Uneventful commutes. It's getting gloomy, but since we're right on Lake Michigan, it's not as cold as inland. Temps are hovering in the 60s during the day and 40s-50s at night. I'm having a hard time motivating myself to ride a bicycle in. Been riding the eBike instead. It's cool enough that I don't need to to not arrive sweaty, but I don't have any of my muggle bikes set up properly with luggage, so in the morning rush, I just take the Aventon Level.2, with its nice, convenient Topeak trunk bag.

Today though, I had a good excuse. My legs are a bit sore from yesterday's mixed surface ride of 25 miles on my gravel bike. Tonight, I lead the club's Moderate ride, which is supposed to be 15-17 mph average, but which they like to push to about 18 when they can. I'm still thinking about whether I'll take my road bike and make it my Zone 5 ride for the week (and be sore for the next three days) or take the Level.2 and make it a Zone 2-3 ride.

This morning, it was partly sunny, then was supposed to be cloudy the rest of the day, with < 5% chance of rain. By the time I left for work, it was 40-60% chance of rain for the next three hours, but not raining at the moment. Should be done by the time I knock off for the day, so I went for it. Bike got a shower already. The Boeshield T-9 on the chain is working great. It's dry to the touch and not making noise. Almost as quiet as when it's oiled. I haven't found time to change the derailleur hanger and see if that fixes the minor shifting issue I'm having with the bike.

These little bike maintenance issues remind me of just how low maintenance modern cars are. We can drive them for thousands of miles at a time without anything but putting gas in them. Belt drive and an IGH on a bike goes a long way to making a bike like that, but we're not quite there yet, despite bikes being a more mature technology than cars.

Sharing a fun Saturday with my daughter (13): In the morning, I had her pick out a recipe. Then, I dragged her grocery shopping with me on eBikes. Then, I left her alone for awhile, while I did some work on the bike fleet. She's starting to become self-aware that she's spending too much time on her phone, scrolling through YouTube Shorts. Saturday, she was bored and she came to hang out with me in the garage. I had her help me change the stem on my gravel bike to a taller one and taught her about torque wrenches. I had the stem off and the bar hanging by its cables, and the bike fell off its kickstand. Spacers everywhere. She helped me find the tapered one that goes right on top of the tube. I braced myself on her shoulder as I sat in the saddle to get the angles of the bar right. Then, she helped me with some preparatory work on my eFatty, which is destined to be my winter commuter. We cleaned the chain and put some Boeshield on it as well. Next time she's over, I think we'll do some work on her eBike, just so she feels attached to it a bit. We've customized it a bit over the past couple years to her liking and I daresay she's grown attached to it: Orange tires, cushy seat, suspension seatpost, fenders & rack (which she installed) and some luggage. A month or so ago, I asked her if she still liked that bike or if I should sell it and get a bit nicer one. She said she likes it, she's used to it and wants to keep it. I hope the battery holds up until she's ready for college in 5 years. (wants to be a neurologist at the moment)

I'm determined to have her pretty self-sufficient by the time she fledges. Only a couple more years until she's driving. Her mom said she's going to buy her a modest car when she turns 16 (not a great idea, I think, but I don't have a say in that) I can at least teach her basic things like changing a spare, checking/inflating tires, checking engine oil, etc. She's looking forward to learning to drive manual when she turns 14 on my old Miata. (it's a family tradition to start learning stick at 14 on Sunday mornings in empty parking lots, then we're ready for the permit at 15.)