Well, I managed to both blog and ride every day of februari, through hail, snow storm, mush, ice, fierce headwinds and unforgiving cold. I’m pleased, and it really wasn’t that hard to do. For next year I’ll try and recruit more people to start biking, if only to the store, and have some material ready to post every day.

The total for Tour de Feb came down to 241 km (150 miles) in fifteen hours and twenty minutes for an average pace of 16 kmh (10 mph)

It will be good seeing asphalt on the roads and bike lanes in a few weeks again.

Looking at prices, cooking ideas.

It might be a sign of mental unhealth ;) but I actually went by three stores in search of low prices today. I’ve started to come to the realization that we pay too much in too many aspects of our lives, so I’m trying to be more mindful at what I buy and at which prices. Today I found perfectly fine meat, which was too close to government mandated ’expiration date’ so they sold it at half price, all at the cost of ten minutes more biking.

…which means that the frozen, highly packed snow in the lanes becomes soft and mushy. :( Spring, please!

24 hours in the saddle for 2011.

Same uneventful commute as always. While the cold has been slowly grinding me down these past thirty-eight days (since january 18th), the sun is really starting to pick my steam back up again. It’s brigther every day now, and the sun feels like it’s been warming better the past week as well. Really looking forward to cycling the rest of the year now, with the hard part already behind me.

Hovering around -8°C to -12°C, but the newspapers promise warmer weather starting in a week or so. My biggest wish is that that does’t mean it will go from warm to cold every day, ice is a bitch to cycle on.

200 km for february and 350 km for the year!

Worked late, -13°C when going home… stiff legs, rosy cheeks.

Also, added Disqus, a blog feels weird without ability to comment.

Interesting how commuting around the year makes you so focused on the weather. I don’t think I’ve ever really remembered or cared about the weather much until I started cycling, and with winter commuting it got a lot worse. I now feel like a farmer in the sixteenth century where my life and well-being is dependent on how the weather is going to be. :) Which in a sense is true (for the well-being part at least), but at the same time I haven’t had too many problems cycling whether it’s been -14°C, icy, slushy, or wet. So it feels a little bit out of proportion.

The short of it is that winter cycling is more than manageable. Even pretty enjoyable most of the time.

I like having February show its true colors though: cold, but with the sun out again! Hopefully we’ll have minus degrees without too much snowfall until a swift spring sets in, but days like these are still wonderful to be out riding on (if you’re dressed appropriately :P). It’s cold, but not too cold, there’s good traction in the ground, no wind to speak of, and the sun shining on your face. — I love my morning commutes right now.

Less than five minutes travel and a 22l backpack means shopping has gone from being excruciating and boring chore to an extremely quick and easy-to-do activity. :S