First Commutes of the New Year

It's been a while since I've ridden my bike to work, so this week I thought I'd begin commuting again. The lack of snow and dry, ice-free roads lured me out on Tuesday, and again today (Thursday). My commute is 20 miles each way, and I've been whining to myself that it's been too cold or too dark or too windy or too... You get the idea. Many excuses not to ride. Once I got out on Tuesday, all the excuses seemed to fade away.

It snowed all day today, but we only wound up with a skiff of snow. The roads were in good shape all the way home, although they were a little slick for my work truck today. I had no trouble with my regular road bike tires - they gripped the road with no problem. I think the truck tires were wide enough that the weight was distributed over a much wider area than my bike tires. Of course, my work truck will get stuck on wet grass.

This below is in Auburn, just around the corner from my office and on the way home. It's amazing once I turn this corner on my bike, I forget about all the stuff I need to get done at work.


My worn Schwalbe Marathon still has claws for the road.

A few miles south of Auburn. These two tracks (Baltimore & Ohio Line) run a lot of freight. It's not uncommon to get stopped by a train here. For some reason, there are several trains that run between 7:00 & 7:30 am. On my way to work, I've been stuck at this crossing many times, sometimes in the rain, sometimes when I really have to pee, and sometimes when I am running late.

Here's the mile of gravel.

Here's my winter face. No whiskers this year - my beard makes me look really old (white fur). I bought a mesh reflective vest last week at Meijer. I'm glad I chose the mesh, it does a great job of keeping me cool!


I've got two bike projects coming up, now that my package from Velo Orange arrived today. You'll have to wait for another couple days to see what I've got going.

Be sure to get out there - once you get pedaling, it's not as cold as it seems.

Happy riding!