This evening, the city put out a high winds advisory. I checked the map, and they promised to be crosswinds, and I expected them to feel like headwinds. Well they did feel like headwinds, and they howled in my ears like headwinds, but they didn't make pedaling harder. How does that work?

We had approximately -3 degree C in Tromsø today. Anticipating this I put on the newly purchased Suomi Hakkapeliitta W240 spikes tires. Will use this week to break them in.

The air was cold and clear, with a reddish and blue sky over the fjord.

The wife rescued me from the storm that hit right at 5pm yesterday. I was able to load the bike and get in the car (minivan) before it really started pouring. Driving was slow and visibility was bad enough even with the wipers on high. I would have to have waited an hour or more before attempting to bike had she not come.

Clear and a bit cooler this morning, but comfortable with just a long sleeve shirt and lightweight gloves.

Still feeling pretty rugged this morning but a client had an emergency so I didn't have the option of staying home. I have to ride across town in a couple hours for another meeting. Hopefully I'll feel a bit better by then.

36F with 30+ mph headwinds. A bit chilly. I purposefully rode slow as the way I'm feeling I just didn't have it in me to try and make any speed against that wind.

45 degrees with a steady soaking rain.

i got to be both cold and wet. fun times.

oh, and it was pretty windy too.

a banner day for bike commuting!!!

Wow, nice October morning in Edmonton. 8C/46F and low winds. I took a shortcut again, this time with a GPS so that I could quantify the time and distance and see if it's a worthwhile shortcut to take. It's 3km/1.9mi shorter, but I only saved about 3 or 4 minutes.

What a difference a day makes! Yesterday's overcast was so heavy I wasn't sure when the sun came up. Today was crisp, clear, very bright -- and so was my attitude! Traffic was a bit heavy in spots, but I was so happy to be riding I didn't care.

Uneventful road bike commute, except for right at the end where this one numb-nuts in a Ram pickup passed me just prior to a very sharp, blind curve marked 10 MPH, revving his engine as he passed, as I was holding my left hand out to signal that he needed to hang back until after the curve. 2 cars had just passed me before that, without issue, and I guess he just HAD to keep up with those other 2 cars or something. Like it would affect his manhood if he slowed down and waited literally 10-15 more seconds to make a safe pass with good sight lines.

38F, pea-soup fog

Rainy day with lots of rain predicted. I rode the subway.

[MENTION=152773]noglider[/MENTION] I rode in through lots of wind this morning. Let's see if I can dodge the rain on the way home.

After work, I have a board meeting with my singing ensemble, and then a rehearsal with the same, and then I ride home late at night. The cost of being wet is greater than just at work, where I have a change of clothes in case I get wet.

Beauty AM, mid forties and clear. It's fall bike-to-work-week here. Pulled up to an intersection and counted 7 cyclists all in yellow jackets. Must be the commuter-uniform.

Reasons you should NEVER bike to work (pretty funny):
http://semi-rad.com/2011/06/9-reason...-bike-to-work/

Clear, cool morning for a nice 16 miles.

You got lucky. The port authority closed the GWB sidewalk on me yesterday. So I ended up just going home and working remotely from there. Then the rain that the forecast claimed would happen never seemed to.

Today was better though at 61F and really calm. I replaced my old Campy Chorus crankset with a Centaur one I bought used from ebay. It was cheap enough and does the job. The reason for replacment was that my left crank arm was moving a bit and the bolt was all the way in. So wasn't sure if it was the arm or the BB spindle (or both) that wore down a bit.

The wind and rain left a few obstacles on the trail to navigate through on my commute home.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4510/...36e4da47_b.jpgUntitled by irishbx4th, on Flickr

Unfortunately yesterday was NOT uneventful. Just down the road from the office, on a curvy 2-lane road, a large semi-tractor type of truck came up behind me. Another car was oncoming so the truck driver had to slow down a bit, for a few seconds (maybe 5 seconds at most). After the other car passed, the truck passes me with a full lane change, but then blows the air horn as he passes. And it wasn't a short "thanks" honk either. It was clearly an "annoyed" honk. I raised my left arm up in the air like "WTF", and then dude slows down and stops in the road ahead.

At that point where he stopped, there's a house and there were people outside, so I thought at first he was visiting them. But after another car came by us, he gets out and starts coming towards me, yelling "Did you flip me the bird?? I think you did!" No I did not. I don't do that. I sprinted on past him, which was tough with a slight uphill AND a head/crosswind. Shortly up the road the lane widened out, I pulled ride, and he passed me again, then turned into a neighborhood.

And then not even a half mile later, a diesel work truck goes by me and let out a black smoke cloud in an apparent coal rolling maneuver.

Needless to say I was pretty pissed the rest of the ride home.

Me and my big mouth. After posting about the sunny skies yesterday morning, I was surprised by a brief but intense shower heading home last night. Got the bike clothes hanging on the line to dry wet. :(


Even colder today, I dug out tights (vs. warmers) for the ride in today. I don't like going to tights (or warmers either, for that matter) because they seem to make pedaling harder. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful day, and once again I didn't want to stop riding when I got to the office. Maybe I need to figure out a longer route?

Jeez, [MENTION=301784]PatrickGSR94[/MENTION], ya wonder what's wrong with some people, ya know?

Last night, on the way home from rehearsal, I took the subway, and there were major delays. The train moved really slowly. The conductor made announcement about the service changes due to repairs or whatever, but as is common, the announcements weren't fully audible. The city's subway system is suffering badly under the strain of the city's population increase, and there are probably other factors such as constant under-funding. Delays have gotten really common, which is why I'm so grateful I can ride my bike most of the time.

So on this train, a man was SHOUTING REPEATEDLY, "When you leave America, Zelda is a real video game!" A real New York moment.

The conductor the train was going out of service a few stops before my stop, so I got off and went to find a Citi Bike bike. The first docking station was empty. The next one had bikes but wouldn't release one. I stuck my key in the slot, and the yellow light blinked for much too long, and the bike didn't release. Same thing happened at other docked bikes. I walked to the next station and finally got a bike. Thank goodness, from then on, the trip was uneventful.

This morning was really nice. It was super cloudy and dark when I walked the dog, and there was a chance of showers. I got back home, and the radio said that the chance of showers had passed and we are not having rain. I set out on the bike, and it was bright and clear and 59ºF. It's funny how in the temperature-changing months, the variety of clothing people wear is so varied. Some people are wearing full winter gear. One woman had a gigantic hood on, the kind that goes very far forward of the face. I was wearing a nylon short sleeve jersey and nylon shorts, and I was warm enough. As [MENTION=25132]ptempel[/MENTION] said, the wind is unusually calm today.

Getting chilly out there.

Here's a new one for me in terms of mechanical issues: One of the supporting rods underneath the seat snapped in two. This means the seat is only monted on one rod and y rear is drooping down on the right side. I think I can get through one more day and pick up a new seat over the weekend.

I'm sure we're all breathing in exhaust all the time, but I generally don't see it or smell it (unless a diesel passes). This morning some sort of utility truck accelerated to pass me and blew out a large plume of black smoke. I felt like I was in a Mario Kart video game and I was going to start spinning and go off the road. It obstructed my view a bit and I immediately let out a long, slow exhale so as to not get a lung full of that exhaust.

Nice, chilly ride otherwise. I thought it was in the 40s but the Garmin activity captured 39F. If I had known that I may have worn tights.

Coldest morning to date this fall, 1C/34F but clear.

I wore tights over my cycling shorts to keep my legs warm and a medium weight baselayer under my waterproof jacket and I was too warm. I'm not saying I'd go with just cycling shorts and short socks at this temperature, I'd at least wear long wool ski socks and that may have been fine. I'd probably want to open my jacket a bit too but I'm not sure I'd want to ditch the jacket as the windproof nature of it was beneficial at this temperature.

I rode from about 7:00-7:30am in complete darkness (i.e. the sun wasn't up or even glowing in the horizon so that's how it'll be until about April.

On the commute home last night I noticed something interesting (or at least I thought it was interesting). I was riding down a lightly traveled 4-lane parkway that is part of my normal commuting route. I was riding in the right-hand lane and a truck (in this case there is no need to cue the ominous music at the mention of a truck) was passing me in the left lane. I was doing about 20-mph and he was probably doing around 30-mph. More and more vehicles have the blind-spot-monitoring technology, and this truck had it too. As he rolled past I could see the light on his passenger side mirror illuminated, and it stayed lit until he was at least a full car length in front of me. I guess I had hoped these sensors would recognize a bicyclist, but this was my first opportunity to actually see it working in-action while riding my bike. Granted, there are probably lots of cars that zip past me all the time with these sensors, but often they are moving too fast and/or I'm not paying any attention to the blind-spot lights on their mirrors. :-)

Took the long way home last night and saw the city sights. There's this one vacant space, a triangle between three roads that's too small to be a lot or have a house. It was used as a Christmas tree lot for a long time, but they moved out or quit a few years back. Last night, there were lights all over the place and ... a mechanical bull? No parking, no beer, just a couple mechanical bulls in a vacant lot. Another what the ....? moment.

And more nonsense yesterday! Just before I got to the office a pickup passed closely, which is normally rare, but this person in this truck has done it FOUR TIMES to me now in the last few months. I have every occurrence on video.

And going home, I was on a wider section of road that narrowed down to 2 lane, then goes under a highway overpass, then immediately after I make my left turn. Just prior to the overpass a van passed me with an oncoming car clearly right in front. Then another oncoming car passed, and then I started signalling my left turn. I could see a pickup coming up behind me, so as I'm holding my left arm out I also turn my head to look back at the truck. Then I see in my mirror the truck starting to move across the center line as we pass under the overpass (illegal to pass within 100 feet of a bridge). With my left arm out I yelled "STOP! STOP!" and tried to get the driver to stay back, but this woman driving this pickup just acted like she didn't care one damn bit and kept right on passing, right at the street where I make my left (illegal to pass on the left if it interferes with the vehicle going the same direction, in this case me).

*edit* a couple months ago a different pickup tried the same maneuver at this same spot, passing while I had my left arm out, and he was faced with a vehicle on that side road turning right, into the oncoming direction. Seeing the dangerous near collision I pulled off the pavement and stopped, the truck had to stop (in the oncoming lane) and the vehicle that had just turned also had to stop. Then the pickup had to turn back into his own lane so that he could go, and the oncoming car could go, and then everyone else could continue on and I could make my left turn.

I swear these people are just downright jerkwad idiots!