First commute of the year

[jrenaut]

It’s a cold one out there today, huh? Happy to see a good number of bike commuters anyway. Glad to see all of you/them out there, even the annoying woman on CaBi who jumped the red light to pass me so I had to wait a block or two before it was safe to go around her.

It won’t last the whole year, but it’s nice to be at 100% bike commuting for now.

Topic

[Dirt]

It was really nice this morning… definitely a chilly one. I noticed that traffic was much less than I normally see…. both cars and bikes. I was pretty early this morning though.

Hopefully this is the beginning of something that might resemble winter.

[eminva]

I thought traffic was light, too, until I got to our bike cage here at work. There were a lot of New Year’s Resolutions parked in there . . .

Liz

[Dirt]

@eminva 12514 wrote:

I thought traffic was light, too, until I got to our bike cage here at work. There were a lot of New Year’s Resolutions parked in there . . .

Liz

Awesome! Cool to see that a chilly morning didn’t keep them away.

[5555624]

Traffic was about the same. (At that hour, it’s always “light.”)

No New Year’s Resolutions here, though.

[Greenbelt]

I bundled up for arctic gales this morning, but it turned out more like just a fairly normal chilly/breezy January day. I shouldn’t have paid attention to my own forecast — was overdressed.

[jrenaut]

@Greenbelt 12521 wrote:

I bundled up for arctic gales this morning, but it turned out more like just a fairly normal chilly/breezy January day. I shouldn’t have paid attention to my own forecast — was overdressed.

You’ll be happy for the clothes on your way home. The wind has picked up considerably – I was nearly blown over by the first gust that hit me after leaving the garage. Pennsylvania Avenue is like a wind tunnel through a foot of mud. I don’t think I’ve been this tired from a ride home since my first week of bike commuting.

Be careful out there.

[KLizotte]

Lots of bikes in front of my workplace so the wind/cold didn’t deter most. I must admit that I chickened out though; hitting that snooze button just seemed like a nice alternative this morning when I heard the wind howling against the windows….

[PrintError]

25 and falling with 20+ mph headwinds? Sure. Bring it.

[OneEighth]

The wind was aggressive. So were the drivers—more than usual.
I prefer the wind.

[SilverSpring]

I thought yesterday afternoon was pretty bad, but this morning (despite, I should note, ample Christmas eggnog-focused efforts to create my own personal base layer), I just about froze my keester. Time to start tripling my gloves and doubling my socks….

[jrenaut]

Yeah, the weather forecast for today made it sound like yesterday, but without the wind. My still-frozen toes beg to differ.

[Rootchopper]

I missed all the fun yesterday due to family obligations but I was out there today in my Charlie Brown cycling kit. Normally I am passed by a dozen cyclists on my way to work. Not today. Only 3, and all after I crossed Four Mile Run on the Mount Vernon Trail. When I got to the Rosslyn connector, however, the same group of bike commuters that I always see was coming down the hill. A tough bunch, for sure. As it turned out I was late getting to the office because it took so long to get all the clothes off. I am looking forward to tonight’s balmy ride home.

[pfunkallstar]

I passed about three bike commuters this morning on the Custis/W&OD – the same three that are out there in the middle of blizzards, hurricanes, and other seemingly unbikeable circumstances. I think an interesting question is exactly when one should stop biking? I have gone down to about -5 degrees Fahrenheit and been okay. I had to curtail things a bit after Snowmaggedon as well. Otherwise, rain and snow don’t really bother me that much. That said, I was not keeping up my normal pace this morning and despite the neoprene booties and wool socks my toes were bright red by the time I got into work.

[dasgeh]

Today was my first of the year as well (I had excuses yesterday, but they were just excuses). Wow, it was cold. But I’m a total Sporthill convert — one pair of tights of Sporthill pants kept my legs toasty. Three layers on top were great. I’m still over the moon about my Shimano MW80s (the WARM shoes I got as an early Xmas present) – I was fine with those and a normal pair of winter wool socks. Add to that a balaclava and scarf and my only complaint was that the tips of my fingers went numb despite 3 layers of gloves — but I wonder whether I just cut of blood supply with overkill…

[americancyclo]

@dasgeh 12581 wrote:

my only complaint was that the tips of my fingers went numb despite 3 layers of gloves — but I wonder whether I just cut of blood supply with overkill…

Moosemitts.

[Author]

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