40F blinding sun

Back to 52f degrees this am but a very nice commute in the dark with stars in the sky.

I found my broken spoke, replaced it, realigned the wheel and fixed a few other odds and ends last night. That led to a well running bike this morning and made for a perfect ride in under ideal conditions.

A police officer stopped me this morning just after I left my driveway. He was parked in front of my neighbor's house to take a report on a car break-in. He asked if I heard or saw anything and I hadn't. Seems somebody smashed the driver window to get in. It's an older Blazer or Explorer but I'm guessing they were going for the stereo or something. My guess is whoever did it knows the guy or at least knew what was inside.

A nice commute though and it is almost Friday.

past two morning commutes have been different... they ground down a road that I usually take to work but not home so I have ridden my "to home" route in reverse. So now it has been my "to work" route the past couple of days. it is a bit nerve wracking going the opposite way that I am used to but it has worked. It is a bit more time out in the country vs city riding. I do hope they hurry up and finish paving the road. when it is done it will be great. (smooth and steep enough hill that I consistently hit 30+ going down it.) <- which is one reason why I have avoided don't want to do ride down the grooved road.

better blinding sun than pouring rain? maybe?

Tropical storm/depression Julia is hovering off the Southeast coast, seemingly going nowhere, but that means we've got cool winds from the northeast here. I'll take it. After the extreme heat and humidity we've had here for most of the summer, the cooler weather is a relief. Unfortunately, my wife and I are heading to the beach for the weekend, which might turn out to be cloudy and rainy. Fortunately, the forecasters are so clueless that the weather could turn out to be gorgeous (or pouring rain) for three days. Weather forecasting seems to be getting worse, rather than better, around here despite all of their fancy models and high-power computers.

I wear clear glasses going in the morning and sunglasses in the afternoon. (if it is sunny)



where did you bike tour?

Forgot to set alarm. Woke up 25 min late.

Rounded corner at Campbell & 15th to see police lights at Indian School. Indian School Rd & 15th Ave intersection almost closed. We were allowed to turn right. Go over a block then merge with east bound traffic diving thru the neighborhood. What a zoo!

Bridge construction forced a change in route which turned out pretty well. Actually 1.1 miles shorter and the residential streets weren't as crowded as I imagined since I pass the only grocery store in that part of town. This morning's ride was a cool 43 under bright stars that faded as I rode into the sunrise and foggy areas. Tweaked my attire to avoid overheating. Hoping to beat the rain this afternoon. Weather apps are showing 5pm storms which gives me 1 1/2 hours to get home. Hoping the weather terrorists are right on this one.

No, I think blinding sun is one of the worst situations to bike in, other than pea soup fog.

If you're blinded by the sun then so are the drivers coming on your six, not a good situation. I always tried to avoid heading straight into the sun when it was at low angles for that reason.

Fairly uneventful yesterday, except for the idiot woman SMIDGAF in a minivan.

I was in the left lane on a 5-lane arterial, moving into the center turn lane to turn left onto a side street. There was one car oncoming, a big gap, then a platoon of traffic coming from the light farther ahead. I was setting up to sneak left through the gap between the one car and the group of cars farther away. All would have gone without incident except...

On the right side of the arterial, aligned with the side street I was heading for, is a 3-lane drive coming out from the Sam's Club parking lot. A van suddenly appeared, and the woman driving pulled straight out without even stopping, going through that same gap I was about to take. At first it looked like she would go straight across to the side street, and I could turn left right in behind her. But then at the last second, as I'm starting to move across the oncoming lanes to make my left, she also cuts left, into the oncoming right-hand lane from where I'm facing. So I have to veer right slightly, in the oncoming lanes, with oncoming traffic getting closer. Then finally I complete the left turn just behind the van, in the now much smaller gap before the oncoming traffic.

All this time, the van's window is down, and the woman just waves at me with a big 'ol smile on her face. As I pass her window I screamed something like "WATCH OUT, A-HOLE!!", only not censored lol. Idiots sometimes, I swear.

Definitely! Only downside is in respect to drivers seeing even less than usual.

Today, 47F and blinding sun. Awesome 15 mile ride out to a work meeting. Not too many chances for that.

My wife and I recently moved, and now my commute is just under 5 miles each way, but the roads can be busy at times. Still adjusting...

[MENTION=190611]joeyduck[/MENTION] that is true most of my commute is the opposite of that. I am going the opposite direction of the sun

Rain this morning on the way to work.

Kept raining after I got here. Then it rained harder. Now there are flash flood warnings.

I guess I'm not going to head out over lunch to grab something to eat. Nothing located very close to the office. Might be a bit famished on the way home this evening.

I had an eventful ride in today!
 

Eventful!

A man on foot stopped me and asked for help. He showed me another man lying down on the grass next to the river's edge. The man was not moving. There were two small dogs with him. I verified that he was breathing. The standing man and I first had to gain the dogs' trust to get close to the lying man. He was very hard to wake. The standing man did not speak English, and I don't speak Spanish but we managed. We asked if he was OK. Eventually he opened his eyes and reached out his hand. I realized later I should have called the police to help, though I suspect he was just drunk and hung over. But we moved on, satisfied that the man was alive.

A few minutes later, I got a call from my stepmothe's cousin. My stepmother died last month. It turns out that since my father died before she did, my sister and I are beneficiaries from an account she had. I really didn't expect this, as she and my father didn't have a lot, and, as I expected, my father didn't leave me any money. I certainly didn't expect her to leave me any. It left me with questions that can't be answered as well as gratitude.

So in the last couple of miles to work, I found myself crying. I can't remember ever crying while riding a bike, so it felt weird. But it's OK.

Not bike-related, but just a few weeks after my wife and I got married, my grandfather passed. I was on my way to a construction jobsite meeting in my car when I got the call from my dad. I said OK and hung up, then called the office and told them I couldn't make the meeting. Then I called my wife, and totally broke down while talking to her. It was an odd experience... and now I'm tearing up writing this. :(

A little hail
 

About halfway home yesterday, it started to rain. Shortly thereafter, the wind started gusting something fierce. I'd guess 35 mph. Each time a big gust came up, the rain turned to tiny balls of hail, charging out of the sky nearly parallel to the ground. Those little boys stung a bit on bare skin! This went on for about 15 minutes: no gust and just rain, then a big gust and tiny hail. Of course it stopped not 2 minutes after I got home. The outside thermometer at the house read 60 degrees.

I love odd-ball weather like this, and Colorado often delivers. Fairly bright sky, 60 degrees, and hail! Seriously though, that was a fun ride! And it got me to clean my bike, which I hadn't done this past weekend as usual.

I had an experience like that earlier this year. I had a big tailwind going home, but suddenly out of nowhere a strong cold front came through. Temp dropped like a rock, wind shifted around into a huge headwind, and I got pelted with some pea-size hail. And yeah, it hurt! But after about 5 minutes it was gone.

[MENTION=301784]PatrickGSR94[/MENTION], I know, it can come on suddenly at unexpected moments. It happens for me most often in the shower.

[MENTION=152773]noglider[/MENTION] and [MENTION=301784]PatrickGSR94[/MENTION] I can relate to the welling up of emotions. It is surprising how things can trigger the memories and open the floodgates in response to someone's memory. My step-father's birthday was last week and I can hardly think about him without feeling proud to have him in my life and also incredibly sad he isn't still here to share in the joy and love of my family.

Also the people whom you trust and let your true emotions show can really affect how you let your guard down. I hope everyone has that someone they can let their guard down with, it is cathartic and healing while at the same time being incredibly exhausting and painful.

It was an uneventful ride this morning on the Specialized. Only two things caught my attention. The first was a squashed rabbit in the bike lane. I'm not sure how a car got him, but he was toast. Second was that I passed a pack of ninja riders - you know the ones: riding in the night, wearing dark jerseys on black bikes with tiny, weak lights. I was barely able to make out their figures as we passed on opposite sides of the road. My bike may be black, but I wear high-viz jerseys and run bright Cygolites. Why do some riders insist on going stealth?

The commute in this morning was very nice but colder than it has been. An almost full moon with clear starry skies so pretty! It was a chilly 43f degrees this morning. I used fleece socks and a long sleeve shirt, with a light-weight fleece pullover and an ear band but still used shorts. It will be 70f degrees when I leave work.

66F /18C Beautiful morning but gonna be a long day...I'll admit to having a bit too much of a Thursday night party at home with my wife.

In my fuzzy headed morning stupor I forgot my essential clothing pack, good thing I have a spare set in my office: socks, shorts, tshirt :0