I got home late last night, as I do every Tuesday night, from my singing ensemble rehearsal. I was sweaty and dirty so I took a shower before bed rather than this morning. I really didn't feel like riding to work and getting dirty and sweaty, so I did something unusual and asked the facebook hivemind whether I should ride or take the subway. The unanimous decision was to ride except for one person who said take the day off and ride. I didn't wear bike clothes except for shoes. I wore a cotton polo shirt and linen shorts. First I went to the ATM and the pharmacy and then back home to pick up my bag and stuff. I forgot my helmet and mirror and gloves, and it was really nice being helmetless but uncomfortable being gloveless.

I told myself DO NOT RIDE HARD, and this time I listened. I rode really gently. There was a strong headwind which was nice for blowing off most of my sweat, but it could have been a big cause of it, too. It turns out that linen shorts are not comfy for riding. Bike shorts are nice, but they're like gigantic sponges, and they get heavy with sweat because the internal pad is so big. Is there a happy medium?

Cool, clear, and calm. It's been a while since my last bike commute, nice to be back. Had pretty good energy this morning.

Not really? It's mostly water and nontoxic antifreeze and mold latex, none of which I find terribly frightening. It cleaned up with a paper towel and I rinsed my shoe in the sink. If you had latex allergy it would be a problem.

The difficulty getting the tire to seat is IMO a fault in this particular rim design in combination with trying to use a regular tire with a looser fit.

back on the trails this morning and immediately skinned my knee. Wheeee!

Relaxed commute today. Took it easy because A. I've been having symptoms of cold past few days, and B. was anyway recovering from the weekend ride of the Fall Classic 200K. Being on the bike felt good. Being in office, not so good!

A very nice commute after two days of not riding due to dense fog in the morning. The temp was a warm 74 f degrees this morning with clearing skies.

The ride home Monday evening was interesting due to my talking to a homeless man because he lives on his bike. He was outside the grocery store and I was not sure if he was doing a tour or homeless. Turns out he is homeless and previously incarcerated(his words). What I learned is not everyone on a bike is riding because they want to.

Unbelievable mid 70s temperature today morning. Return is also going to be almost same, but with the wind backing me this time.
Also, this is the 2nd time this year that my monthly mileage has crossed 600 miles
If I manage to commute tomorrow as well, then it will be my all time high for a monthly mileage!

Good job! 600 in a month is big. I've only managed that a couple of times over the past few years.

Nice morning ride. One more day of hot weather today - high of 90F. Tomorrow's high is only 78 and more of the same through the weekend.

Fall is here! 53F, I should have worn tights but hanging on to summer as long as possible. It must be 'assuage corporate guilt day' as the MUP was jammed with volunteers from two of the city's largest corporate employers. I must have passed at least 8 groups of 30-50 people, most of whom were standing in the middle of the trail having conversations, oblivious to those of us using the trail. A commuting buddy caught up to me and made the same comment - they're cleaning it up for us but oblivious to us while we're actually using it!

Another uneventful commute yesterday. I'm not sure but that may be the first time I've ever commuted 3 consecutive days! That gives me over 90 miles for the work week already. I had planned to make it 4 days in a row today for the first time ever, but I was just too tired this morning. So I drove the car today.

But hopefully that will be the only time I take the car this week. If I ride tomorrow that will officially be my first 4-day bike commute week ever, since I started back in 2013!

Beautiful 50F (10C) degree temperature with winds that were pretty much non-existent for the morning commute. All was well except for about 2-seconds of terror toward the end of the commute. I was making a left turn onto a side street, where a car (on the side street) was stopped at the stop sign waiting to make a left turn onto the road I was exiting. I assumed the car saw me and continued my turn. At the point I was directly in front of the car, they decide to begin their turn directly toward me. Luckily the car saw me and stopped. This was a big reminder to me... that even though I'm lit up like a Christmas tree... don't assume cars see me, especially when it's still dark out. I, of course, have always known this, but we all have a tendency to become complacent as days turn into weeks and weeks turn into years without a close call. My senses are definitely 'alert' again!

I always get nervous turning left in front of a car to my left, especially when they're also turning left. I had one close call like that back when I first started in 2013. Now I go slow, and pay close attention to whether that car starts moving or not, before I'm clear of them. I also sometimes turn a little wide to stay farther away from them, rather than cutting the corner close near the front of the car, to give me a fraction more time in case they DO start moving too early.

I agree... turning wider around a left-turning car is a good idea. This particular intersection is not quite at a 90-degree angle either. Combined with a left-turning car that is pulled a little too far forward in front of the white 'stop' line and I have a couple of good reasons to give myself as much 'buffer' as possible for my turn. Lesson re-learned!

I fixed the flat on my Raleigh before leaving. It was surprisingly nice to get back on it. It feels more relaxed than my other bikes.

The headwinds were fierce. Fortunately, the forecast says the winds will abate slightly but they won't shift. It's actually a crosswind but more against me than with me. It gusted and shifted so I had occasional tail winds but not for long. Effort was high, and time was slow, but at least I was comfortable.

I've started listening to The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast. It is surprisingly uplifting.

48F, sunny. Yesterday and today are an interjection of hot sunny weather and back to 58F and drizzly for the rest of forever (until it drops down to 48F and drizzly then 38F and drizzly...) so extended my commute home last night and in today; plan to do it going home tonight too.

Chilly, sunny, and calm.

Municipal elections are around the corner, and this evening I'm planning to attend a candidates forum. The current mayor (and a shoo-in for another term) is a cyclist and there has been some progress in cycling infrastructure over the last four years, but there's a loud group of people in opposition to any concessions for cyclists, enough that it keeps coming up as a major election issue. Might be some interesting debates.

This morning's commute was a bit chilly with the temp at 48 f degrees. A pleasant but uneventful ride.

6 degrees colder here!
And I foolishly chose not to wear full finger gloves.

Oof, I think we're still a ways off from sub 50 temps. Overcast and supposed to be cooler today, but still upper 70s. Nice ride in on some crunchy leaves on the MUP.

On my way to change clothes a co-worker who used to live in my neighborhood said she told her daughter that I commute by bike. She said her daughter wondered how long that took and Google mapped it. That said something like an hour and 15 minutes. I told her Google is pretty conservative and it usually takes about 45-50 minutes. She said her daughter was amazed I do it every day.

I guess I'm pretty awesome.

My phone lied to me. It was definitely colder than the 11C/52F it showed me. Didn't bother with gloves. I've been in the office for 15 minutes and I can still barely type.

Commuted most days this week, today being the exception. My co-workers teased me about the little bit of rain this morning stopping me but in fact, there were chores I hadn't done last night that had to be done this morning before I left (took the car) and a couple of things to pick up after work (before the stores close, neither of them stay open late any night).

However, I'm glad that tomorrow is not a work day as the overnight low is forecast to be -1C/30F. I may be avoiding it tomorrow but it's going to come.

Have a great weekend!

Beautiful day, except a bit cooll. The 10 mph N wind was a great tailwind except that every time I stopped it chilled me.


Still didn't want to stop to work.

Beautiful but windy day here, I had to stop and think about what I was going to wear after the heat wave we just went through.

Nice, crisp and cool at 56F this morning. Broke out the long sleeve baselayer and the knee covers for the first time this fall. Still not a fan of the four GWB staircases on the north sidewalk. But am getting used to carrying the bike up and down them now. I hold by the seatpost or back of seat going down and by the bar under the stem open handed going up. I'm still waiting for the Voler bib and jersey. They are taking longer than expected...

Edit: USPS tracking claims that the Voler clothing was delivered a short while ago. Looking forward to trying them out next week.

58F, drizzling; still, sunrise visible through thin spots in the eastern edge of the cloud cover.

Do you mean four stairs/steps, or four sets of stairs? The latter seems a bit much.