Oh well... |
So for the ride home on the 14th it was about 50°F-ish. Morning on the 15th was 37°F wind 10 mph, ride home saw 31°F and light snow, nothing stuck around though. Today was just a run to the grocery store but I managed to fit 6 days worth of dinners into the panniers with only the bread and paper towels hanging off the handle bars.
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President's Day, but I'm working. Light traffic on the streets and quiet at the office. Works for me!
Overnight rains left the streets wet, but I was seeing some blue sky poke through on my way in. |
Morning Commute 2/18/19 33°F, 11mph wind, flurries - 5.5 miles in 30ish minutes (I forgot to pause Strava when I stopped at the store for breakfast and smokes.) Light traffic but heavy overcast.
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Mid tens this morning with wind chill around zero and wind out of the NW. A bit chilly on the face starting out but my feet are another story. Going to try plastic bags next and if that doesn't work either electric or hand warmers!
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Took the car today. I'm annoyed at myself for slacking, but I have plans after work that 50 minutes commuting won't accommodate. Back on the bike tomorrow, though, and the crazy wind and rain are forecasted to be gone this week. Morning temps are forecasted to be 25-35 and clear all week. Should make for nice rides. Looking forward to testing out my Cycliq rear cam, as well. I'll have to share a clip after my first commute.
I did spend a lot of time working on my bike over the weekend, though. I was able to install fenders, after much tribulation. I had to take the rear rack partly off and bend it up, because it was sitting on the fender and pushing it into the rear tire. I think I've got it all set, but I only did a brief test ride so tomorrow will be the true indicator. I'd better throw my allen wrenches in my bag to adjust on the road if needed. I gotta spend some time tinkering with my brakes, though. I feel like every time I disconnect them to work on the bike they end up dragging or needing adjustment, and the lever pulls are really long. Maybe later this week I'll have some time to sit down and do some fine tuning on that. Grumble grumble shoulda sprung for the disc brakes... |
Drizzle. I wore my Ikea poncho, which worked fine. But then I waited 45 minutes for the train, should have looked at the Presidents Day schedule before I left the house.
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