I rode to work all five days this week. It was a dark and cloudy week all week long until this afternoon. Monday and Tuesday were pretty chilly, but the south wind returned Tuesday afternoon, and it warmed up. That’s also when the rain showed up. I rode in the rain that afternoon, and both ways on Wednesday and Thursday. Fortunately, it was only a light rain for all those rides. I managed to get home before the storms hit on Wednesday.

2011 days ridden to work: 213
2011 commuting mileage: 5207.6

Work commute route.

It was a chilly week, by Texas standards. The combination of wind and rain and cold was more than I was willing to battle on Monday, and I drove to work. I rode to work the remaining four work days, and did an extra 10 miles each day.

It was 32 degrees with snow flurries and a 20 mph north wind as I rode to work Tuesday morning. I ride 12 miles pretty much straight north to work, so it was a chilly ride. It was still 32 degrees as I rode home, but at least it was a tailwind. Wednesday morning was 23 degrees, but at least the wind had quit. It was a little warmer the rest of the week, but still chilly.

This week, I passed 5,000 miles of commuting for the year.

2011 days ridden to work: 208
2011 commuting mileage: 5085.1

34.5 mile work commute plus route map.

I rode to work all five days this week. Between not riding much on the weekends and the days I took off because of bronchitis, my mileage in November wasn’t very good at all. I was on a pace to end up with less than 500 miles for the month, which would leave me more than 500 miles to ride in December to make my mileage goal for the year. That could have been challenging if the weather doesn’t cooperate. So I decided to take the long way home from work this week, adding an extra 10 miles to my ride, for a round trip total of 34.5 miles. I added the miles on quiet neighborhood roads, and on rural roads near Crowley. I did the extra miles all five days.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings were cold, just below freezing, and it was still pretty cool in the afternoons. Thursday was warmer, and this morning was in the 40’s, but it felt cooler than that with a strong north wind and heavy mist. It just got colder throughout the day, a thick fog rolled in, and it misted on and off all day. I had already decided not to do the extra miles today, but by time to ride home, the mist had quit, the roads were in good shape, so I still did the extra 10 miles.

Monday was my 200th ride to work this year.

2011 days ridden to work: 204
2011 commuting mileage: 4987.1

34.5 mile work commute plus route map.

It was a short commute week this week. I rode to work all three days. I rode home in a light rain on Monday, but the heavy stuff didn’t show up until after I was home. It was 39 degrees with fog this morning, but warmed to a sunny 68 degrees with no wind this afternoon, a beautiful afternoon for a ride home.

2011 days ridden to work: 199
2011 commuting mileage: 4864.6

Work commute route

I took off on the Corsa this morning and did my Crowley Metric Century route. That has to be the slowest 63 miles I’ve ever ridden. I was riding at an easy pace anyway because of my bronchitis, and ended up doing the entire ride against the wind. I checked the forecast this morning, but saw no mention of a cold north wind blasting in at noon. So, my timing ended up perfect. I rode south against the south wind, then turned around and rode north against the north wind.

I ended up with 63 miles even. My average speed was: so slow I ain’t going to post it here.

Crowley Metric Century route

It wasn’t a good bike commute week for me. Last week’s severe head cold turned into the week’s severe bronchitis. I rode to work Monday, but wheezed and hacked so bad that I took 3 days off the bike. I missed really nice riding weather Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesday evening, a front came in and it was chilly and windy yesterday. I rode to work today, still hacking pretty badly. Not much fun.

2011 days ridden to work: 196
2011 commuting mileage: 4791.1

Work commute route

I rode to work four days this week, Monday through Thursday, but drove today. I came down with a cold that just got worse as the week went, and felt bad enough this morning I decided that spending a hour pedaling in the 39 degree morning air wasn’t in my best interest.

This is the second year in a row that I’ve gotten a really bad cold that came on slowly, starting three days after I got my flu shot. It was the only cold I had last year. I may need to reconsider that flu shot next year.

Work commute route

I rode to work all five days this week. It was a windy week, and the 28 degree temperature on the ride to work this morning was the first freeze of the fall. I’m a bit faster on the Xstream than on the Stratus XP, but with this week’s wind, I certainly wasn’t setting any speed records. I’m getting the Xstream dialed in pretty well now, and am really enjoying commuting on it.

2011 days ridden to work: 190
2011 commuting mileage: 4643.8

The Xstream’s commuting setup.

Here was the old Xstream setup.

Work commute route

I didn’t ride to work this morning. I sat up much too late watching the Rangers keep blowing that game last night, so drove to work so I could sleep in a bit later. I did ride to work the rest of the week though, including yesterday, when they were calling for a 100 percent chance of rain in the afternoon, but it didn’t rain more than a few drops here until just after I got home.

2011 days ridden to work: 185
2011 commuting mileage: 4521.3

Work commute route