Fairly cold this morning. Half commute yesterday and today. Safely arrived at the dealer to pick my minivan that I dropped off yesterday. I had to take a road with a steep hill and it was brutal. I am thankful that my normal commute route doesn't have these steep hills.

Wow, and I thought my hitting a runaway skateboard years ago was one in a million. Getting hit by a deer must be that or one in a billion but technically possible. Earlier this summer I saw a doe with two fawns in my backyard! More surprising for Bloomfield, NJ. They must have used the tree lines on either side of the train tracks to move. But my town is so urban, they had to have crossed a few roads to get there.

This morning was colder but still nice at 41F. I wore two layers on the chest and one on the legs (bib, bib tight, baselayer, long sleeve thermal jersey, winter cap, gloves, shoes, shoe covers, helmet). Saw a small group of three rider spinning up Harlem Meer hill in CP this morning. They all had two water bottles so I guess they were going for longer distance.

35F this morning and feeling the annual cold riding slowdown, though it was more feeling than reality. A friend reminded me that in a month we'll be thrilled with mid 30's temps

Yesterday was 32, today was a balmy 45. Considered just riding in shorts with a jacket but decided against it. Battling a headcold but my nose doesn't run when riding for some reason. Watched a guy roll through three stop signs in his SUV, caught him at a redlight and was going to tell him not to get pissed at bikers if he sees one roll through a stop sign but the light turned green just as I got next to him. Typical Thursday for traffic, very light. No idea why it's any different, just an amusing observation.

Had a guy nearly run me down about a 1/2 mile from home this morning. I was heading towards and uncontrolled "T" intersection. I was going on the straight part of the intersection. A guy in an SUV was approaching from my right and didn't look like he was slowing down. I began braking and figured he'd see me.

Nope. He continued towards the intersection without slowing. I braked harder, still thinking that because he can't go straight he'll have to slow down before making a turn.

Nope. By this time I could clearly see the guy behind the wheel. At the last second he looks up from his phone and slams on his brakes, suddenly seeing both me and the intersection in front of him. By now I had come to a complete stop and he had to swerve to avoid running me over. I gave him my best, "WTF?" look and he sped off.

Thankfully there was no impact and no confrontation. In the end, the worst part about the situation was I had to scrub the speed I'd gained coming down the hill and start going up the next hill without my usual momentum.

Wore tights for the first time this fall today. I could have gotten by with knee-warmers but felt like wearing the tights with the temperatures finally cooling off a bit here. Temperatures are only expected to be in the 50s during my afternoon commute as well. Tomorrow is a holiday (Veteran's Day), so today is my last commute of the week. We are supposed to have beautiful weather over the weekend, although much cooler, and I hope to get in several rides.

I, too, have a stupid cold, although mercifully I feel much better as I ride. I can't wait til modern science figures these things out!

When I got to work, the shower I use wouldn't turn on, so I had to shower at a different location, which resulted in some cussing on my part. At least I wasn't interrupted by a maintenance guy banging on the door, yelling that there was a leak somewhere and to let him know when I was decent so he could come in and fix it.

The ride itself was magnificent--it's such a treat to ride with some light in the sky! I kept worrying I was late, though. It's been a struggle with me overdressing, then being hot and sweaty during the ride, which no one wants. I just don't want to be cold those first 10 minutes of the ride! Also, I am sufficiently inexperienced that I feel I need to stop to readjust clothing (I don't want to wreck trying to unzip or loosen a layer, for example).

It was about 36F, and I wore: chamois shorts, legwarmers, lycra tights over that, wicking sleeveless top, merino wool half-zip jersey, high viz synthetic long-sleeved shirt, earwarmer, skullcap, helmet. Wool socks and hiking boots. fingerless cycling gloves (and my hands were fine, mercifully).

I probably should have not worn the lycra tights over top, I think I should save those for when temps reach 32F or lower. I'm glad I didn't wear my Buff as a neck gaiter, that would have been too warm.

Tuesday afternoon was dry, as opposed to that rainy morning. I left work about 4, got to my polling place just after 5 PM. Took about 10 minutes total. Saw a big crowd coming in right after me. *phew* :)

Upper 30's to around 40 this morning, by far the coldest since last winter, so I had many firsts of the season this morning: first time wearing my less vented MTB shoes, wool socks, long bib tights, long sleeve jersey, full finger gloves and ear warmer band over my skull cap. This afternoon will be in the low 60's so I'll just wear the bib tights and long sleeve jersey. I brought my half finger gloves with me in my bag for this afternoon.

I'm getting over bronchitis. I was unable to work Tuesday-Friday last week. I'm back at work but still coughing up phlegm and blowing my nose copiously. I'm not riding yet, but I will soon.

Today is colder than before, but it's sunny and clear, and it's pleasant to me. If someone rode in this weather well dressed, it would be quite nice. It's interesting that this secret is only beginning to catch on. The volume on the Hudson River Greenway goes down a lot in these months, and we remaining people get to enjoy it.

Smoke from the North Georgia fires have drifted into the area, smokey haze over everything. It's enough to make my eyes sting, walking between buildings here. It's going to be a ride home today, and tomorrow probably.

I wimped out today. Woke up and checked the weather app: 39F. Nope, I said, not doing it today. Haven't got cold weather gear yet. Really need to get to shopping. So I drove, went to Starbucks, then went to the office.

Nice ride home, about mid 50's so I was comfortable in bib tights and long sleeve jersey. No motorist problems at all. Had a little light left at 1635 when I left the office. Pretty dark when I got home at 1750.

Lucky you, PatrickGSR94. Unfortunately, on my way home, I had motorist problem again. Actually, while I was riding on a completely free, four-lanes city road, I stumbled upon an idiot driving -guess what- a gigantic, iperinflated SUV, The idiotic donkey, unable to pass me despite his bloody expensive, yet worthless (in his hands) wheeled tank, honked at me liberally for at least 15 solid seconds, despite the fact that there were three lanes completely free on that road, and my Thunder Child was the only other vehicle at that time.
I didn't honored him with a single glance. And I didn't bother myself to take the lane this time. I simply let the idiot go away and disappear like melting snow, while continuing to listen to classical music on my bluetooth speaker. Too much money and time on this donkey's hands.

Atvar stats
____________________
Near Misses: 0

Idiots met: 1

SCR score for today's commute:
- AM: 16+0-0 = 16
- PM: 16+0-0 = 16

SCR total score for 2016:
8

It might have been a cold 36 degrees on my morning commute, but I did not over dress for it. I wore a t-shirt under my long sleeve uniform shirt, blue jeans, warm socks, my insulated work jacket, and my reflective vest. My hands did get cold so I need better gloves.

On my way home last night, going through a neighborhood, I suddenly see a gun pointing at me. I raise my hands up and ride no-handed. I continue to ride as I stare the gunman down. It was an intense 3 seconds, but then the 9 year old lowered his orange and white Nerf gun and waved as I rode by. I live to ride again.

Cool morning at 36F. I went without the tights this time. It feels like it warms up pretty quickly, so I just let my knees be chilly for the ride in.

I do need to find some new mittens though. I have a pair that are 10+ years old and worn out, but I haven't found a good replacement. The ones I have are North Face Gore WindStopper. They're kind of a stiff fleece, but are so worn, the wind isn't stopped like it should be. I don't think these same ones are made anymore, but maybe I should do some more Googling to be sure.

Happy Friday!

Holy crap (literally)!

Me too - 5+ year old Burton snowmobile mitts and same issue, they're just not blocking wind anymore. I'd love to get another pair but, of course, they don't make them any more.

Almost 10 degrees warmer this morning at 44F. Doesn't look like that will last - tomorrow morning supposed to be in the mid 30's

Holy unholy head-wind, Batman!

i was riding straight into a 30mph N wind (gusting to 40mph) this morning.

even though my commute is only 5 miles, that's still a bit of a workout.

hopefully i get a wicked tailwind for the flight home!

I rode salmon much of the way, looking for an ID I lost last night. Probably when dragging a kerchief out of my pocket to deal with the smoke. It's still thick, hard to breath.

Also last night I was ninja for a few miles after my battery died - it was charged but just died. It was too dark for my mirror then ... but at least I had a helmet so I'm not breaking all of the safety rules.

Hope you recover quickly, Tom. One of the nice things about riding is being able to do a "farmer's blow" from your nose. Just make sure that noone is directly near you. :) Low commuter volume is another nice thing. Today (Friday) felt like it was a holiday traffic-wise. Nice clear roads all the way...

Speaking of which, it was a nice commute today at 49F. I pushed it and dressed for 50's F and was fine. Later on will feel like beach weather. OOOH YEEAH! :D I noticed that a spoke on the drive side on the rear wheel went loose. So loose spokes (mostly NDS) are still my pain in the gleuteus maximus so far. Have been wanting to put some blue locktite on the spoke threads for a while. Just need to get the motivation to do that...

It's a holiday today, but yet, here I am. Should be a short day...I need to wrap up a few things I didn't finish yesterday that need to be done before Sunday.

Nice and quiet on the roads today. Continuing along the lines of [MENTION=227213]wphamilton[/MENTION]'s scofflaw ways, I ran three red lights and at least one stop sign. I also keep forgetting to mount a bell on the bike I've been riding the past several commutes, so I've not been completely faithful in announcing my passes to pedestrians on the MUPs.

Good on you for fighting the wind. Its what separates the men from the boys (or the women from the girls). :D I have been lucky with the wind except for a few rides across the GWB. I got a really good dose of wind going north on the Hudson Greenway from Battery Park to the GWB one day back in March. Holy cow. If I didn't shift down and spin, I would have been toasted and fried...

I saw this creature today! Country folk, what is it? Turkey? Chicken? Alien? It was a little bigger than it looks in the picture. North side of Chicago, about 500' east of the I-94 viaduct on Forest Glen Ave.
http://i1043.photobucket.com/albums/...&1478884108402

Buzzard looking for something dead to eat. Did you stop near road-kill?

Really? A buzzard? I was leaning towards chicken.

No...it was just sort of hanging out. I didn't notice any roadkill. If there was...it was under leaves in the gutter.

From that angle the face looks a bit buzzard-esque, but I can't tell for sure.

The body looks a lot plumper than most of the turkey buzzards I've seen. So either it's eating really well, or you're probably correct with a breed of chicken.

Hah! Yeah I had the same wind for 12 miles :cry:

The Turkey Vultures I've seen have white feet, but that's from them pooping on them, helps keep them cool.

Was the bird's head totally naked and red? That would point me towards a vulture, too. But I ain't no ornithologist.

The commute in this morning was a bit chilly with the temp at 29f degrees but the clear skies with the supermoon made it very pretty. I dropped my car at the mechanics so they can do an oil change and it failed inspection so I need to have a sensor replaced. I will pick it up after work on my way home. The garage is less than a mile from where I live.I happened to run over an already dead squirrel. That felt weird.

38F and I decided to stick with the shorts only. Kinda cold on the knees, but not so bad. Nice sunny morning ride. I could see some haze off in the distance though that must be coming from some of the mountain wildfires.

I cannot believe I am still commuting this late in the season. Cold morning rides, but not bad. The ride home makes up for it.