Seriously? Those guys aren't that bad are they??

Thanks for all the replies, everyone.
So, the trick to all this is getting your gear right. But no matter how I dress up, I will sweat, unless I am cold throughout the ride. And that wont be pleasant either.
I guess I need more experience in riding to get to the level where you all are.

[MENTION=439013]Amitoj[/MENTION], you can start out bundled up and peel off layers as you go. It's not super convenient, I admit.

Naw, if you're still cold after 6-8 minutes you're under-dressed. Or to put it another way, if I'm warmed up after the first few minutes, in my experience that means I won't be feeling cold for the rest of the ride - commuting ride, I'm not talking about regular 2 or 3 hour rides.

Today, 48°, athletics t-shirt plus long jersey was perfect. I also wore my office slacks, weird I know but I was in a hurry and didn't want to change at work except for the shirt. I just slowed down when I felt I might start to perspire, and was still fresh and dry when I got here. You just have to get it right so that you're feeling warm enough or "comfortable" after the warm-up.

I always sweat as well, no matter the temp and the gear. Even if part of me is frozen numb there will be another part sweating. I was just thinking that if you're sweating to the point where a piece of clothing is still drenched after 8 hours then you may want to back off on the clothing in that area.

Nice. Cool and clear. Rode part of the way with my son, which is always a treat.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...aa1fca6e54.jpg

Low clouds made for a dark, but much warmer ride this morning. Not low enough for fog. But it was 60F when I left at 7am. It's supposed to get over 70 this afternoon. It was a bit more windy than normal, but not horribly so.

This morning I saw...

1. Three deer; a doe ran across the road in front of me, a fawn was running after her but stopped when she saw me; another doe was standing behind the fawn.
2. A fox, either hunting or drinking from the canal, but ran away from my headlight and ducked into the bushes.
3. A raccoon, poking around in the weeds at the side of the road, ducked down a storm drain when illuminated by my headlight.

So last night on the way home from work was a new one: a woman had pulled up to a stop light and parked across some train tracks. As she was sitting there a train came through the intersection. She was hemmed in by cars and couldn't go anywhere, so the train hit her car and pushed it sideways down the track for several hundred yards before the train was able to come to a stop right next to the MUP about a mile from my house. Thankfully she was completely unhurt, although I can only guess she needed to change into a clean pair of pants.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b533cc148b.jpg


This morning's commute was much less eventful. 28F but hardly any wind and sunny. I rode to my dentist's office for my 6 month checkup, then rode to work from there. Sounds like this will be the last "nice" day for a while as temps are supposed to get much colder tomorrow and the rainy/wet weather is forecasted to return.

Oh yeah, we had storms on the way home yesterday. Pouring driving rain, 35-40mph gusts garbage cans and tree limbs flying across the road. I felt like Superman when that wind was behind me pushing my up a hill. Not so much when it was trying to push me across the road or backwards. The worst thing was the rain was so loud hitting my head that I couldn't hear car traffic. Aside from that my wet gear worked pretty well. Need to upgrade my shoes as my feet were soaked and the temps dropped at least twenty degrees by the time I got home so they were freezing. Surprisingly my pannier bags did relatively well only getting things slightly damp inside.

It was fun though.

[MENTION=175954]Tundra_Man[/MENTION], that woman was extremely lucky. It's amazing how some people don't understand trains. Never stop on a railroad crossing! We had a horrific collision like that a couple of years ago in this area.

I have a new pair of ear buds, and they go into my ears and seal out outside sounds better than all of my previous headphones. I can now finally put one in one ear and leave the other ear open. Previously, having only one ear in didn't provide enough sound for me. Maybe it's equivalent, because the old headphones did let in ambient sounds.

She stayed in the car? Maybe there wasn't enough time, but if you see a train and can't move the car, get out of it! Scary situation all around though.

Damp morning here from some overnight rains. More rain coming this afternoon. But warm at 65F and humid. Windy too, but I just kept pedaling.

After 24+ hours of steady rain it's wet! The wooded parts of the MUP that are still covered in leaves was almost like riding in snow. There must have been 2" of leaves trapped in my rear fender. At least the rain has stopped for now

Yesterday's rain from the midwest is due here soon. I rode to work on Citi Bike, and it's still not raining yet.

I forgot to start recording my ride until a couple of miles in. Isn't that annoying?

Here is the promenade just north of 98th St. Not many people ride bike here. It's walkers and runners and dogs. Some dogs are unleashed, but the owners are good, so I don't mind. I suspect it's an old practice at this location.

https://ridewithgps.com/photos/4591667/large.jpg

It was a raw morning -- cool, damp, and windy. I second-guess every bit of cool weather gear as I put it on -- do I really need long finger gloves and ear warmers when it's 50F out? Answer: yes. The GPS settled at 45F, and I stayed chilly until I stopped at the long (1:45) light and started sweating without the riding breeze.

You folks all have much more interesting commutes than I do.

Today I saw:

1. A (probably) homeless guy with a plastic light-saber in my lane.
2. Another (probably) homeless guy walking down the yellow line.
3. A dead hummingbird. Oh, wait, that was last night, on the way home.

Sometimes those are interesting, too. The other afternoon there was something about the size of a quail, but its breast was reddish and barred. I didn't stop to ID it further, so I rode halfway home wondering what it was.

Trying to take my own advice, I brought my lights in to charge and couldn't find a mini-USB cord. Micro? Sure, dozens. The new super duper ones for Samsung, and both kinds of Apple? Sure. No mini.

Kiddo got his first road rash today, wobbling on some leaves. Can I get a DHR II in 16er size?

Rains overnight, drizzle this morning, but some pretty nice fall colors all around. I thought it was warm enough for just a short sleeve shirt, but probably would have been more comfortable in a long sleeve. Off and on light rain today it seems.

Consecutive work commute number 641:

37F and pouring rain. It was cold. Thankfully I had a tail wind.

Saw the biggest raccoon of my life come running through the park, across the MUP and into the trees by the river. He (she?) was about 50 yards away and the size of a medium dog. I wanted to snap a picture but it was gone before I could get my camera out.

First morning commute after time change was a little disappointing. I was hoping for sunglasses type sunshine at 7:30 but alas heavy cloud cover made it just light enough not to need headlight. In a month it'll be dark going and coming... sigh

My hope not to change my schedule abruptly with the time change lasted one day. Oh, well.

Last night's half of the front had stopped raining by this morning, but it was still overcast. If the second half of the front comes through overnight and I get two more dry rides this evening and tomorrow morning, I shall consider myself fortunate indeed. I managed one quarter mile interval that paid off -- the long light on my route may have been stale when I went through, but it was still green!

45F clammy sunny cloudy. Daylight savings end means switch to headlight bike and switch from backpack to panniers, so disarray in repacking... but, I made it. Forgot that I didn't need to pack lunch today, then found out I need to get home early.

I noticed an optical illusion tonight... the duty cycle of my Cygolite synced up with the tread lugs on my tires. I could see it coming in and out of sync with each pedal stroke.