Back to the "November" part of Septvember. Thanks to the powers that be, we went from 80F down to 50 with no more drama than a few thundershowers last evening. 80F in November is often a harbinger of tornado alerts.


Some maples are almost leafless, while others are golden. Mine are only thinking about turning. There were a few patches of brilliant red sumacs I noticed, quite a change from the brick-red-and-fall-off induced by the drought last year.


It struck me on my way in, that with all the traffic problems in my town, bike commuting through the neighborhoods is a great way to get around. Sure, you want to hit intersections with the arterials controlled by lights to get across, but back into the neighborhoods it turns into "Oh, look, a car, I saw another one half a mile back." Even on the last few miles where I had to get on those roads, a bit of planning - aka routing down a street with a virtually unused turn lane - made cycling barely stressing, as opposed to the teeth-gnashing experience of driving.

33F, first ride in the 30's this season. Geez, not used to having to wear so much stuff!

Jeez, [MENTION=73614]rhm[/MENTION], I'm going to guess that the car driver didn't take responsibility for that. Makes me angry.

I almost rode yesterday, and I'm so glad I didn't. This was our first COLD RAIN of the year, and it was miserable. I can imagine how it felt for you.

Well, that's why I take the day off, if it's raining like that when I get up in the morning! It sucks to get on the train soaking wet.

But when I get off the train on my way home, it's not that hard to get on the bike and ride through cold rain to get home. I mean, sure, I'll get wet, but then I'm home. Hot shower, dry clothes, all is good.

I have a complete change of clothes at work, so I can ride in the morning rain, but you can't change on the train.

This morning's commute was a nice chilly 25 f degrees when I left the house with dark clear skies. There was frost on the grass which was very pretty looking. I left at the usual time this morning instead of leaving later as I did yesterday. I did not feel as if there was any benefit to arriving at work in the light. Also I felt like there were more cars at the later time.

A doe ran across the road in front of me this morning, and the buck that was following her stopped just as he was crossing the sidewalk. Thanks, Bucky!
I do not want to get hit by any deer, much less one with antlers.

I've been seeing a lot more deer since Daylight Saving Time ended. Odd.

Mid 30's but the wind chill was supposed to be in the 20's.. sure didn't feel like it! Got a bit warm. Couldn't wear my long tights this morning so had to improvise.. bike shorts with active pants over it. That combo works alot better!

Almost ran into a salmon this morning. Weaving in and out of my lane, too busy reading his phone to watch where he was going. I had to move way to the left of the traffic lane to avoid him. I may have muttered something bad as we passed. At least he had a light.

Drizzly ride home yesterday. The temperature went up maybe one degree from the morning low of 45F.
Drizzly rain continued through the night, but mostly stopped for my morning commutes - just wet roads.
I think tomorrow is supposed be clear, but we'll see.

My mileage for the week is higher than normal which is helping with my annual goal. But now my wife just texted and said she'll be near the office at 5 and could pick me up. I can't say no, but, "Doh!"

Reasonable temperature today, -1C/30F, mild, if any breeze (I didn't notice it). Decided not to dress lightly this morning as the temps will be falling through the day to an afternoon low of -5C/23F and an overnight low of -16C/3F (but with the wind forecast for tonight, a windchill of -26C/-15F). Tomorrow morning's ride in at about 7am is forecast be a balmy -14C/7F with a windchill of -21C/-6F: I'll probably put on a couple of extra layers tomorrow. The forecasted temperature for tomorrow afternoon's ride home is higher than today, -4C/25F so it is just a sudden drop in temp tonight.

Keep warm people!

18°F with a very cold north wind. Brrrr. But I made it the 8 miles to the office without issue. (EDIT: Just saw that the wind chill was -5°F. No wonder I was so cold!)

Arrived to discover I left my shaving kit at home. I keep my towel and shampoo at my desk, so I decided I could at least wash myself. Managed to drop the shampoo bottle directly on my big toe while showering. Then I managed to drop my fingernail clippers into the toilet.

The day can only go upward from here, right?

Mine just did, thanks for the laugh! 29F this morning and low 50's predicted for this afternoon. After doing this for a few years I should realize trying to dress for both (taking of layers for warmer) doesn't work and I end up being cold in the morning and hot in the evening. I don't... realize

We had about another 1 1/2'' of snow last night so most trails and streets were covered fluffy white. Temp was at 5°F with a North wind making the windchill -9°F. I was geared up fine so I didn't get cold, but the snow and riding into the wind on the fat bike does slow me down. I could feel the burn in my legs a bit.

My ride into the office is pretty much a South to North direction, so the ride home will feel better (I kept reminding myself of this). Overall a nice ride, and it felt good gliding into my parking spot.

it will be another month for me to get to that level of weather [MENTION=458315]FargoRider[/MENTION]! So for me, coldest ride of the season at 27F, but I had the time so I took the road bike on a 10 mile loop instead of the usual 3 miles in. Rode pretty hard, and you all guesed it, overdressed! More sweat then if I had done it at 70F.

Yeah, we're only supposed to reach 15° for the high today. The average is 45°, so it's even early for us to be this cold so soon.

I guess a warming trend is on it's way with temps back into the 40s for next week. If so, I'll be switching bikes. I love the fatty, but it's a bit of a load as a daily commuter. :p

I don't know where you are but here in Sudbury Ontario, we're experiencing a short cold snap today and tonight but slightly above normal is forecast for the next few days afterwards.

Fargo, ND. I googled Sudbury, and I'm directly west of you by about 850 miles or so.

Nice ride today. Cooler than it's been (dug the tights back out and added a jacket), but there was sunshine! After three days of that front creeping through, some real daylight cheered me up.

Wow, you're almost stone, I mean, snowball throwing distance away! LOL

Yeah, might not be the same weather system affecting both of us.

My policy is when the first snow or ice falls that they dump a ton of salt for, the summer bikes get stored and it is the MTB until nearly April. I really got into road riding this year though and it is going to be really hard to do that this time around.

42F, wet. Fortuitously between rainsqualls though.

Strange morning for me. Light rain here, somehow I'd dressed in my office clothes and put on a wind breaker thinking the temps would be about right. I saw the rain and went back in for warm-up pants and shoe covers. Outside in the breezeway again, I had second thoughts and went back for some light gloves. Then I'd forgotten my door keys, went back in to look, and of course they were in my pants pocket. Finally on the road, I figured after that start I'd probably either get soaked or have forgotten something important, but all was well other than getting warm and sweating a little.

[MENTION=73614]rhm[/MENTION], I call November Deer-smooshed-on-the-road month. I don't know, but maybe it's mating season? I think it's also hunting season. Anyway, I think I see more deer in November than any other month.

Today's commute was HOT! I am definitely going to make myself a chart of temperatures and clothing that works, because I overdressed. I wanted to ride hard today, but I could only do it in short spurts, because I was too hot. Actual temperature was about 45ºF, and the wind was unusually calm.

I wore my new winter gloves for the first time. So far, they seem warm enough, but they are extremely stiff. Shifting gears was a bit slow, and braking required learning a new technique, but I think I'm safe.

Doing deadlifts in my bedroom before riding is extremely energizing. I need to add weights to my barbell to get to the next level.

I went for a mountain bike ride in the snow in the mountains the other day (FUN!) but the commutes have been snow/frost free so far.

Today I brought my poor old car in to the shop on a recall repair, so i only biked part of the way in, but it got me up to 4500kms on the "year-to-date" commute. That was my original target for 2017, so that's good.