Fun photos [MENTION=190611]joeyduck[/MENTION]. I have two red heads (boy and girl) but neither my wife nor I have red hair. Closest relative was my grandmother.

Nice cool morning again at about 54F. Sticking with the short sleeves and shorts until it dips below 50.

Hurricane Irma is possibly heading my direction into the Carolinas, but it will have weakened to a tropical storm by then. My wife and I stopped at the store last night and noticed the bottled water shelves were wiped out. I'm not sure why. It looks like late Monday and early Tuesday is when we'll get winds and rain from it.

I finally replaced my 700x23c commuter tires with 28's, let some air out last night until it felt right, and this was a smooth ride in this morning

We're forecast for some weather next Monday depending on what Irma does, nothing like in Florida but a lot of wind and water. I'm tempted to take my work home in case I chicken out on the commute and work from home.

I decided to ride in on my Binachi road bike instead of the hybrid Sirrus, since the roads were dry.
Bianchi has only 9 gears compared to the Sirrus' 27 but being 10 lbs lighter, it made for easy climbing. Amazing what 10lbs less can do! I might stick to this idea of using the Bianchi for the last commute of the week, weather permitting.
Apart from that, it was a pleasant ride in.

I had a great morning ride yesterday. Dropped kiddo at daycare, stopped for a smoothie after that. Evening ride was only average. My only round trip of a short week. I'm looking forward to my new MTB which should come Monday.

Pretty hazy here too, but the smoke is all up high - couldn't smell it this morning, anyway. Cool (chilly in the low spots) and calm. Only two bike commutes this week.

A few days ago, [MENTION=73614]rhm[/MENTION] mentioned doing a 200K on a fixie this weekend. That kinda got the wheels turning in my head. The local randonneuring club has a 200K this w/e, and I've always wanted to try one fixed. My last 200 was over a year ago, though. My longest ride this year so far was 60 km. If I ride, I'll be riding solo. Weather looks decent for tomorrow. I dunno, should I go for it?

Halfway to the train station this morning I thought to pat my pockets and found, to my alarm, I hadn't brought my keys. Promptly stopped and did a thorough check; indeed, no keys. Turned around, rode home, found my keys on the kitchen counter, and headed back to the station. I had missed my train, of course, but I caught the next one, a local, so I got some extra sleep. It was a nice morning to be out riding, with a bright moon high in the sky, though a little cold.

Of course you should! What could possibly go wrong?

But seriously.... It depends on how hilly it is! I've done fixed gear centuries around Long Island and southern NJ, and there's absolutely no reason to be intimidated by that. I've also done a fixed century or two in north-central NJ, where there's a lot more climbing, and that was a whole lot more difficult. There were hills that I could ride up at the beginning of the ride, that I had to walk up at the end.

My bike has a flip-flop hub. I usually use a 17t fixed cog on one side, with a 16t fixed cog on the other side (which I have not used much). So this week I changed the latter to an 18t freewheel. In fact this morning was my first tryout of the 18t freewheel. I felt a little slow; so I think for tomorrow I'll flip the wheel back to 17t fixed, knowing I'll probably switch back to the freewheel later in the day.

It's fairly flat. The course has < 2000 feet of climbing, and much of that is gradual undulations in the roads. There's one daunting climb late in the ride that I might have to walk if my legs are too tired. I have a flip-flop hub too, both sides have a 17t cog, one side fixed, the other freewheel. I've never used the freewheel side. 46t on the front (~71gi). I'll probably ride.

Get yours before the hoarders do!

IT'S LIKE SPRING AGAIN!


At least that's the thought that went through my head this morning. It's so nice and cool (all right, downright chilly!) that the weather isn't what's limiting my riding. In the spring it's light riding home, and the weather's not so cold that I'm limited by how cold I get while riding. Right now, it's light going to work AND coming home, and the weather's not so hot that I'm limited by how much sweat I can replace while riding.


It's a great time to be riding a bike!

You'll do fine. A varied terrain, with at least a little bit of climbing, is good on a fixed gear. You'll look forward to the opportunity to stand up and mash up a hill now and then.

My ride is going to be something like 6800 feet of climbing, so I may need the slightly lower gear. I just hope the 46/18 is low enough!

63F, overcast! Rain showers last night (super light but there was condensation on some things this morning). Supposed to be showers this morning; I bet against that in my clothing and bicycle selection, so far so good.

Well, back to light jackets, temps in the mid 40s last two mornings.

I did my first century fixed; I had a Surly dually cog 17/19 and it did not take long to go to the 19 and stay there. 42t chainring, 9k feet of climbing according to my phone at the end! Also one of those 110 mile centuries. Grrr

With ~30 miles to go there was this one short but vertical climb it was literally hitting a wall. People stopped to get off their bikes and laugh. And then walk up it. Riding fixed I could outclimb everyone (who had self-selected to the same average speed as me...). But they all of course would pass me again on the descents.

Yesterday evening, the wind direction had stayed the same but the intensity kicked up, giving me a very stiff headwind for riding home. I hadn't ridden my Raleigh in a few weeks. It's a lot heavier than my Lemond. The two factors made me really slow, and it was a debilitating ride. Some say it's not the bike it's the motor, but my speeds vary a lot from bike to bike. Maybe it's because I'm thin and light, and maybe heavier people see fewer differences between bikes.

This morning, the wind was as strong as last night, so I had a gloriously fast and easy ride in. I was back on my Lemond, too.

People have been building cairns along the river. And people have been taking them down. This is today's collection.

You are more man then me. :-) I'll start using a long sleeve baselayer under the jersey and knee covers in 50 - 59F temps. Reminds me of a dude I saw on a bike in Manhattan wearing a short in below freezing weather. His knees had to be cold. But I guess some are not affected as much as others...

I hope you come out of the storm unscathed. Crazy erratic weather this year so far. And another hurricane after that called Jose.

Its the bike, of course. Lemond Ti for the win. I did the full ride from home yesterday. The wind in the afternoon on the way back was a PITA. Just had to be realistic and gear down a bit. ...And take the "I get there when I get there" attitude...

Interesting. Wonder if its mostly walkers or runners? I actually didn't know what a "cairn" was before I looked it up. So that's what they call rock piles...

[MENTION=25132]ptempel[/MENTION], don't you ride in roughly the opposite direction as I do? I'd think my headwind is your tail wind.

Every time I say rock pile, someone tells me it's a cairn, which is why I used that word.

Yes, mostly west. First leg is north to the GWB and over. But I got a good dose of head wind going through Hasbrouck Heights, Carlstadt, Rutherford, etc. I recall some flags actually showing the wind going from an angle in Lyndhurst. Probably could have used you in the front and me in an echelon in the back.

[MENTION=25132]ptempel[/MENTION], in case you haven't seen it, bookmark this wind map. It may not work well on a phone.

Thanks. That map looks pretty cool.

My wife just reported that our neighborhood store now has pallets of water jugs. I'm tempted to buy a bunch and then hawk it on craigslist for triple the price.

The equinox is in two weeks. Saving time ends in two months. Get some lights!

The wind died down and was in my favor last night. So were the sunset and everything else. I'm so glad to have this commuting route. It inspires me.

A very nice commute in this morning with the temp at 53f degrees. Though I realized on my ride that my back blinking light is out. I will get that changed during the day today. I will say that people who seem to have no problem usually passing me were having a problem today and that is what made me realize that there was a problem with the light.

Missed my last two days of commute last week do to a sinus infection but back on the bike this morning.


Definitly starting to hit sweatshirt weather for the morning rides.