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Will be there.

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This morning’s ride was cold, but not too bad. If anything I was overdressed. I might shed a layer on the way home – my soft shell jacket from Performance is very warm. I also used the toe warmers and some hand warmers between my glove liners and gloves which worked well enough. I left my water bottle in the shed on the bike last night and it was frozen solid this morning. I saw very few people riding on the MVT this morning — around 5 if my memory serves me well. I really enjoyed the solitude on the trail this morning. I am going to be about 7 miles shy of 500 miles for the month if I just go home tonight, so I might do my first Hains Point laps of the year (and incidentally, my last) to get up to that nice round number. Looking at my ride data, December is my second highest mileage month after July … I can’t wait to do even better in January, February, and March with FS

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I had a glorious commute last night. For some reason I had high octane in my metaphorical tank and cut about 10 minutes off my normal commute time with 2 PRs, a 2nd place, and 2 3rd places for segments on my route in Strava with the 4th best time for that direction I’ve ever logged. The 12 mph tailwind certainly helped, but I really enjoyed pushing it. Also, I wasn’t passed by anyone for the entire time on the MVT. It felt really good to be out there and going on all 8 cylinders.

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Nice ride in this morning aside from the headwind. Tested out some toe warmers for the first time and they really do help (Little Hotties from Costco). My feet weren’t sweating, but they weren’t nearly as cool as they would have been at this temperature either. Oddly enough, my feet were cold after I showered and got dressed at the office, but I just took the warmers and put them in my work shoes. Problem solved. As much as I hate generating more waste, I think I’ll add them to my boots for sub-freezing rides from now on.

This weekend I took advantage of the warm weather to give my bike its first full cleaning in a while. Soap, water, a scrubbing of the chain and rims, a good rinse, and a thorough re-lubrication. By the end of it all the water in my soap bucket was black as midnight. The last two days it has felt like a brand new bike. Shifting is crisp and silent (I run friction, but the skippy chain on shifts is gone and it is easy to forget that there is a chain going around down there), braking no longer sounds like I’m sanding my wheels, and everything just feels great. I really need to do that more often.

Can’t wait for my commute home …

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Any chance you’d add Flickr to your list? It supports tagging as well as non-square and high quality images.

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Decided to invoke Rule 5 and Rule 9 this morning to test out a new jacket I picked up for a huge discount at Performance (was essentially half off, and it no longer seems to be in stock). It kept me dry and almost too warm this morning, but made the ride an absolute pleasure.

I also had swapped my Brooks B-17 out for a Brooks Cambium C-17 that I got sale at Bicycle Space this week so I don’t have to worry about rain covers over the winter (I may swap them back and forth as desired). That Bicycle Space sale is still on since they’re moving, all accessories, including Brooks saddles 30% off. The Cambium, usually $160-$175 was $118.44 with tax, too good for me to pass up. I had tried the Cambium with a tester unit they loaned me to get home when my B-17 snapped a rail after many years of service this Fall and I had the B-17 sent off to have a new one riveted on. I was really impressed with how comfortable it was from the get-go. My new saddle is no exception and it had no issues in the rain either.

My gloves did a decent job, although water did finally get through the seams after about 40 minutes into the ride. There were some heavy sections of rain, so it is possible the water came in from the cuff and not the sleeves. Things were still pretty comfortable and the wet was mostly concentrated in the fingertips.

From the start of my commute until Gravelly Point I didn’t see another rider (a fair number of joggers and walkers though), then I saw a guy heading Southbound at the Point. Once I got into DC I saw two women riders and that was it. At a light I wished one happy holidays and we were both remarking how fun it was to ride this morning and how beautiful the fog was. When I crossed over the 14th Street Bridge, the coast was shrouded in fog so that the monuments seemed to rise from a cloud, it was a striking sight.

In the past I generally didn’t ride if it was raining heavily in the mornings, but I may have to change that rule. This morning was a lot of fun. The reasoning before was not being able to get stuff dry at the office, but the jacket may change the game.

Anyone else have fun in the rain this morning?

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Am I crazy for loving last night’s wet ride? Even with the conditions, everything just felt great. Somehow I managed two personal records last night on Strava. I may have a problem

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I’m Ed, I’m relatively new to the forum but I’ve been commuting year-round for many years. My commute is about 28 miles a day (roundtrip) on my current route from the Mount Vernon area to DC. Tomorrow, I’m on-track to hit 3,000 miles for the year, and I’m looking forward to surpassing that in 2015. I also enjoy bike touring and have done the full C&O twice (once with the GAP added in from McKeesport), the Pine Creek Rail Trail, and a few overnights on the C&O for good measure.

I’ve always enjoyed riding in weather that people think I’m crazy to ride in. I’ve ridden in rain, snow, a tropical storm, ice, sleet, and in temperatures from 7°F to around 115°F. I’m looking forward to having some extra motivation to get out into the elements and test my mettle out there. One thing that has helped me in the resolve department is to pack the night before. That way it is actually more work to not bike than to hop on the saddle and go.

I’m looking forward to meeting everyone and having a good time virtually braving the elements together. This is going to be fun.

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I should be there. Looking forward to meeting everyone.

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Anecdotally speaking, I saw a lot more CaBi bikes that I would expect for a morning in the temperature range it was today. It must have been Metro avoidance. It was a nice ride in this morning. With the humidity as high as it was I could see my breath and my beard ended up quite wet by the time I got into work. When I got into DC the traffic seemed exceptionally bad for a morning — must have been all the diversions from the water main break area. Thankfully, being on a bike means traffic is something you notice, but not something you’re stuck in.

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I can highly recommend the AirZound from Delta. It puts out a 115 db blast that commands attention. It also is refilled by your pump and will last for several blasts on an inflation. It is louder than most car horns and never fails to get noticed. Pretty inexpensive, too.

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I run my supernova dynamo lights all the time, and like cyclingfool, I can’t tell the difference with regard to drag. It is nice to be seen. I know when I see people with lights on in the daytime I notice them much more quickly.

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The other side of that coin is that if someone has a flat with no patch kit or tube and no pump, they’re pretty out of luck. While I always ride with all three, from what I’ve seen on the trails, most people are ill prepared for such an issue. If they weren’t, how else would bike stores get so much business fixing flats …

The biggest problem I have is that I frequently don’t have the time to help. In the evening I have to pick up my daughter from day care, and if I’m late, I pay $2 a minute for the extra time. That said, if I have the time, I’ll ask if someone needs help, but it does seem like I’m usually waved off even though I’ve got a trunk rack full of tools and equipment to fix almost anything that might come up. My guess is that most people lack the tools and/or knowledge to be of assistance most of the time, so they keep quiet.

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@cyclingfool 101691 wrote:

This is from yesterday and is a fairly regular found connection along the MVT, but…
YOU: Older gentleman walking along the trail southbound with a plastic bag full of litter cleaned up from the trail/roadside near the airport.
Thank you for taking on the task of helping to keep the trail clean. Your efforts are appreciated!

I have seen that guy more often than not for several years now. He’s out in all seasons and seems to walk from the airport to Alexandria (if not more). If he wasn’t out doing his thing the MVT would be a much less pleasant place. I always make it a point to give him a nod or a hello when I see him.

It is amazing how many people you see on a regular basis on the trail. A lot of the regulars fall-off this time of year, but there are definitely some distinctive folks out there. There is the silver haired woman who jogs from Alexandria to the airport in the mornings who looks like she could be a weightlifter while always having her head up high with a dignity rarely seen while jogging, or the guy on the e-bike with the Burley Travoy who makes me feel slow on the hills until I hear the whine of his motor, as well as a lot of bike commuters whose faces have become familiar, even if their names have not. Sometimes I wish I could actually meet some of these people I pass by every day. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that if I were to stop, it might cause more fear than friendship. So for now it is smiles and good mornings.

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The wind definitely slowed me down (added about 15 minutes to my normal time), but I didn’t realize how much it was impacting the ride until I got to a section of my commute where I reverse direction for a short distance. I was flying with no effort. I really hope that the winds don’t shift today, would be glorious to have that kind of a tail wind going home. If the National Weather Service is right, it just might happen …

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