It's back to summer weather here in Chicagoland, but with cooler nights.

Friday evening, I stopped at a friend's home for dinner. On the way home later that night, I stopped for a kitten sitting in the middle of the bike path. He came up to me and asked me to take him home. He wasn't afraid of me, but it took some work to put him in my bag. A stranger on the path helped me.

He's an absolute love, but with my wife's allergies, we can't keep him. I have some candidates for adopting him.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/La...2UZQmA=s921-no

I forgot to mention the runner I passed. I gave a head nod as I went by and continued on. One-third of a mile or so later he was ahead of me again. I had taken two left turns and a right turn into a different neighborhood. He had cut across a grassy area that I wouldn't bother biking over as there isn't really a trail or anything. As I passed the second time I acted all surprised and asked, "How'd you do that?!?" It took him a second, but then he realized I had already passed him earlier and laughed.

No. So far, I have only posted a craigslist ad in the lost+found area.

I don't know about NYC, here in the burbs there's often neighborhood lost pet Facebook pages, and NextDoor

Nice morning ride. I hopped on a couple of MUPs last night and this morning. They are quite debris strewn still from the weekend's wind and rain. A lot of small twigs, branches and leaves. One dead tree down, but leaning in a way I could almost ride under it. I unclipped a pedal to make sure I wouldn't get knocked over.

Pouring rain this morning. Thunder. Lightning. Wind. Thankfully no hail or tornadoes showed up to join the party.

At an intersection I ran into another commuter I know. We rode for about an 1/8 mile until our paths split again. He said he doesn't mind the rain but the lightning scares him. I pointed out that our chances of getting hit by lightning are much, much slimmer than our chances to get hit by a car, yet we still ride every day.

Came across a guy parked in the middle of a narrow road waiting for a school bus outside of a center for the disabled. The bus lights were flashing yellow and the bus driver was out of the bus and likely inside the building helping a resident. I pulled up next to him and he rolled down his window and explained he was waiting for the school bus. I informed him that flashing yellow meant we could still pass with caution, and flashing red means we have to stop. He looked at me like he didn't trust what I was saying. Anyway, I went on around him and passed the bus. Not sure how long he wound up sitting there holding up traffic.

Arrived at work soaking wet. Thankful for waterproof saddlebags so I had dry clothes to change into.

Hellish!
 

I think I found a couple who will take the kitten. They're willing, and I interviewed them at my home, and they seem solid. And they will take him for a day or two, starting today. I kissed the kitten goodbye, not sure when I'll see him next, dammit.

I went to my local stationery store who do key pickups and dropoffs, but they were closed, dammit. So I left the key at the barber shop, and they're happy to provide the service. I grabbed a taxi to go uptown to where my wife had parked the car overnight. I'm driving upstate this evening to spend the Jewish holiday there.

I turned the key in the car, and there was a horrible sound from the exhaust. I got out and looked underneath. Someone had stolen the catalytic converter from the car, using an angle grinder or something. Dammit. On my way to work, I missed my exit because the noise was so loud, dammit. I called a friend to recommend a repair garage, and he has one right near work, so I dropped it off there. They MIGHT be able to get the car ready before I have to leave this evening.

Cycling content!
Walking from the garage to work, I came upon a Citi Bike docking station, and I realized that riding the tiny distance is faster than walking, so I got in a 0.4 mile ride.

The mechanic called and said the engine is cranking but not starting, as if there is a security feature. There is no alarm or anything, so he has to figure it out himself.

I have a presentation to finish today at work.

Wish me luck. Dammit.

Summer is not going willingly which is fine with me! Expecting near 90 this afternoon. But it was dark when I left this morning so Fall/Winter denial is not working for me

What?!!! That's the first time I've ever heard of that happening. Is this unusual, or have I been living in a cave?

I hadn't heard of it, either. The mechanic heard me coming and knew precisely what had happened. It happens a lot in his experience. Catalytic converters are valuable, as there is platinum in them. He explained that this is a Honda Element, which is high off the ground, so the exhaust is extremely accessible. You can crawl under, and you don't need a jack.

Cretins!

woowwww I haven't been on BF in forever! Looks a little different around here right? Just the usual e-bike commute this morning. 69°F, no wind. Definitely getting darker in the mornings. I have to start out with my light on steady flash instead of just keeping it on strobe the whole time.

I looked at the commuting mileage thread, haven't updated mine since February!

Nice cycling weather (up to 24,6°C). Though a little bit surprised by strong winds in the late noon (46,7 km/h) – AND stupid, dangerous drivers.

40F and foggy. Brrr, clammy

I biked in later than normal this morning due to a morning appointment. More sunny and much warmer. I missed out on the cool 62 degrees we had at 7am.

It was 2 years ago yesterday that I bought my current bike. I ride it exclusively and look at the total mileage yesterday: 11,320 miles. Well, plus 12 more this morning.

Well, the steepest pitch and my bum ticker conspired to make me dab today. The MTB kind, not the tween kind.

Foggy, cool and very nice :)

https://i.imgur.com/xQ4L083l.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/LyTJrDql.jpg

Nice pics [MENTION=129446]metro2005[/MENTION]. We had some foggy fields this morning too.

I'm ready for the weekend. And fall temperatures.

Very, very wet. Depending on the area of town measured, we've had somewhere between 5"-7" of rain in the last 24 hours and it's still falling hard. I must admit, as I rolled out of the garage I had the first twinge of "I don't want to do this" feelings I've had in quite a while. Probably since last winter.

The river that winds through the city was well above its banks. Had to backtrack and take several detours because the low areas on my normal route were completely submerged. I rode through a couple places that were probably deeper than I should have gone through, but by the time I got into the areas and discovered how deep the water was I had already reached the halfway point so I just kept going.

Riding through one large park, there's about 1.5 miles of MUP that follows the river along the south edge that I normally ride. I figured that area would likely be flooded in spots, so rather than trying to take the MUP I rode the street on the north side of the park. As I got halfway through the park I noticed rescue vehicles with their lights flashing down by the MUP. I hope nobody got swept away by the overflowing river.

Got to work and quite literally poured at least a quart of water out of my jacket. Everything I wore was completely soaked. I hung it all in the coat room and pulled a plastic tray we use in the winter for boots underneath to catch the water dripping. More than a few coworkers have commented that there's an impressive amount of water dripping from everything, and that was after I wrung it all out.

So, what does a person do when they get this wet? Go hop in the shower. That seems a little ironic.

That's pretty cool! I think I have over 12k on my primary commuter and for the most part still running on the original components. How many cars can do that!

Pleasant ride in - I'm getting used to these no wind mornings

47F, partly sunny partly foggy. Got passed by a Mom w/ a kid on the back of a cargo e-bike. Caught her at the light, yakked a bit.

It was nice. Rode with my son to his HS and then on to work. He rode to school everyday during middle school, but his HS is across town. Most days so far this semester my wife has driven him to school and occasionally he brings his bike in the minivan so he can ride home. Less traffic and no time constraint makes the ride home a bit less stressful. This morning we thought about trying the full bike commute. It isn't terribly far (6 miles / 10 km) but it requires crossing a couple 35mph arterials. He's a strong and safe rider so I had no doubt he could do it himself, but just wanted to see how it would go.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...3eb823ee52.jpg

Perfect weather. 60F, light breeze, blue sky.